The latest episode of Vodafone’s business.connected video series brings three business leaders together to discuss common cybersecurity threats, and how founders can avoid them.
November 2, 1988. A graduate student at Cornell University, New York, unleashes what is now thought to be one of the first recorded cases of a cyber attack, by exploiting weak passwords and other vulnerabilities. In just 24 hours, the Morris worm had infected around 6,000 computers.
While it’s fair to say that cybersecurity attacks have become a lot more sophisticated since this first recorded occurrence, surprisingly, many of the basic protective measures remain the same.
For small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) in particular, these measures can often be the difference between continued operation or total collapse.
Turn problems into solutions
“You kind of have to think of it in the same way as you do your physical security,” says Hawa Mansaray, a chief information security officer (CISO) lead and tech founder. “You wouldn’t leave your house without locking the door, for example.”
And, just like a house, there is often more than one ‘door’ that needs securing when it comes to your business, with each area left unsecured posing another opportunity for attackers gain access.
This might start with something simple, like improving the strength of your passwords, but should soon extend to more substantial training throughout your team.
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Each episode features a dynamic, rotating panel of entrepreneurs and experts who engage in lively and honest discussions about the real challenges faced by SMEs today.
“The first system we have is a process for the team,” says Dhruvin Patel, co-founder of eye health business Ocushield.
“[Schemes and certifications like] ISO/IEC 27001, Cyber Essentials and Cyber Essentials Plus give us a very good architecture of what we need to do to make sure we stay on top of our cybersecurity.”
The trick is not to overlook cybersecurity just because the outputs can be less tangible than they are in other departments, such as sales or marketing.
“For most founders, the equation is simple: put in these inputs – finance, time, resource – to see outputs like sales or growth,” says Hawa.
“Cybersecurity flips that on its head, however, as you put in the same inputs but you’re doing it so that you don’t see outputs.”
All of which makes it critical that staff have access to the latest tools and information – something that can be guaranteed by working with the right cybersecurity partner.
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Get your head in the cloud
One major development in this space has been the growth of cloud-based services. From documents to multimedia, data and backups, today’s most successful businesses store just about everything on the cloud.
“Prevention is better than a cure,” says Hawa. “Having back-ups in place is going to save you so much heartache and headache if you become a victim of a cyber attack.”
Despite its benefits, however, cloud computing does in fact introduce a unique set of cybersecurity risks, most of which stem from the shared responsibility model that the cloud enables.
By virtue of allowing all members of your company to access documents and data, businesses can unwittingly be exposing themselves to data breaches or other threats.
“You want to make sure that you limit access to data to a purely need-to-know basis, especially things like customer data.”
Rachael Twumasi-Corson
Remote working, for instance, relies on cloud computing. It also relies, however, on a company-wide understanding of cybersecurity best practices.
“You want to make sure that you’ve got good security features [installed] on the machine that’s being worked on,” says Rachael Twumasi-Corson, a serial entrepreneur.
“You also want to make sure that you limit access to data to a purely need-to-know basis, especially things like customer data.”
By combining team awareness with two factor authentication, firewalls and antivirus software, businesses can be safe in the knowledge that they are well protected when engaging in cloud-based file sharing.
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How to stay private in public
With 75% of SMEs now boasting a hybrid workforce, security outside of the traditional office has taken on even greater significance in recent years.
As more staff regularly work either at home or in public spaces, business owners should ensure that suitable safeguards are in place to avoid potential risks.
“If you can help it, try not to connect to public WiFi,” says Hawa. “It’s better to hotspot, just because on a public network, you have no idea who else is on that network.”
When working with sensitive or confidential data, this becomes even more important. While a virtual private network (VPN) can help by putting greater separation between your data and bad actors, a dongle or mobile hotspot are both more secure options when online in a public setting.
At an even more basic level, staff should be reminded not to leave things lying around or clearly visible on screens.
“Make sure that, whatever is on your screen, you would be okay with anyone seeing,” says Rachael, “whether that involves sensitive company information or customer data.”
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Trust the process
“When I was younger, a mentor told me that focusing on the finer details is what really pays off,” adds Dhruvin. “With cybersecurity, it’s that small level of detail – or just that one weakness – that can lead to your organisation crumbling.”
As a founder, the best thing to do is make sure that you’re not allowing more fires to start than you need to,” says Hawa. “And, honestly, the best way to do this is to have a clear cybersecurity plan and process in place.”
Thankfully, there is a lot of advice and support available to help founders from becoming the latest in a long line of cybersecurity case studies.
With cybersecurity more important than ever, the business.connected series is here to provide hands-on advice and inspiration from some of the UK’s most exciting entrepreneurs and small business owners.
Watch the latest episode, featuring Hawa, Rachael and Dhruvin, on YouTube now, and find out more on the Vodafone Business website.
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