The Cyber Security dilemma, how to bring the good guys with you

Guest Post by Colm Hyland CyberQuest

At certain times and in certain circumstances, some people are expected to lead. Circumstances now are very difficult in many ways.

Conflict, poor communications and bad decisions are almost endemic. How can we expect the managers of small businesses to move things forward when there are so many problems to deal with locally and nationally? When you add another problem to the mix, it can be easily ignored or rejected. If this problem happens to be invisible, then the ignorance and rejection levels increases.

Getting the manager to sit down and agree that there is a problem is the first step on the right road. Accepting that this may take time is critical. There are so many distractions and priorities, dealing with invisible enemies appears intangible and therefore easy to put off for another day. Bombarding the manager with scary facts and figures, about attacks and mercenary gangs stealing data and selling it on the dark web, won’t help. You don’t want to drown them with data or resort to scaremongering as it does not guarantee the required change away from ignorance and rejection. This will convey all you need to get your message across.

Not knowing is no longer an excuse. There has been a concerted effort by the Government and their key agencies to tell managers that the problem is getting worse. The bad guys are getting better, and the good guys are having difficulty responding, never mind moving ahead. The arrival of Artificial Intelligence tools has been readily adopted by the criminals. Doing more bad things faster, is a huge enticement, especially when getting caught is less likely.

Nobody is safe, from 6-95. If you have a connected device, then you are a target. They may just want your identity but they are also happy to steal your money, your personal data and break into your organisations systems through your e-mail or phone.

If the manager knows there is a problem and accepts that change is needed at both personal and business levels. This realisation is a main difference between behaving as a manager and performing as a leader.

We need more leaders, individuals who accept that cyber security is having a devastating impact on organisations around the world. Nobody is exempt. When our SME managers start securing their own areas, then the culminating impact will grow across the country and abroad.

Start by learning cyber speak, don’t be put off by the ‘professionals’ who try to bamboozle all of us with software codes, regulations and the strange names of the criminal gangs. Talk to other organisations in your sector that have been attacked or are here to protect us. Find somebody inside your business who has an interest in learning more about cyber.

Cyber awareness training and cyber review

Run some cyber awareness training to ensure that everybody is conscious of the main threats. Communicate to your people, advise them to pass on the messages to their families, especially their children. Put cyber on the management agenda, what’s happened, what are we planning for.

Complete a cyber review and use it to create an improvement plan. Move out of ignorance and rejection into improvement and resilience.

It is also worth noting that if you act as if your business has suffered a security breach, you are then prepared for all eventualities and can spring immediately into action. The last thing you want or your business needs is downtime. Every second counts, and by being proactive you are taking control of the situation, minimising disruption for you and your clients. Staying cool, calm and collected is the order of the day, ensuring everyone in your business is singing of  the same hymn sheet.

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