Business security is a big deal these days and can go a long way toward keeping you and your company safer from data breaches, lawsuits, and compliance issues. To build the best security system possible, you will want a solid combination of physical and digital security systems, policies and procedures, employee training, and routine system assessments. Routinely assessing your security is the best way to keep you safe as threats evolve.
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Build a Solid Assessment Team
Your first step to assessing and improving security is to build a team to review your system’s policies, procedures, and techniques. This team should involve the CEO and IT manager and the managers of core company departments such as HR, sales, and building maintenance. This team will review the policies and performance to pinpoint problem areas and suggest solutions.
Cloud-Based Solutions Mean Cloud-Based Security Problems
Taking crucial aspects of your company to the cloud can help you work smarter and not harder throughout the business, but this new technology comes with increased security risks that must be addressed. A Cloud Infrastructure Entitlement Management team can help you evaluate and restrict user access to sensitive data, identify which sections need access to what entitlements, and much more. While you can do all your CIEM work in-house, you can usually get higher quality help with more experience for a lower cost when outsourcing.
Review Policies Regularly
Not only can policies have gaps in what is covered due to new situations arising since they were written, but older policies can be obsolete or even violate new regulations. Part of your security review should be a report on what your policies cover, what they do not cover, and how well-trained your employees are on what each one entails. If you need to change or update any policies, schedule new training for each affected employee so they can understand the latest documents and sign asserting compliance.
Remember Physical Security
While proper cyber and data security is crucial to keeping your company in business, even the best Cloud Infrastructure Entitlement Management policies can be undone with an unlocked door or lax employee screening. You will want to make sure you have policies regarding building security, termination procedures, emergency responses, and much more. For instance, if you issue an employee physical keys, you will need to have a policy restricting duplication, addressing the return of the keys at the end of employment, and outlining when those keys may be used.
Understand Vulnerabilities and Threats
Research and list the potential threats your security system will need to address, both from a digital standpoint and a physical one. It is helpful to have your department heads list threats they know about, even if your company handles them well. These lists will help you pinpoint your system’s vulnerabilities and brainstorm ways to address those issues. One thing to remember is that a common vulnerability for companies is outdated hardware and software solutions. Software updates, in particular, will address security issues the developers have found and reduce the number of exploits on your machines.
Test Your Systems
It is critical to test your systems regularly to determine if they function perfectly or are vulnerable to a threat you may have overlooked. These tests can include everything from a staged cyber security attack to a physical incursion of your building, depending on where you have decided your vulnerabilities may be. Hiring an outside firm for this step can better evaluate the system because you will be bringing new eyes to the problem. This can also mean testing your employees and how well they notice and address security risks in compliance with your policies.
Assessing and improving your company’s security means holding regular reviews of the policies, procedures, and techniques used by your systems, both physical and digital. This can also include a review of the technology and personnel but will usually involve assessing the current system, pinpointing likely vulnerabilities, and working to address them.
