Cybersecurity remains one of the leading focal points for regulators around the world. And for good reason.
As we continue to face increasingly sophisticated cyber attack methods, firms – which face specific threats due to the sensitive nature of the data their store – must proactively work to mitigate risk and protect their clients.
How? In this blog, we dive into 10 best practices you can implement at your firm right now to safeguard against cyber attacks more effectively.
10 Cybersecurity Best Practices
Implementing best practices is essential to fortify your cybersecurity program and protect your firm from cyber threats. The tactics and best practices outlined below take into consideration many of the recommendations outlined in the NIST Framework, along with the extensive experience and knowledge of our consultant team.
- Educate and train your staff on cybersecurity best practices, including how to identify suspect emails and social engineering attacks. Consider training modules and simulations to test employee responsiveness.
- Stay updated with threat intelligence feeds to proactively detect and mitigate emerging threats and update training as appropriate.
- Incorporate cybersecurity training into onboarding practices to ensure all employees know cybersecurity protocols from day one.
- Protect sensitive data by implementing “acceptable use” or limited access to devices based on job responsibilities, terminating access for former employees, and limiting mobile device usage.
- Install appropriate software and programs (including antivirus and malware) on devices used to access client data. Make sure subscriptions are active, and all updates are automatically installed.
- Require your staff to use different alphanumeric passwords to access each separate system. Never write down these passwords, and require all passwords to be automatically updated every three months. Always require two-factor authentication for your staff to access all systems.
- Encourage all staff members to protect their personal information on social media networks, such as Facebook and LinkedIn, which can be exploited to enable attackers to answer your staff members’ personal security questions.
- Never email sensitive information to clients. Always utilize secure client portals or secure communications to deliver and request such information.
- Implement continuous monitoring of network traffic and endpoints. For this type of monitoring, we suggest adding an inventory of devices used.
- Regularly test every aspect of your cybersecurity program to ensure it is properly maintained and that any potential risks are addressed.
Download The Ultimate Guide to Cybersecurity Compliance for more best practices and guidance.
Tackling Cybersecurity Compliance
As the threat of cyber attacks continues to increase, so does the need to fortify your firm. With COMPLY, you can mitigate cybersecurity compliance risk before it becomes a reality.
Our solution enables firms to effectively:
- Document security protocols
- Train employees on cybersecurity best practices
- Automate cybersecurity compliance on user devices, networks, and applications
- Audit and log all completed training modules and results
- Assess risk from third-party vendors
- Incorporate realistic employee phishing simulations
- Create a customized information security policy
Interested in learning more? Schedule time to speak with one of our experts today!