big data securityCybersecurity needs to be a major focus for any enterprise. We live in an age where it’s impossible to avoid the reality of online and network security threats. Fortunately, there are steps that can be taken to reduce risks. Here are four key components of an enterprise cybersecurity strategy.

Forming a Security-First Culture

There are different types of steps that need to be part of a cybersecurity strategy. Certain, specific measures will give your enterprise a decisive advantage against fraudsters. But there also needs to be a holistic approach to cybersecurity.

What does this mean? It’s not enough to just implement certain security measures and call it a day. Threats are more prevalent today than ever before. Consider all the major data breaches that have happened at large-scale enterprises over the past few years. Hundreds of millions of people have had their sensitive information compromised in these events. Business can have their reputations and competitive advantages destroyed due to IT security weakness. The margin for error here just doesn’t exist.

Enterprises need to develop a culture that values cybersecurity as a top priority. This needs to be directed, encouraged, and developed from key management players, and brought to every corner of the organization. It doesn’t take much for a vulnerability to become a massive problem. Attackers are highly resourceful at finding these points. Ensure everyone working within your enterprise is thinking about cybersecurity best practices.

Network Security Monitoring

Cybersecurity doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It’s a real-time thing that’s constantly evolving. This means enterprises need to be agile when addressing security concerns.

Proper network security monitoring is an essential part of this process. Organizations need to know what kinds of threats they’re facing, and how well current protocols are meeting the challenges. Enterprise-wide monitoring allows for an overarching view across an entire network, or any specific part of it.

Premium network security monitoring services should also allow enterprises to readily react to threats, give high levels of insight, and use machine learning to improve processes. Adopting the right network security monitoring can keep an enterprise one, or more, steps ahead of threats.

Secure Email Gateways

Email might seem like an innocuous thing. It’s an extremely useful tool that allows employees within an organization to easily share documents and communicate with one another. But there’s another side to email. It can be an extremely dangerous tool when used for the wrong reasons.

Over 90 percent of cybersecurity threats are initiated through email. There are a few reasons why email is such an effective vehicle, especially on the enterprise level.

Employees want to get their jobs done, while also keeping their bosses and managers happy. When an employee receives an email that appears to be from their manager asking for something, they’re likely to do it. But what if that email is actually a spear phishing attack? That employee might be about to hand over sensitive information to a scammer, or click into a dangerous link. Having a secure email gateway can limit the number of fraudulent emails that even reach employees. This reduces the risk of someone accidentally falling victim to an attack while trying to do their job.

Secure email gateway services are so important on the enterprise level because it’s just not possible to ensure 100 percent compliance from employees all the time. Taking some of the risk out of the equation is a no-brainer.

Top-to-Bottom Education

The world of cybersecurity is constantly changing. This means you and your employees need to change along with it. Education is key to an enterprise-level cybersecurity strategy. Make sure all employees are taught what to look out for when it comes to cyber threats. This should be part of your onboarding process. Employees should also receive supplemental updates as new threats emerge.

Simply keeping the concept of cyber safety top-of-mind for employees is a big thing. It’s important to remember that threats always exist. Being diligent and using the right tools can limit their prevalence and damage.