Cyber Security and the New Mobile Workforce

The big move home for businesses and their workforce provide opportunities for both good and bad.
On the good side, the flexibility and safety of employees is paramount and foremost, but what about the security of the business from a digital perspective.

Cyber Insurances has again come up as a very hot topic in respect to this rapid change that has been forced upon most if not all businesses in some way due to COVID-19.  Emergence Underwriting's recent post really highlights the needs for good practices and cover are so important with this rapid transformation to the workforce placement. We hear constantly in the news and media about the phone and email scams as well as other online threats.. See the attached link for more details from Emergence and their recent policy improvements for business Cyber Protection.

The post reminded me of our recent changes to our business with an office move and why we engage an expert to assist us with our networks and infrastructure.

Just prior to the government’s introduction of social distancing and push for staff to work from home, we actually had to transfer to a mobile business due to moving out of our office whilst waiting on a new lease to become available. During this time, we reached out to Ricky and the team at ‘Venturer Technology’ here in Brisbane to assist us with the transition between locations and establishing what we needed to be ready for deploying staff to remote work as we need.

I asked Ricky to provide us with his top 5 tips for small to medium business network security, which are at the front end and often expectations from insurers to get cyber protection in place.

1.       Promote cyber security awareness by training staff

Unwary end users are normally the weak link in the security chain as most are not aware of security issues related to computer threats/attacks/scams.

2.       Engage an IT partner to keep abreast the latest technological innovations

Like accounting and Legal, partner with an IT company to provide the best up to date advice and service that best fits your company.  

3.       Develop a Cyber security home and office plan

The internet means the office is bigger than the confines of the office walls and doors.  Put a plan in place which will cover you’re your data in and outside the office.  

4.       Promote and review your business IT usage and security policy

Most company security policies are written by the IT department to appease HR and compliance.  Produce a simple plan for staff broken into a few dot points and easily followed. 

5.       Visualize your entire Cyber internal and external network

Consult with your IT supplier to help visualize the entire network.  Everything from laptops, phones firewalls and cloud applications can be monitored in real time and reported back to the business owner in a plan language they can understand and make informed decisions.    

To talk to an expert in IT and securing your network, please contact Ricky Prout, Venturer Technology - www.venturertech.com.au - 0410 003 808  

The team at Business Insurance Cover Services are also here to assist with how Cyber Cover can protect your business whether office or now home based.

Contact the team at Business Insurance Cover Services on 1300 268 371