360-degree cybersecurity can be established by enforcing multi-factor authentication, training staff, patching software regularly, establishing access controls, backing up data, and securing the network and devices. While in-house implementation can be expensive, outsourcing serves as a cost-effective option.
Businesses in the United Kingdom (UK) are being increasingly targeted by cybercriminals. The Cyber Security Breaches Survey found that around 612,000 (43%) UK businesses and 61,000 (30%) UK charities faced a cybersecurity attack in 2024. For your small business, the average cost of a cyberattack can be between £3,398 and £5,001. If you want to learn how to implement a 360-degree cybersecurity solution in your small business, then keep reading.
Small businesses tend to have easy vulnerabilities that make them low-effort targets. Moreover, even your small business holds valuable data, like customer records, financial information, and intellectual property. Hackers may also target your small business to gain access to your larger, more secure corporate partners. So, having a comprehensive cybersecurity for small business in place is no longer optional, but essential.
A 360-degree approach to cybersecurity will ensure protection across all your digital assets, including people, processes, and technology. It involves training staff, establishing clear policies, and deploying tools to prevent, recognise, and respond to cybersecurity breaches. Relying solely on antivirus software is no longer enough.
Before you attempt to implement a 360-degree cybersecurity solution, it is important to have a concrete idea of what you actually want to protect. Your goal should be to protect your digital assets by mapping, assessing, and securing your critical business data.
You must list all your devices, software, customer information, financial records, and cloud services to understand what needs protection. By doing so, you can ensure that no cybersecurity vulnerability or priority gets overlooked.
Beware of phishing— deceptive emails designed to trick your staff into sharing credentials. It is the most prevalent as well as disruptive type of cyberattack in the UK, faced by 85% of businesses and 86% of charities.
You may also fall victim to ransomware, where malware will encrypt your files and hold your data for ransom. It is also possible that a malicious or negligent employee or contractor is stealing your data.
Make sure you prioritise risk management appropriately. Focus your security efforts on the highest-value data first. Use MFA, backup data regularly, keep your software updated, and keep staff trained.
Here is an overview of the factors to consider and steps to follow for achieving strong cyber security for small businesses.
Before diving into details, go through an overview of the 360-degree small business cyber security implementation steps to become more familiar with the concepts.
These steps will help your employees adopt safe online habits and respond to cybersecurity incidents.
Once your employees become competent at preventing and responding to cybersecurity incidents, you will achieve security-awareness in your small business. So, these are the technology-dependent steps you should take to proactively address security vulnerabilities, prevent cyberattacks, and ensure business continuity after an incident.
So, you employees know the best practices, and your organisation has all the cybersecurity technologies in place. However, these are three additional steps you must take for 360-degree protection from cybersecurity steps.
Here are the detailed steps you can follow to build the foundations for a comprehensive cyber security for small businesses.
You should start by building the foundation for your 360-degree cybersecurity system. You can do it by implementing essential defences in layers.
You should adopt a “least privilege” access model for your small business. Start by enforcing strict and complex password policies. Your employees must set unique alphanumeric passwords containing characters and mixed cases as well.
You should also make Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) mandatory for all applications. This involves requiring a secondary code on top of your username and password to gain access to corporate data or employee accounts. You must also utilise Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) to ensure that employees only have access to the data they need for their job.
It is also important to centralise user management functions. This will help you with quick onboarding, instant offboarding, and immediate retrieval of devices, thus preventing data leaks. Additionally, you should conduct a review of the access control on a quarterly basis to remove unnecessary permissions.
You might believe that your business is safe from cyberattacks as it is not large enough to be an attractive target. But the reality can be quite contrasting. Cybercriminals tend to prefer targeting your small business based on the assumption that it lacks the resources to defend itself. Now, if your small business is a top target, then your employees serve as the primary defence.
You must focus on arranging an interactive phishing simulation or training to teach employees how to recognise and combat social engineering attempts. Establish clear policies on which files can be downloaded, emails can be replied to, and links can be opened. Your overarching goal should be to create a security-aware culture.
It is also important that you fortify every digital touchpoint in your organisation against evolving online threats, in order to achieve a strong small business cyber security.
Even with an effective cyber security for small business in place, successful defence is not always guaranteed. Therefore, it is important to set up a system to automatically back up files on a regular basis.
You should also enforce immutable or offline storage to prevent ransomware from accessing and tampering with your files. Moreover, you should also have a clear disaster recovery plan in place, with a focus on the restoration of critical data. Furthermore, regular testing will be necessary to check if you can recover your operations rapidly after an incident.
If you want help implementing backups and recovery, explore Secure Backup.
Finding weaknesses in your systems before an attacker does is also a part of a 360-degree cybersecurity solution.
You should set up automated checks for known weaknesses, configuration errors, and unpatched software. You can perform the checks on a monthly or quarterly basis.
You should manually simulate attacks on your company’s system as an ethical hacking practice. Your goal here should be to exploit vulnerabilities and identify deep-seated security issues. You can run penetration testing annually or after major changes.
You must run comprehensive evaluations of the policies, systems, and compliance requirements. The audits and reviews must be performed at least annually. But you should also run evaluations after a security incident happens.
A 360-degree cybersecurity solution can help you build trust with your customers or clients. Here are the particular measures that will help you maximise your brand’s security.
If you’re working towards a recognised baseline, see Cyber Essentials.
Your small business cyber security might not be strong due to lack the internal expertise or resources to take proactive measures and respond to threats. Similarly, you may not find it feasible to deploy a dedicated cybersecurity team for 24/7 monitoring and response. In such a case, you can outsource your cybersecurity for small business functions to a Managed Security Services Provider (MSSP).
You will find outsourcing to an MSSP more cost-effective than in-house teams. So, consider choosing a cybersecurity partner with industry experience, 24/7 support capacity, and scalable solutions.
With 360-degree cyber security for small businesses, your organisation will remain protected. It involves the integration of people, processes, and technology. It is about a layer and proactive defence, supported by regular training, testing, auditing, policy enforcement, monitoring, data backup, security-awareness, and more.
The comprehensive approach to cybersecurity will secure your digital assets and ensure business continuity. So, if you are considering maximising your small business cyber security, but lack in-house expertise, then reach out to a reputable MSSP today!
360-degree cyber security for small businesses can appear expensive if managed in-house, even with expertise. However, if you go for tailored, outsourced 360-degree cybersecurity, the cost will be less. Moreover, outsourcing will cost significantly less compared to the expense of breach recovery.
You should start by conducting a thorough risk assessment. You should identify and prioritise the vulnerabilities, data assets, and potential threats. You should also perform a mapping of all devices, software, and access points.
For a small business, “enough” cybersecurity can be when you implement a layered and proactive defence system. It should cover strong password policies, MFA, regular backups, update software, employee training, and strong firewalls.