There are numerous businesses with cyber security solutions that are no longer relevant for the current technology season.

This lapse in security control presents cyber criminals with unique opportunities to successfuly craft and attack an organisation's systems and data without restrictions.  Cybersecurity audit is nothing new, but with the internet gathering moment, the need for protection is more evident.

There has been a massive surge of global cyber-attacks ushered in by the latest virus pandemic, with cyber incidents recording five-fold increase in some cases. 

So why cyber security solutions implemented years ago may not be useful now, and should regular cyber security audits become common practice for businesses of all size?

Let us take a close look at 5 reasons why regular cyber security audits should become part of your IT strategy and business operation best practices.

Cyber threats are actively evolving

Trojans, malware and computer viruses evolve rapidly to stay abreast of security threat detection and resolution strategies. Businesses who are not actively taking security seriously are being significantly profiled and targeted for cyber threats - a disaster that can happen to your business IT infrastructure at any time.

System Security Patches Crucial for Daily Business Operation and Threat Protection.

Many security solution providers and software providers are now catching on to the need for active security defence mechanism and patch management has been cited as an important ingredient for mitigating unforeseen threats. With that said the lack of timely patch updates can provide cyber criminals with lucrative opportunities to unleash malicious attacks on organisation systems that drag their feet.

Having a regular cyber security audit can highlight crucial threat analytics and help with informed software patching decision making.

Having this level of visibility can help to determine frequency and best method for patch management deployment. This could save your business both time and money, especially when considering an organisation’s entire IT infrastructure and application architecture - including data and other digital resources.

Security threats at the operating system level is maybe the most common form of cyber-attack, but there have been significant interests in compromised email services and application vulnerabilities by cyber criminals who are looking for any way to get in do some damage - whether immediately or by delayed.

So, with nearly six billion devices connected to the internet via wireless network connectivity and direct cabling, enabling users to access systems and data within the office and via remote working solutions, why should you wait to implement strategic security auditing when it’s easier to mitigate cyber threats and being ahead of the game?

Adhering to minimum cyber security standards set by the government

The introduction of GDPR places strict accountability on every organisation that holds sensitive information to conduct periodic security assessments on their systems and data artifacts. This is in line with the minimum cyber security standard set by the government.

Although these guidelines and standards enforces the need for cyber security audits there are tolerances for scope and timescales, depending on your industry and the risk level of an underlying cyber threats. By taking these factors into consideration highlight the need for your organisation to have a reliable cyber security expert on board who can advise and execute threat level assessment and ensure your organisation adhere to the relevant regulations in a timely manner.

Most employees now work from home

Working from home is now the new digital lifestyle for many employees of organisations whose services and products fit this business model.

With this in mind, it is expected that cyber criminals will explore this as a feasible opportunity to release exploits on targeted systems and business logic entities.

The presence of home routers with super-fast broadband and little security hardening can present the perfect opportunity for automated attacks on unsecured networks

With that said, many businesses have started to enforce some degree of security mechanisms to tackle threats at both the network and application levels. Common example can be seen in the increased use of multi-factor authentication along with the deployment zero-trust architecture.  Although these are not the full set of security measures that can be put into place, their presence does make room for significant security threat mitigation, business continuity and disaster recovery, in the face of  unexpected adversities.

Regular employee awareness training on security threats and best practices

Phishing campaign is one of the main strategies used by cyber criminals to snare users to open messages that contain malware and other malicious exploits with impersonation attempts that can easily deceive an untrained computer user. The problems here is that once in your network, these exploits can replicate themselves and also morphed into new attacks that can cripple networks and business systems.

This realty emphasises the fact that security is not only an IT department concern, it's the responsibility of everyone within the company, whether working remotely, in the field or within the office.

Final Thoughts

Detecting cyber security threats or underlying issues can help to adopt a proactive stance against security intrusion and data breaches. Having periodic cyber security evaluations is a strategic move towards keeping your organisation safe, address cyber risks and implement controls that mitigate against security exploits.

Solid Rock IT UK is a leading independent IT expert in London with services available across the capital and the rest of the UK. Our cyber security audits can help businesses across industry sectors identify threats for informed decisions and the implementation of proactive controls against cyber security attacks.

Get in touch today and learn how our cyber security consultancy can help your business move forward.