Benefits of Taking a Proactive Approach to Cyber Security

With the digital nature of business today, cyber security is more important than ever. Attacks and data breaches happen all the time, but reacting after an event has already begun isn’t enough. While you certainly need to deal with an attack that’s underway, managing your cyber security beforehand can make threats less problematic. 

Proactive risk management and reactive risk management lie at opposite ends of the spectrum. One is not better than the other, nor is it a competition between the two. However, one should use the two in conjunction with one another to form a comprehensive risk management plan. This plan should not only address attacks when they happen, but also put measures in place to prevent them.

The Importance of Cyber Resilience

What is cyber resilience? By definition, cyber resilience is the ability to predict, withstand, recover from, and adjust to negative situations, attacks, stresses, or compromises on internal systems that use cyber resources. Now that we know a proactive approach to cyber security is just as important as a reactive approach, let’s explore the benefits of managing cyber security before an attack happens.

1. More Control of Your Cyber Security

Taking measures to identify risks before they occur gives you more control over your cyber security. You can make adjustments and change priorities where necessary. You’ll also be empowered to make informed decisions and take steps to eliminate any vulnerabilities you find.

2. Prevent Cyber Attacks

The more you can do before an attack occurs, the more likely you are to prevent one from happening. It’s that simple. 

Since the onset of the pandemic, many businesses started relying on telecommuting to keep things going. This means a lot of sensitive information was traveling across the internet, and it needed to be protected. As a result, more than half of these businesses proactively increased their cyber security measures. The result of this was a dramatic increase in cyber security efficacy.

3. Proactive Makes Reactive Easier

When you put effort into preventing an attack before one occurs, you are in a better position to deal with an intrusion if there is one. By identifying vulnerabilities in your cyber security, you can make changes to rectify the weaknesses. This will also put you in a position to be ready to jump into action should a breach occur. When used together, a proactive and reactive approach can give you a strong cybersecurity management plan.

4. Keep Up with New Threats

Technology is always evolving, which means cybercriminals are always looking for new ways to get past cyber security. As you work to reduce and prevent risk, you’ll gain education on the new threats and hacks out there that could potentially be a concern. Keeping up with the latest threats enables you to be even more proactive in your effort to deter cyber attacks.

5. Make Your Customers Feel Better

When your security team is constantly on the lookout for new threats and your cybersecurity measures are updated regularly to prevent attacks, your customers feel better about doing business with you. It can be difficult to build trust with our customers, but making sure their sensitive data is safe in your hands is a great place to start.

Why You Need to Proactively Plan Your Company’s Cyber Security Measures

Proactive cybersecurity management is a vital part of doing business in today’s ever-changing world of technology. Cybercriminals are always looking for ways to get their hands on your sensitive data, so using both proactive and reactive cybersecurity strategies is the best way to ensure you’ve got an effective risk management plan in place.