What safety measures do you take at home when you go on vacation? Probably close all doors and windows, unplug unnecessary electrical outlets, and give a trusted person the front door key to take care of plants or animals, to name a few examples. When it comes to your own home, you quickly know how to secure yourself well, but in the digital working environment, SMEs in particular seem to find it difficult to find the right solution for their security. Since 2020 and the associated increase in home office users, the number of cyberattacks has also risen sharply: While in 2020 a quarter of Swiss SMEs stated in a survey that they had been affected by cyberattacks, by the end of 2021 this figure had already risen to one-third and thus around 55,000 companies in Switzerland. But how can you avert this as a smaller company without a large IT department? We enlighten you about the challenges and present strategies as well as solutions.
THE DILEMMA WITH CYBERSECURITY IN SMEs
Cyberattacks can cause great damage: Cybersecurity is therefore also a matter for the boss. But for managers in a company in particular, IT security is a complex double task: the new technologies must be sensibly incorporated into the structure and employees must be taught how to use them. At the same time, the risks and increasingly complex processes must be fully taken into account and IT systems must be protected.
The security risks for companies are manifold, which is why we summarized the 6 biggest cyber risks for Swiss SMEs for you in a previous blog post. It turns out that humans are still the biggest risk factor. Therefore, one of the first important points for managers is to create awareness of the issue and regularly educate their employees about the ever-changing risks. If resources with the necessary expertise in cybersecurity are lacking, external service providers can often fill this gap better in terms of quality. In addition, there is the possibility of an outsourced 7×24 organization and all-round monitoring, because, as is well known, possible security incidents know no opening hours.
YOUR STRATEGY FOR BETTER CYBERSECURITY
With the recognition of the need for action, such as the previously mentioned lack of qualified personnel or insufficiently educated employees, the foundation for a good strategy has already been laid.
1. Determine initial situation
Because the first step is to define the starting point. Take a close look at the extent to which your company could be affected by cyber risks and how your IT security is already set up. Only if you know the basis, you know where there is an urgent need for optimization and where you can build further. Since an assessment is often difficult without expertise, external service providers can be a tremendous help. This enables experts to provide you with an objective, factual overview of your organization, information lifecycle, IT infrastructure, risk management system, and processes, and to make specific recommendations for your cyber strategy.
2. Optimization and implementation
This brings us directly to the second point of your strategy – implementation. Once the problems are identified, it is much easier to eliminate them and optimize processes to protect you. Some things can be implemented quickly, such as the introduction of multifactor authentication and strict separation of private and company devices in the home office. For other points, it is a good idea to call in expert knowledge here as well. Choosing the best technical measures for your IT security can be complicated and costly if you don’t know the latest information and studies on protecting against cyberattacks and for your own security.
Think about your employees in the home office as well: IT security is not limited to the classic office, but has become even more important, especially due to remote working. Digital jobs must be secured above all to ensure innovation, mobility and success.
CONCLUSION
For Swiss SMEs, cybersecurity can be a challenge, but it doesn’t have to be. Awareness of risks is rising more and more, not least due to the increasing number of cyberattacks. As a company, it is therefore worthwhile to clarify what other aspects the digital transformation may entail. Because in addition to the many advantages for SMEs in Switzerland, the dangers should never be ignored. And it is precisely this step that is essential: make clear which gaps and areas for action exist in your company and have experts explain risks such as social engineering, phishing or hacker attacks to you. With a good strategy, dangers can be avoided and the useful areas of digitization can be fully exploited.
Our experts at Dinotronic are ideally trained to help you partner with them. With our Managed Cybersecurity Services, we find the right strategy for your needs. Whether it’s information management, firewall services or endpoint protection – the world of cybersecurity is large and complex, but with the help of experts, it can be implemented efficiently and easily, even for small Swiss companies. Would you like an all-round carefree package for modern, mobile and secure workplaces, including for your home office employees? Then we’ll be happy to support you with our Digital Workplace Services for SMEs, so you can relax and take care of your core business.
