The New Year is a great time for a business to review its IT infrastructure, training and policies. Getting on top of this early will ensuring your business’s IT is up to date and that you have good risk management in place for the year ahead. Here, we look at the what IT essentials you should focus on in 2023 to protect your business from current threats and make sure your technology is operating efficiently.
Cyber security
The cost of cyber security breaches continues to rise and is a primary threat for businesses in 2023. According to CyberEdge, 80% of UK organisation experienced a successful attack in 2021/22, with ransomware attacks affecting 73% of organisations and costing almost £88 million.
The report also showed that those businesses with larger IT security budgets were considerably more successful in stopping cyber attacks and keeping their assets safe. Unfortunately, the national trend shows that IT budgets have remained flat for the last 5 years, even though attacks have exponentially increased over that time.
Strategically implementing a dedicated and effective cyber security budget is a must for UK business to stay secure in 2023.
Policies and procedures
A business’s IT policies and procedures need to be reviewed regularly to make sure they’re fit for purpose in responding to the continually changing threat landscape.
The ten essential IT policies an organisation should have are:
- Password security
- Acceptable use
- Cloud and app usage
- Bring Your Own Device (BYOD)
- IT and Computer Use
- Data Protection
- Mobile Device
- Access Control
- Data Breach
- Incident Management
Your business’s IT policies and procedures are only useful if they are implemented correctly, understood by all staff and reviewed regularly. For the best outcome, procedures, security measures and training should form part of the culture of your organisation.
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Training
Regular staff training will help greatly in the company-wide implementation of your IT policies and reduce the cyber security threats to your business. The number one reason that data breaches occur is because a company’s staff are not following best practice with their day-to-day IT use. This could include opening emails from unknown sources, browsing external websites and installing software and plugins on a business’s network. Regular IT training can help to prevent this and is a great area to focus on in 2023.
Certification
Are you up to date on your certifications for 2023? Depending on your sector, the kind of data your organisation handles and your size, the certification your business requires can be vastly different. Whether it is ISO, Cyber Essentials or industry specific regulations, you must make sure your certifications are up to date to avoid potential breaches and fines.
IT audit
The best way to review and implement changes is through an independent annual IT audit. An audit will allow your IT security specialist to thoroughly review your entire IT operation, or concentrate on a specific improvement to your IT infrastructure, policies, training, or security measures. This will give you peace of mind that your business is fighting fit for today’s cyber threats, meets your specific regulatory standards and is using the best infrastructure for your budget in 2023.
How SDT can help
If you would like to speak to us about your business’s IT infrastructure, security or training needs, or you would like us to conduct an IT audit, you can contact Andrew Wayman at andrew.wayman@sdt.co.uk or call our office on +44 (0)1344 870062.