Look, here’s the deal. Mean hackers and their yucky ilk are getting savvier. Ransomware-as-a-Service is a thing now. Cyberthreats are evolving faster than slime in a petri dish, and growing alongside the slime is the market for cybersecurity offerings.
So, is cybersecurity a good investment? Short answer: yes. But when there’s a dizzying choice of cyberthreat-busting solutions and you have limited $$ in the cybersecurity budget, where are you gonna splash the cash for the biggest puck for the buck? Here are our four top picks to maximize return on your good ‘ol cybersecurity investment.
No 1: Mobile Device Management
Sorry to break it to you, but the point of entry for the bad guys isn’t your office front door, it’s each and every mobile device that your team uses every day. Enter MDM – Mobile Device Management – our No. 1 pick for maximizing your cybersecurity investment.
Why MDM?
MDM automates, optimizes, and manages your fleet of remote devices from a single dashboard, which acts as a single source of truth as well as your inventory of IT assets. MDM is an enabler of a metric ton of cybersecurity as, from this dashboard, you can configure a wide range of cybersecurity measures, such as:
| MDM Feature | Benefit |
| Encryption | File and disk encryption: Turns data into gibberish as it travels between sender and receiver, which means unauthorized people can’t read it. |
| Security updates | Enforced OS updates and passcodes: Passwords that are frequently changed are harder to crack. Operating systems that aren’t updated are open to breach. |
| Filters | Third-party email filters: These scan incoming emails, assessing for malware and viruses, and quarantines the email. |
| Virus protection | Antivirus software: Does what it says on the tin. Software that protects against viruses. |
| Authentication | Two-factor authentication: Requires people to prove their identity using two types of information before they can access a system. |
| Access control | Role-based provisioning for strong access control: Only allows people who need the data for their tasks to actually access the data. |
| Geofencing | Geofencing to alert you when devices stray from where they’re supposed to be: Sets automatic alarms on your MDM dashboard when a device strays from the authorized area. |
Your dashboard will also flag up anomalies and suspicious activities such as RAM-hungry downloads. Should a device go AWOL, there’s a handy remote lock/wipe function to close down unauthorized access.
That’s a whole heap of cybersecurity functionality for a flat-rate monthly fee per seat. That’s a good investment in itself.
No 2: Phishing Simulations
Phishing is perhaps the grossest flavor of cybercrime because it’s mean people targeting people like you and me for gain, spreading anxiety and fear in its wake. And there’s a lot of it about. None of us fall for emails from princes anymore, but phishing has got a whole lot more sophisticated. You’ll get a weird-looking email from Amazon and, because you bought that thing, it seems easy to click. Or, you’ll get a frantic email from your boss asking you for that login because they’ve forgotten it. You dare not refuse because you’ve gerbils to feed. But hold up there. You’ve been whaled – which is a thing now.
An effective way to phish-proof your people is through phishing simulations. Here’s how we do it:
- At random intervals we email our clients’ people with fake phishing emails of different types. We track what they do with the email: open it, click it, bin it, open an attachment, report it, run screaming, etc.
- If they fail our trick test, we send them an “Oops! You’ve been phished, now go do some security training” email. P.S. The security training is ready and waiting for them.
- Over time, we build up a picture of risk hotspots and consistent offenders for our clients to spank/fire/train up more. We’ll also demonstrate a decreased risk of data breach as people improve at resisting phishing.
No. 3: Cloud Single-Sign-On With Conditional Access
Cloud SSO with conditional access is an all-you-can-eat multi-layered security approach. Imagine your people are scattered worldwide with accounts with Google, SalesForce, Slack, MailChimp, and the rest. Each of these accounts has a separate username and password, which, even with two-factor authentication, is an administrative nightmare and a farrago, yes we said farrago, of security issues, not least password amnesia and fatigue.
So, how does cloud SSO save the day? Through the cloud SSO platform, your people input just a single username and password to get access to all their cloud accounts. You’ve doubled down on security on that cloud SSO platform, so that it’s like a super-strong metaphorical front door, guarded by e-werewolves and hacker traps, but your people have a key. There’s just one point of entry for you to protect and monitor, and that means saved time for everyone and a reduced risk of data breach.
No 4. DNS Filtering
DNS filtering is a cost-effective cybersecurity gem that stops your team from connecting to malicious websites via phishing links or other dodgy stuff like flashing pop-outs saying they’re the millionth visitor. Even if they click on those enticing links, their path to ruin will be thwarted. Many DNS filtering tools come with their own blocklists and some even have the cyber-brains to evaluate sites live, adding them to a blocklist when forbidden or inappropriate content is found.
So, Is Cybersecurity a Good Investment? Absolutely.
Cybersecurity is definitely a good investment. It’s a no-brainer. If you have limited dough, it is still worth it to spend wisely on the top four cybersecurity measures to reduce the financial, operational, and reputational risks of you getting breached. If you feel like dipping a tootsie into the world of cybersecurity, give us a call. We’re here to help.
Ignition is Silicon Valley’s best (and friendliest) IT security, compliance, and support team. Contact us now – chatting about IT support and cybersecurity is our favorite thing to do!