The cyberattack landscape has increased the need for compliance risk assessment and protection for businesses of all sizes. As organizations continue implementing new and innovative digital assets and initiatives, they also expand where and how they can be attacked.

Because of this, you must understand your operations, assets, and the most effective ways to secure your business from modern cyberattacks. Some tips to help you with this initiative can be found here.

Define Your Asset Categories

Digital assets are data and files that are kept on a storage drive or digital computer system. The assets are often at a higher risk because more people can access them. Also, you are more desirable to cybercriminals who want to hack your system and hold your data for ransom.

To protect this data, you must regularly classify your assets so content doesn’t go unnoticed. Taking time to group assets by category will provide you with a high-level overview of the environment and help guide decision-making.

Take Inventory of Your Operating Systems

When you group assets by their operating systems, you can answer essential questions about your business. This includes things like what employees are using an older version of Windows and which ones are running Windows versus Apple software.

If you want to improve the security of your business, you must upgrade and patch systems when they are released. This will protect your sensitive data and employees from system exploits and help you create a plan to eliminate the older operating systems.

Understand Common Processes

Take inventory of your day-to-day processes to help you find redundancies that waste resources and may be more susceptible to exploitation. If you hire managed IT services, they need to know the top active system processes in your digital environment and fully understand the baseline activities. If any abnormalities occur, your team should be able to investigate the issues and fix them quickly.

Handle Software Installations

A first step of uncovering software vulnerabilities is fully understanding how commonly installed assets are dispersed across your network. Many businesses overlook this concern; however, it’s one you can’t really afford to, as seen with the news of Banner ERP software leaving 62 colleges vulnerable to attacks because of an exploit that was never patched. Having clear insight into all software installations makes it possible for your team to cross-check the known exposures and vulnerabilities to ensure updates for these are prioritized.

Understand Risk Trends

With cybersecurity, there’s no such thing as a one-size-fits-all solution. However, a few common denominators make securing your digital presence easier. You can implement a 24/7 network monitoring and threat detection platform, which will ensure your assets are always protected.

The Right Managed Service Provider Matters

The managed service provider you hire for IT needs has a significant impact on the security of your business and assets from cyberattacks. When it is time to hire this service provider, remember; CrafTech Computer Solutions has your back and will do whatever it takes to keep your business running smoothly.