Digital Defense: Why Having a Strong Security Plan Now Could Save You Later

In today's digital landscape, we continue to hear the aftermath of data breaches and ransomware attacks and how they impact businesses and society.

Organizations must develop a robust cybersecurity strategy to protect themselves from evolving cyber threats. Without one, they are exposing themselves to risks such as data breaches, financial losses, operational disruptions, and reputational damage.

In this week’s edition of The SoftwareOne Scoop, follow along as we discuss how and why to implement proactive cybersecurity measures, how to lower risk and overspending in the cloud, and the importance of collaborating with a security solution provider to create a resilient shield against threats.

Let’s take a look at the risks that could potentially surface from not having a strong cybersecurity shield in place.

1. Data breaches – Significant consequences for individuals, businesses, and even society as a whole can result from a single data breach.
2. Malware infections – Malware can steal personal information stored on your device, such as passwords and credit card details, which may be used for malicious activities.
3. Financial losses – Ransomware, the demand for a sum of money in return for your assets back, can happen to anyone without a proper plan in place. Our team of experts can help protect you against financial losses.
4. Operational and UX disruption – Malware can slow down your device. It can cause frequent crashes, freezing, and poor performance, affecting your productivity and user experience.
5. Shadow IT – Without proper communication between departments, software can be purchased without proper approval resulting in overspending or even installing corrupted software on your device.
6. Supply chain vulnerabilities
7. Reputational damage

Incorporating proactive measures such as meeting with your publisher and partner team of experts, regular software updates, employee training, encryption, access controls, incident response plans, and consistent monitoring of your IT Asset Management (ITAM) strategy will help your organization create a resilient shield against cyber threats and reduce cost, shadow IT, and risk in the cloud.

With the number of unique security solutions out there today – coupled with the complexities of multi-cloud environments – selecting who to bring in to help support you can feel overwhelming. However, choosing the right solution is equally as important as having a plan in place and a team who knows how to execute it.

We recommend starting with:

1. Looking at the big picture – are you global? Are you looking to expand globally? Having a team by your side who understands the unique complexities of operating on a large scale is crucial to security success.
2. Protecting beyond your endpoints – look at cloud workloads, identities, and your data. A security solution partner such as CrowdStrike or Arctic Wolf can help secure all aspects of your environment and discuss incident response plans for each aspect.
3. Assessing your entire cloud strategy beyond security – does your plan or where you are currently at in your cloud journey fit the goals you have created? Though many organizations are moving to a SaaS model, not all cloud growth is purposeful. Make sure what you are securing is also needed and accounted for.

Now that you understand the necessary components to developing and implementing a strong cybersecurity strategy, it’s time to start thinking about putting your plan into action – but you might still be wondering how to actually get put foot to pavement!

We’re here to assure you that you don’t have to have these conversations alone. SoftwareOne is here to walk alongside you as you assess your current security strategies and solutions and determine the best approach for the future. As an added bonus, we’ll also ensure your strategy is tightly aligned with your ITAM practices to maximize the value of your security investments while effectively managing your IT assets.

Want to see our work in action? Discover how we helped this customer increase their systems and firewall stability to ensure smooth business operations and secure sensitive customer data.

And that’s the scoop! We’d love to hear from you. What did you like? What do you want to see more of? Leave us a comment below????so we can make sure we’re serving up the best content for you. And don't forget to subscribe????so you don’t miss our next edition!