In this short video, we're going to outline five reasons your business needs information security. Remember, information security is just another asset within your organisation, and it could be under threat. You need to think about what that means to your business.
1. Increased Risk Of Hacks/Breaches
Now more than ever, there are multitudes of information being created, distributed, and accessed within your company. Therefore, the opportunity for the hacking of data has also increased. Implementing a system that manages your information security will reduce the likelihood of this occurring as you will be better prepared.
2. Impact And Damage To Your Business
You have to understand what data you hold and the risks associated with it. If there is some form of impact or breach in your business, what impact could that have on your company and on stakeholders?
Could the impact be significant? What could the costs associated with that impact be? There are often hidden costs that are associated with this. It's not just about the loss of data, you need to consider:
Disruptions to your workplace
Time needed to solve the problem
Investment required to return from an attack
Legal and reputation issues
3. It's Everyone's Responsibility
Everyone in the organisation must understand their link to the controls in place associated with your data and information security. It is not the IT departments' responsibility, it is not management's responsibility - it's everyone's.
People will follow the directions you give them as long as you provide them with the necessary information, such as why they should follow the rules. You must make them aware of the impact if they do not follow these rules.
Remember, the weakest link in your information security system may often be the people in your workforce. We're all in it together.
4. Legal Requirements
Do you understand the legal requirements that you must follow as an organisation? If not, it's time to brush up on this. There are lots of free resources available on the website where you can gain greater knowledge associated with what the law requires us to do.
There could be additional cost to you if there is a breach or an issue that occurs in the form of fines and penalties. The breaches in these legal requirements could ultimately end up in the press. It could have reputation damage, and could impact your future business health.
5. Business Continuity And Response.
What impact could the breach have on your business?
Could it mean that daily work activities stop?
What could the impact be to your clients and other stakeholders?
Continuity of your business services is paramount for your business to thrive and continue. Provide confidence to your people, suppliers, clients and other stakeholders that you have good plans in place to manage business continuity when these types of threats happen.
Takeaways:
Identify critical information within your business
Identify the critical assets which handle that information
What are the potential threats and what impact would they have on you?
What controls do you have?
What controls do you need to have?
And remember, it's everyone's responsibility.
If you want to know a little bit more about information security and in particular information security management systems with ISO 27001, please have a look at these blogs: