What Fire Safety Teaches Us About Cyber Security Management

Cyber security management is often a complicated subject for small to mid-sized businesses. Large organizations have dedicated cyber security departments and teams, but small businesses cannot afford a dedicated cyber security team. The whole concept of cyber security management plans seems like a daunting prospect. It is easy to see why small businesses worry – cyber security is a complicated topic. Most small businesses do not know how to approach it and think that simply getting an anti-virus software application and a firewall is enough.

An easy way of understanding cyber security development programs is to look at something similar that we all understand – fire safety plans. Almost every business has a fire safety plan and even the ones that don’t are fully aware of the concept of a fire safety plan. Once you think of cyber security in terms you already understand it becomes easy to grasp and implement.

1. Your Anti-Virus Software is your Fire Extinguisher

Anti-virus applications are a necessity in businesses just like how fire extinguishers are a necessity in every building. You need a fire extinguisher when there is a fire in your office that needs to be put out, and you need anti-virus software when a virus infects your computer and you need to clean it. The important thing to understand here is that a fire extinguisher doesn’t increase fire prevention, it only helps you deal with a fire that is already burning. Anti-virus applications are similar – they will be able to clean infected computers, but you are still not completely safe – there is always a chance there will be another attack or threat because you haven’t dealt with the root cause.

2. Increasing Fire Safety means assessing Risks and Closing Vulnerabilities

Whenever a fire danger assessment is done the fire safety expert goes through the whole building noting vulnerabilities and fire risks. They will then write up a list of all potential fire hazards – from loose wires to open flames being used too close to flammable materials. You need to take the same approach towards cyber security management. You need to assess the vulnerability of your whole office. What can allow viruses to come in and hackers to breach your system? What isn’t as safe as it should be? This analysis is crucial to creating a cyber security management plan that actually works. You can have the best anti-virus software in the world, but your computers will still get infected without a proper assessment.

After an assessment is done you need to close all the vulnerabilities that were found. Most vulnerabilities can be fixed by updating old software that is used within the office. Hackers usually use known vulnerabilities to breach networks but known vulnerabilities also get quickly patched through software updates. Make sure you update all software being used within your office periodically. For more details on risk assessment make sure you read our blog The 5 Steps of Creating a Cyber Security Risk Management Strategy.

3. Fire Safety Drills and Cyber Security Drills

Businesses make sure that their employees know exactly what to do in case of a fire so no one gets hurt. You need to take the same approach towards cyber security. You need to let employees know what to do if they think their systems have gotten infected. For instance, training people to shit down their network connection if they fear they have been infected can protect all the other computers on the network. Cyber-attacks are becoming increasingly common, so you need to make sure that your employees are trained and know what to do in case they are going through one.

You also need to give trainings for cyber-security the way training for fire safety is given out. You cannot simply tell the employees what they can do and what they cannot, because they will forget some things and your business will suffer. If you truly want them to act in a manner that keeps your business safe you need to make them understand what exposes the business to cyber attacks and what they need to change about their work activities.

If you want better cyber security management, you should look at what Predict360’s Cyber Security module can do for your business. Get in touch with the Predict360 team and we will show you a demo of how our solution can benefit your business.

About the Company

360factors, Inc. (Austin, TX) helps companies improve business performance by reducing risk and ensuring compliance. Predict360, its flagship software product, vertically integrates regulations and requirements, policies and procedures management, risks and controls, audit management and inspections, and on-line training and qualifications, in a single cloud-based platform based on artificial intelligence.

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