Imagine you have a luxury car that you want to keep safe, so you park it inside a secret room in your garage and safeguard the door with multiple locks. You also install a sophisticated surveillance system that sounds the alarm when someone gets too close to the car. And for good measure, you hire security guards to watch over your car 24/7 to ensure it is never stolen. While you undoubtedly upped your vehicle’s security, you also made it more difficult to use your car. The same concept applies to cybersecurity.
You want to find your IT network’s Goldilocks zone — a setup that is secure from the latest threats but also very easy to use. Finding this balance is crucial to making your business as secure and productive as possible, so let’s examine some key strategies that will help you balance convenience and security.
Implement mobile device management (MDM)
It’s often more convenient for your employees to use their own smartphones and laptops for work. However, connecting employee-owned devices to the company network comes with unique security concerns.
An MDM solution can address this challenge by controlling the security settings of all the mobile devices your employees use for work. It lets you implement custom security settings, remotely wipe the device in case of theft or loss, enable secure remote working, and more. It’s a great way to let your workforce work with the tools on which they are most productive without sacrificing data security.
Utilize user-friendly multifactor authentication (MFA) methods
MFA requires users to provide more than one login credential to access your network. The first credential is typically a password, while the second factor can be a one-time code emailed or texted to the user. These second factors can be a pain, as they require users to open another app or have their registered device with them. Fortunately, there are more user-friendly MFA options, such as biometrics (fingerprints and face scans, etc.), QR codes, and physical radiofrequency keys. You can also look into implementing single sign-on to get an added layer of security without the complexity.
Perform a risk analysis
An important part of balancing convenience and data security is deciding which of your digital assets need to be locked away behind complex cybersecurity tools and which are not sensitive enough to warrant it. Performing a risk analysis can help you categorize your data and other technology assets into different risk groups. From there, you can decide which to keep open and convenient to use and which to keep under strict lock and key. This way, you can allocate resources based on need and not throw time and money down the drain.
Create a culture of vigilance
Implementing all of the most complex and cutting-edge cybersecurity tools can only complicate your workflows and harm your productivity. To make sure you don’t need to roll out a ton of solutions to keep your data safe, you need to strengthen your fist line of defense: your employees.
Most data breaches are caused by an unwitting employee opening the wrong email or trusting the wrong person on the other end of a phone. If you can teach your users to spot and mitigate cyberattacks, as well as follow cybersecurity best practices, you won’t need as many sophisticated tools.
Some of the top ways you can foster greater cybersecurity awareness include:
- Engaging cybersecurity experts to create a data security training program
- Encouraging open communication about security concerns
- Providing channels for reporting suspicious activities
- Rewarding employees who exemplify good cybersecurity practices
Great cybersecurity doesn’t have to paralyze productivity. If you would like to explore tailored cybersecurity strategies for your specific business needs, reach out to us at Online Computers. Our dedicated team is here to assist you in finding the optimal performance for your IT network, ensuring it remains secure but efficient. Get in touch with us today.
