There is a big difference between understanding the dangers of cyberattacks and knowing how to stop them. Many businesses and organisations understand the importance of cybersecurity and why it is needed however very few know the steps needed to mitigate or stop a threat. Prevent, detect, react is a simple three-step process that has been traditionally used to protect businesses against cyberattacks.
Prevent
Prevention is the first and most widely used step as it is accessible to everyone, regardless of cybersecurity abilities. The idea of taking preventative measures is to protect your infrastructure from outside threats. Proactive solutions include setting up edge devices (servers, wireless router connection, for example) with software that will keep a lookout for cyberattacks and block them. Prevention is a great way to protect information that is being regularly updated and is the first roadblock to ensuring cyber attackers cannot easily steal your information.
While anyone can set up their preventative cybersecurity system, working with an established cybersecurity company means not having to worry about missed prevention opportunities and threats of attack.
Detect
Once you have set up measures to prevent an attack, the next step is intuitive – detect. Detection is the second line of defence and will ensure that anything that slips through the gaps is picked up immediately. When it comes to small businesses that have established preventative measures, detection is where it falls through. Failing to detect when a system has been breached can lead to a major loss of information. This can either be a result of a failed firewall or an employee unknowingly downloading malware or a bug onto your system.
To avoid this happening, cybersecurity companies have expert teams and reliable software that will detect the breach so that it can be immediately isolated. Small businesses, especially those that do not have a designated cybersecurity team will benefit hugely from the extra eyes and hands. Professionals can detect the attack almost immediately, and begin planning the next steps. Without them, a breach can go unnoticed for hours, days and worse, even months, after which, the damage would already be done.
React
The final step is a clear process to stop cyberattacks. Small businesses and organisations can get this step wrong if they have not had proper cybersecurity training or do not have a designated team to work on it. A good reaction plan and tactic are vital to an organisation’s success coming out of and after a cyber attack.
At the point of reaction, cyber professionals will already hold a report with the details of the type of attack, when it occurred, how and what the best solution and reaction is. This is where you see the obvious benefits of working with cyber professionals.
Whilst the three-step process is a simple and straightforward approach to take and one that many cybersecurity providers will encourage you to adopt, there is an alternative.
Zero Trust Security is the ultimate prevention solution – it operates on the basis that no access attempt can be trusted, regardless of the source. Every attempt is verified and double-checked, no matter what. By adopting this approach, you can largely negate the need to pay for monitoring centres or invest heavily in a team to react because these will rarely come into play.
Cyberattacks can happen to anyone, at any time and once a cybercriminal has found a way to access your data, there is very little you can do if you have not been trained. Investing in a cybersecurity company to help you prevent, detect and react will be worthwhile, but considering a Zero Trust Security solution instead will put the emphasis on prevention which is the biggest element to focus on.
With 90% of successful hacking attempts being made through social engineering, Zero Trust Security is the best way to prevent your business from falling victim. Click here to get in touch and find out how we can help protect your business.
