As the Internet diffuses, the world will continue to transition markets and businesses into cyberspace from time to time. Consequently, individuals, firms, and nations will do more transactions online. Online business and communication offer speed, efficiency, and cost reduction.
Nonetheless, as cyberculture increases, governments, firms, and individuals will be faced with digital terror, digital fraud, and intellectual property thefts, among others. The solution is not to decouple from the cyber community; rather, to develop a holistic strategy that will mitigate these threats.
During my days as a bank IT infrastructure administrator with certification in Cisco technologies, I noted some points on what firms and individuals can do to protect themselves. The following are updated suggestions on how to stay secure in a digitalizing world for the trio of governments, individuals, and firms.
1. Establish an IT security policy
Many organizations do not have an IT security policy. That creates vulnerabilities for them. Irrespective of your size, you must have a policy that ensures that your firm’s digital asset is well secured and protected with steps defined on how those will be done. Understand that your cyber threats are not just from the computers, those Smartphones are internet nodes and could destroy your firm’s competitiveness. As staff accesses more office data via these phones, you must have the policy to ensure that you have your data secured. There are many Wi-fi-enabled devices today; those are potential threats if they can compromise your data. Even a GPS location system could harm your strategy if it can reveal where your marketing directors are going to the whole world. You must specify how those marketing teams use those solutions.
2. Train your staff
While you can have an IT Security Policy, that is not enough. Every firm must make sure that staff understands this policy and what they must do to keep the digital ware safe and secured. Do not assume anything. And this training must be constant as the digital threats evolve, you must update the knowledge of your staff Make sure that your staff understands
There is a simple process that creates a culture of security and integrity within an organization. You must make sure that your staff understands it. Do not assume anything. And this training must be constant as the digital threats evolve, you must update the knowledge of your staff
3. Steps to secure a firm
A firm’s digital asset is its people, its re-seller, and its technological solutions. And accordingly, you must provide them regular training to keep them safe and loyal. Not only they must be educated, but they must also be friendly and helpful as well.
4. People must be trusted
While you can have policies and limits on how other firm’s digital assets are to be used, you must also develop a culture of trust. And this must start from within the organization. You must ensure that your employees are aware that there is no personal data stored within the enterprise and that access to information is controlled and secure.
5. Ensure that end-users understand privacy
People should be made aware that passwords and pins are not like membership cards. They must be generated at user creation and they must be unique. Users must be encouraged to change the password periodically to ensure that they are protected against attacks. You can even make users public to some other organization if desired. This makes it easy for them to share information quickly and you can manage the security of the system from there.
6. Design systems to manage risk
Decide what information is allowed to get into your system; the general rule should be that this should be little understood by users. Make sure that passwords and pins are not related to personal information so that if it is compromised, you can easily find out who is responsible.
7. Inheritance plots
It is unlikely that you will ever get to know all the people who had been using your firm’s computer, so it is important to keep it interesting and valuable. You may want to start by asking related questions in order to find out who has accessed your computer. You can also follow up by asking related questions to see if the individuals really understand the consequences of their actions. You may even want to use some of the digital forensics tools to see if there is a way to backtrack and see if anyone is being prosecuted for crimes that were committed using your firm’s computer.
In Summary:
The above are updated suggestions on how to stay secure in a digitalizing world for the trio of governments, individuals, and firms.
Irrespective of your size, you must have a policy that ensures that your firm’s digital asset is well secured and protected with steps defined on how those will be done.
As staff accesses more office data via these phones, you must have the policy to ensure that you have your data secured.
Every firm must make sure that staff understands this policy and what they must do to keep the digital infrastructure safe and secured.
A firm’s digital asset is its people, its re-seller, and its technological solutions.
While you can have policies and limits on how other firm’s digital assets are to be used, you must also develop a culture of trust.
You must ensure that your employees are aware that there is no personal data stored within the enterprise and that access to information is controlled and secure.