Many of us start a new year with resolutions that are designed to shore up weaknesses and move our companies forward. It can be daunting if your list is long, and a fight to keep those resolutions in focus by March and April. One critical resolution: assessing the underlying risk within your company. A key risk that we read about in the media daily is cyber security risk. Every business must have a sound plan for managing the risk of a cybersecurity breach.
The risks are real
First Business Bank recently sponsored a cybersecurity event with FBI Agent Byron Franz, where he revealed some sobering statistics including:
- 80% of American companies have been hacked
- Many American companies have a bigger coffee budget than cyber security budget
- An estimated $400 billion is stolen in intellectual property each year
The time to focus on protecting ourselves and our companies is now There are many resources available to help you with a risk assessment including private for profit IT firms that conduct security, risk and regulatory compliance assessments. There are also free services available from Department of Homeland Security. DHS has designed an assessment tool that guides users through a step-by-step process to access their control systems and informational technology network security practices. More information about the Cyber Security Evaluation Tool (CSET) can be found at https://www.cisa.gov/stopransomware/cyber-security-evaluation-tool-csetr.
No matter what route you take, it’s time to begin to better understand how ready your company is to defend itself against a cybersecurity attack.
