The issue of security of data in the cloud has generated a lot of debates over time. Joe Collinwood at Cynosure said that getting organized with an information security management system (ISMS) will go a long way to solve the issues relating to data loss as well as fines.

The cyber rouges are getting increasingly dangerous with their antics and it can be seen that most of the small-scale businesses do not possess the bandwidth to tackle the trend headlong. Most of the news stories often focus on security breaches in large organizations, what majority fail to realize is that small business is at greater risk because they do not have the capacity to implement operational and risk management policies. Cyber rouges now target this set of small-scale setups because they knew they lack the capacity to defend themselves; more worrisome is the fact that they use these small setups as a backdoor to the larger companies.

Cybersecurity breaches survey 2017 by Ipsos Mori on behalf of the UK Government, shows that 52% of small businesses fell victim of cyber breach/attack in the past 12 months.

ost common breaches relate to staff receiving fraudulent emails (72%), next is viruses, spyware, and malware (33%), impersonating of the organization through emails/online (27%) as well as ransomware (17%). Small companies with limited budgets find cybersecurity a tricky job, however, an information security management system will help resolve the issues.

Here are 5 Steps to Cyber Security for SMEs.
Leadership is vital : The is of cybersecurity should start at the top of the organization. Where the management does not have a perfect grip on issues of security; the problem will cut across. Understandably, the leaders in SMEs focus on building their business at the expense of core organizational policies. However, when a system of systematic approach to processes and procedures, ably promoted by a virtual online security officer and incorporated into the system; it will take away much of the time-consuming works the causes a burden in administration. If the organization cannot afford a full-time in-house security specialist; they can get the services of an online guide at reduced costs

Education and awareness training: Going by the revelation in the Cybersecurity breaches survey 2017, phishing emails, as well as malware, are the main threats to organizations. They exploit human behavior, so it is important that staff are trained to recognize the threat and respond appropriately.

Further, accidental breaches, privilege misuses including data loss can be blamed on employees who do not understand their role in information security to their company. When staffs are Educated on the ways they could endanger data; it will help the organizations turn one of their biggest vulnerabilities (staff) into strength.

Identify your risks – a risk assessment is one of the first tasks an organization should complete when preparing its cybersecurity program me. Identifying the risks that can affect the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of information is a time-consuming process. However, by identifying threats and vulnerabilities organizations can take steps to mitigate by prioritizing which risks need to be addressed in which order. Without an assessment, organizations may miss vulnerabilities or waste time, effort and resources addressing events that are unlikely to occur or won’t cause significant damage

Regular reviews– policies and procedures are the documents that establish an organization’s rules for handling data. Policies provide a broad outline of the organizations’ principles, whereas procedures detail how what and when things should be done. Together they provide a framework of do’s and don’ts for the organization’s workforce on how data should be managed and trains employees to offset social engineering campaigns that are one of the main causes of a data breach. A good information security management system will provide policies and procedures that ensure regular reviews are conducted with all employees to ensure they are up to date and policies remain effective. If a procedure isn’t working, it needs to be rewritten.

The wonders of a dashboard : It is not a waste of time if the progress and monitoring improvements are assessed with the goal of maintaining an organization’s security posture. A dashboard makes the process easy through the provision of a central location for all the plans, the policies, the best practice advice and info on employee training. An excellent dashboard software will guide companies through a complex safety procedure as well as protocol, display compliance progress against the selected standards. It involves GDPR as well as online security training videos which must be used for regular staff training. The visual traffic light system reveals the readiness of the outfit to business leaders thereby making them know the level of their preparedness.

It’s time for SMEs to act Any SME that does not take seriously the impact of the true impact a cyber-attack does so at great risk to their brand. This is time for action by SMEs or else they will have their dreams go down the drain. Where security is lacking; the business that took several years of pain and toil to build will be pulled down to rubbles.

When risks are effectively managed from inside the organization; then there will be no cause for worry. SMEs can gain from the professional expertise of online cybersecurity consultants at reduced costs. It will enable them to create an enabling environment that guarantees peace.