TECHNOLOGY
Three top cyber tips for SMEs
Tony Jarvis, director of enterprise security at Darktrace provides his top three crucial pointers on data security for small andmedium companies to consider
F ollowing a year that saw cyber-attacks grow in small, to examine their cybersecurity posture. Specifically, I want to offer some tips for small and medium-sized businesses. I began my career in cyber security two decades ago, initially working for Telstra, the largest telecommunications company in Australia. Since then, I have worked as a chief information security officer (CISO) advisor and cybersecurity strategist, advising Fortune 500 clients across the world on how to defend themselves against the most sophisticated threats. I can safely say, we’ve entered a new era of cyber threat. sophistication, and business disruption compounded by a ransomware crimewave, it’s time for businesses, large and If it were measured as a country, cybercrime would be the world’s third-largest economy after the United States and China. Mid-size businesses are often considered a soft underbelly for cybercriminals. A common misconception exists among cybercriminals that mid-size businesses do too little to strengthen their cybersecurity, which makes them an appealing target. But the reality is, they are often targeted as a thoroughfare to higher- value targets, critical systems and highly classified information. Most are planning to make, or have already begun making, the sweeping, technology-driven organisational changes that define a digital transformation, and a growing majority say these adjustments will soon be essential to their competitiveness. But the cyber challenge faced by mid-size businesses is multi-faceted. They are often under-resourced and are particularly affected by a global cyber-skills shortage. Small, or non-existent, security teams are tasked with defending the business from the full range of cyber threats — from sophisticated, novel and targeted campaigns to very fast-moving smash-and-grab attacks — while managing an increasingly distributed workforce and complex digital infrastructure. The challenge extends beyond adequate resources — the threats these organisations face are too fast or stealthy for humans to contend with, and the number of new avenues for hackers to gain entry is growing at a rate too rapid for security teams to monitor. This complexity can make the task at hand seem overwhelming for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), but there are some simple resolutions they can take to boost their cyber resilience.
| Professional in Payroll, Pensions and Reward | April 2022 | Issue 79 36
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