How SMEs can protect themselves against increasing threats

Cybercrime is a growing concern for small businesses, and it is no longer true that only large organisations are being targeted by hackers.

How SMEs can protect themselves against increasing threats

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The carnage caused by illicit digital activities is headline news, impacting millions of organisations and individuals each year.

Threats that SMEs face are not only associated with rogue third-party groups; they are posed by the rising number of smart devices that are entering the workplace. From smartphones and tablets to web-enabled gadgets that form the Internet of Things (IoT), the potential for data loss and theft has never been greater.

What can smaller firms do to shield themselves from these issues, and how effective are modern methods at achieving this?

Device Management

One of the biggest hurdles that is facing IT security specialists in the modern age is that of ensuring that the entire operating environment, including the underlying networking components and the devices that connect to them, is visible and manageable.

How SMEs can protect themselves against increasing threats2

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Harnessing effective endpoint security management solutions, such as those offered by providers like https://www.promisec.com/, will help staff to pinpoint problems before they wreak havoc on the wider system. This includes checking that software is up-to-date across the board, enabling the latest security patches to be applied rather than leaving outdated devices as a weak link in the chain.

Automation

If you have a small team dedicated to the task of IT security, it may be difficult for them to stay on top of everything that falls under their purview. Thankfully, many security processes can be automated through modern management platforms.

This not only applies to the aforementioned synchronisation of software updates but also to the identification of vulnerabilities that may exist in apps that are in use on certain devices but come from outside the standard procurement pattern adopted across the organisation.

It is increasingly common to find third-party apps in use on business devices or devices connected to an enterprise network. Monitoring these and checking to see if any are flawed can be performed automatically, freeing up valuable resources to dedicate to other tasks.

IT can empower even the smallest businesses, but if a breach occurs, it could be catastrophic. This means endpoint security is essential for organisations that are keen to be realistic about the scale of the threats they face.

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