Businesses are not following through on their own cybersecurity guidelines.
According to research conducted by security outfit ESET, and Kingston Digital 70 percent of companies have best practice guidelines in place but neglect to take the necessary steps to secure their business.
Results showed that a staggering 44 percent of businesses admitted to not securing removable devices using anti-virus software, leaving their IT systems exposed to cybersecurity risks and GDPR fines.
The ESET and Kingston research looked at more than 500 British business leaders to investigate how they are protecting their companies from cyber threats that are harmful to their organisations.
The survey revealed that there is a significant disconnect between the IT teams that put the best practice guidelines in place; procurement teams that supply business equipment, and employees that follow the plan.
Speaking about the research findings, Jake Moore, Cybersecurity specialist at ESET said; “British businesses are certainly taking the right steps forward. Putting together the best practice guidelines is, of course, the first step.”
He said that more needs to be done. IT teams must work closely with other departments to ensure that employees are following the guidelines on a day to day basis and they have the right tools to protect their work and the entire organisation.
“Even though we see some businesses secure their removable devices, all it takes is one infected USB to bring down the whole IT network. When it comes to security, companies need to be 100 percent secure and recognise that there is no room for error.”
Robert Allen, European Director of Marketing & Technical Services at Kingston Digital said: “With demand for flexible work rising, businesses can no longer afford not to offer their employees easy ways to access documents on the go. USBs have proved themselves to be a popular way to move files due to USBs’ low maintenance nature.”
Cybercriminals can use USBs to spread ransomware and infiltrated corporate data.
“At Kingston we are always surprised at the low percentage of encrypted USB products that we supply compared to unprotected USBs. This does not only risk organisations’ IT systems, but it also exposes businesses to GDPR fines. It is crucial that businesses start protecting removable devices with the right antivirus software and data encryption to ensure cybercriminals can’t use them as a gateway into IT networks and corporate data”, Allen said.
