The Importance of Cyber Security Plan for Small Business

Small businesses are the most common target of cyber-attacks;  having a cyber security plan is the best tool against those attacks. In 2017, a quarter of small businesses had stopped operating entirely due to cyber-attack damage. The most recent records show that almost 60% of small businesses failed to recover their function. The outcome of any cyber-attack can kill your business anytime.

Small businesses are the most vulnerable to cyber-crimes because they often have weak cyber security. Business owners sometimes become confident that they are not a target because their business scale is not large, which is the most common mistake of business owners.

Small business doesn’t usually prepare enough for their cyber security. It is not a priority, and employees often lack training in good cyber security. Due to these mistakes, the most damaging outcome arises, and when cyber-attacks occur, they are defenceless. A cybersecurity plan is the one thing you should have before starting your business operation.

A cybersecurity plan is a document that contains various information, such as an organisation’s security policies, procedures, and countermeasures. The sole purpose of a cybersecurity plan is to have a concrete solution, ensure the safety of each business operation and security, and protect your entire business.

Need to secure Microsoft 365? Check out Qamba Secure 365 for a turnkey solution.

How to develop your cyber security plan? 

After determining all the critical factors in your business cybersecurity, such as the organisation’s cybersecurity structure and other best practices in cybersecurity, you can create your cybersecurity plan. 

Listed below are the things you should be in mind when creating a cybersecurity plan.  

  1. Identify Key Assets and Threats – this is the first step in creating a cybersecurity plan. This involves active consideration of your business context, asset and risk assessment and threat management processes. 
  2. Prioritise Assets, Risk, and Threats – after you identify the threats and risks, you have to prioritise the proper approach you will apply depending on your organisation. 
  3. Set Achievable Goals – In business, you must be realistic; realistic ideas should be applied when setting your goal. Achievable goals are the ideal goals to set. Start with the primary and concrete goals. Business owners should never forget that cybersecurity policies are the strong foundation that will push your team to exert all sorts of efforts, keep the business focused on the important high-risk, and get rid of such. 
  4. Document Your Cybersecurity Policies – It is a habit for small businesses to operate by word of mouth rather than from processes. However, cybersecurity is required to be documented. The protocols, processes, policies, and all other procedures are essential to write. 
  5. Link Goals to Business Objectives – Find out all the reasons behind each goal you set for your business. For example, you indicate that a firewall is necessary for your staff to access the data they need for their daily tasks efficiently. The business operation is still essential to your cybersecurity plan as it affects your whole organisation. 
  6. Test for Vulnerabilities – When all the process in writing a cybersecurity plan is done, the most important thing is to run a test. You should find out if your cybersecurity plan will work well. Waiting for an actual cyber-attack to try out your cybersecurity plan is too risky. In this process, you will need an expert to help you out. You can hire cybersecurity experts to fully assess your security to ensure your plan is relevant and practical. 

DOWNLOAD A FREE CYBERSECURITY PLAN

Other IT support companies offer complete IT security plans. One of these companies is Qamba IT. It is one of the best IT Support in Australia that gives exceptional cybersecurity services. Click here to find out more about IT Security for Small Businesses.

Our Partners

More Articles