
October is National Cyber Security Awareness Month, which is focused on spotlighting cyber security best practices, shedding light on the evolving threats that individuals and businesses face and ways to prevent them from causing irreparable damage.
It would be naive to ignore the very real threat of cybercrime and the evolving attack methods that have emerged in recent years. However, it’s only prudent that we spotlight some of those threats along with innovative technologies and solutions that business owners across the South West (and beyond) can adopt to combat them, minimise their effects, and safeguard their assets and reputations. Especially with recent news of SMEs across the region receiving support to adopt new technologies via Tech for Growth, there is no better time to consider methods to bolster security efforts.
This article explores four cutting-edge, tech-led strategies that businesses can use to strengthen their cyber security posture and protect their valuable intellectual property, customer, and stakeholder data. In turn, they can ensure they remain on a secure upward trajectory towards growth with their positive reputations intact.
Recent Cyber Threat Data and Statistics
Before delving deep into proactive, tech-led threat prevention tips, it’s important to get a sense of how prolific cyber threats have become.
Recent statistics paint a concerning picture:
- According to the UK government's Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2024 , 50% of businesses and 32% of charities reported experiencing cyber security breaches or attacks in the last 12 months.
- The average cost of a data breach in the UK reached £3.7 million in 2024 (a 10% increase from 2023), as reported by IBM’s annual Cost of Data Breach report.
These figures illustrate the need for robust and proactive cyber security measures to help businesses stay ahead of cyber threats. Ransomware attacks, in general, also continue to rise with more cases making headlines in the media.
1. Partner with Third-Party Security Specialists
One of the most effective ways to bolster your business’s cyber security function is to consult with external security specialists. These experts can provide a wide range of professional, managed services, from penetration testing (ethical hacking) engagements to test and report hidden vulnerabilities in infrastructure to incident response planning and support, and even round-the-clock managed detection and response (MDR) for estate-wide threat detection.
Similar services include red, blue and purple team assessments, attack simulations, digital forensics, breach notifications and much more.
Third-party security consultants can help inform your cyber security strategy, assess its effectiveness, and recommend tools and actions to patch vulnerabilities, mitigate future damage, reinforce your defences, and minimise your threat exposure. These may be difficult or costly to develop in-house, but businesses can undoubtedly gain unrivalled insights that can prove influential in their long-term strategy. This approach uncovers new technologies and software which can help business owners maintain service quality while ensuring the safety of their assets.
2. Implement Proactive Threat Detection and Response
Cyber security and agility rely heavily on analysing data and patterns, ideally in real-time, identifying anomalies that might indicate suspicious behaviour or a potential cyber attack.
Using innovative threat detection and response plugins, integrations and software, businesses can uncover normal user and network behaviour while flagging any anomalies that may be either false positives or potential security breaches. Such tools can analyse historical data and current trends to predict potential future attacks, allowing businesses to proactively strengthen their defences. McAfee Enterprise Security Manager and SolarWinds Threat Monitor are two noteworthy examples of threat detection software.
Empowering your business with the ability to proactively search for potential threats within your network allows you to detect issues before they develop into large-scale problems. This can provide a much more robust and responsive defence mechanism against new threats.
3. Adopt a Zero Trust Architecture
Traditional perimeter-based security models are becoming increasingly obsolete with work environments becoming more remote and geographically distributed. Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA) is emerging as a more effective top-level approach, with the model operating on the principle of ‘never trust, always verify’.
This involves applying strict identity verification for every user and device trying to access resources on a private network. Key components would, for example, include:
- Multi-factor authentication (MFA): requiring two or more forms of verification before granting access to resources
- Least privilege access: limiting user access permissions to resources they purely need to perform their work
- Micro-segmentation: dividing the network into smaller zones to maintain disparate access for various parts of a network
- Continuous monitoring: constantly verifying users, devices and applications and their security statuses
Implementing a ZTA can exponentially reduce the risk of unauthorised access and mitigate the potential damage should a business suffer a breach. It will involve a substantial shift in security infrastructure and mindset, but the long-term benefits will make the investment hugely worthwhile.
4. Data Encryption and Backups
Businesses must take more proactive steps to ensure all stored sensitive data is encrypted. Saving data in normal, text-only formats makes it easier for malicious actors to access, exploit and utilise it unlawfully.
On the flip side, data encryption limits access to parties that only have a valid encryption key. It also conceals it from unauthorised parties should they somehow slip through the cracks. Some software even unveils timestamped attempts when people try to alter or tamper with encrypted information.
Simultaneously, conducting regular backups of core system information mitigates any potential repercussions of data loss or theft following a breach. While breaches could disrupt operations and hamper productivity, multiple backups of data can prove invaluable when recovering and restoring services back to normal. Ideally, consider having two copies of backups on different servers and storage media, with one on an off-site location, such as a data centre.
Building a Multi-Layered Approach to Cyber Security
With cyber threats looming large and evolving in scale and sophistication, businesses that adopt a proactive approach to cyber security - with multiple layers - will be best positioned to stabilise and continue their scaling journey with greater reassurance and confidence.
Deploying new technology alone is not a harbinger of complete stability for your operations and digital presence. The solutions outlined above should form crucial parts of a comprehensive, evolving cyber security strategy that also includes:
- Robust policies and procedures for passwords, access control, information handling and data protection
- Continuous patch management processes
- Security audits and risk assessments
- Regular employee training and awareness programmes
As we recognise Cyber Security Awareness Month and the insights it brings, business leaders should take this time to evaluate and scrutinise their security functions and consider implementing advanced, tech-led strategies such as those outlined above.
Need more help growing and scaling your business? Consider Business West’s local skills improvement plans or the fully-funded Tech for Growth initiative which can help you develop new approaches and implement new systems to improve productivity and processes.
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