Cyberattacks are no longer a case of whether or not they’re going to happen but when it’s going to happen. If you’re not familiar with cyberattacks, cyberattacks are attempts to disable your computers, steal data, or breach computer systems to launch additional attacks. The rise of cybercriminals calls for the need to be more mindful of your systems’ cybersecurity, especially if you’re an in-house legal department. Here are some tips that can help you to secure your cybersecurity better.
1.) Review Your Cybersecurity Systems and Processes
Understand what assets could be considered valuable to your company. By defining these critical assets, you’d be able to know what parts of your organization would be attractive to cybercriminals. Since this information would vary from company to company, knowing your ‘valuables’ will be helpful in trying to devise a plan to counter future attacks.
Ideally, by putting together a multidisciplinary team comprising legal, IT, and operations departments from the start, you’d be able to conduct a more detailed analysis of cybersecurity systems and processes and identify which areas are at risk of being breached.
2.) Cybersecurity Awareness Training for all Employees
Information security awareness training is essential in the prevention of most cyber threats. Make it a culture inside the company to periodically remind your colleagues about the various cyber threats and how to help prevent them from happening. Make it a regular agenda at team meetings and encourage them to share their experiences with phishing emails, scam phone calls, or any of the sorts that are crucial in terms of cybersecurity awareness.
By normalizing the open discussion of high-risk cyber threats, employees would be more aware of these threats and can establish standard routines and procedures to ensure all instances are appropriately identified and reported.
3.) Use Best Practice Password Security Protocols
Try to use a more complex password in your business or social accounts. Try to avoid using your first name, last name, your favorite food, or even your pet’s name as your password. Additionally, don’t use the same password over and over again; try to make it unique for every account and, if possible, avoid writing down all your login credentials on a notepad.
4.) Have an Incident Response Plan and Test This Regularly
Have a comprehensive Incident Response Plan in place that covers processes, roles and responsibilities, detection and analysis, containment, response, and post-incident analysis. The Incident Response Plan must correspond with the organization’s goals and risk profile, and it must be more than just a technical or operational issue. Take into consideration how key personnel will access the plan if physical or digital access is prevented, who will be notified, and how, where, or if legal professional privilege should be utilized.
5.) Review Your Cyber Insurance Policy
This is a must-have, especially when you’re dealing with your company’s data. It’s crucial to clarify the policy inclusions and limitations. Take the time to review which things your cyber insurance covers, such as cyber extortion, data restoration, legal costs, fees and penalties, ransomware payments, 3rd party compensation claims, and external investigations.
Whilst there is no surefire way of preventing cyber attacks, an organization should still take all steps available to make it harder and harder for cybercriminals to infiltrate their systems. A thorough and tested response plan for when a cyberattack happens will help minimize the damage of the attack.