Business Continuity and Resilience

In the New Year, every organization looks to the possibility of a better and more prosperous future. There’s no way better to do so but by having a proper strategic plan for the continuity of business. We are all aware of our ever-changing world, with disasters, pandemics, and economic challenges of different kinds. These can include ongoing pandemic situations, Information Technology and cybersecurity issues, and more. 

Expectations of these challenges are so we have a proper plan to fight against them and ensure efficient business continuity. Business continuity and resilience plan assist any organization in providing adequate services to customers in these times.  

So, what exactly is business continuity?

It is simply the capability of your organization to deliver quality products and services at expected levels at or during the time of a disaster. To achieve this, you require a clear-cut plan. The basic listed below remains the same.  

1. Document crisis management, business continuity, and disaster recovery plan. These should be reviewed at planned intervals by the relevant stakeholders and also tested to ensure efficiency in the time of a real disaster.
2. Have a proper plan for business impact analysis (BIA)
3. Hope for the best but plan for the worst. Be sure to understand the worst-case scenario and prepare well to protect the organization from it.
4. Have the right people in the right places. – Set up a team to ensure business continuity matters are reviewed.
5. Implement proper IT systems, procedures for operation, and more.
6. Always be ready to act on your results and survey the situation critically.

Now, that we have narrowed down what business continuity is, it is time to understand business resilience. Just as the name suggests, resilience speaks of how equipped the organization with the proper knowledge to run smoothly at challenging times. It is just how well you recover after taking a hit. It is important to have a clear understanding of how to be most resilient and for that, you would have to lay down proper rules. 

1. Have a clear vision of what you expect from your employees. (Communication is key)
2. Lead by example. Have a designated team 
3. Effective communication and understanding between all workers. 
4. Diverse skills, quality, and experience among the workers. 

We all know by now how fast business operations can go from good to bad with the blink of an eye. So, as business owners, it has thus become extremely important to understand how to adapt to the ongoing changes and be successful. This would require a proper plan so don’t waste that time and start working on your company’s business continuity and resilience plans today

Increased Importance of Information Security Awareness in an Organization.

2020 rocked our world with pandemics and increased cyber-attacks. Many companies went remote with the ongoing pandemic and so, now, more than ever the need for employees to understand the importance of security awareness in an organization has been put to light.

Companies such as Facebook allow their workers to work remotely and some companies have even decided to operate remotely from now on even when the Covid-19 rules and regulations ease.

Organizations must prepare their workers for the risks that might arise due to remote working. But first, to understand how to tackle the likely threats you might face due to remote working, you need to understand the threats themselves. Around 95% of cybersecurity professionals agree that going remote has increased the chances of fraud.

Information security is widely at risk of potential cyber-attacks and without a proper way to handle these challenges, company data can get into the wrong hands.

The FBI has reported receiving around 3000 to 4000 cybersecurity complaints daily.

Since going remote, employers have started utilizing various methods of accessing sensitive data of the company. This has made the data a lot more vulnerable to information security threats. Hackers and bad actors are taking advantage of these vulnerabilities by exploiting Virtual Private Networks (VPN) and home Wi-Fi networks to steal information from companies. But amid all these issues, it is important to understand the reason for these security threats.

Reason Behind Increased Information Security Threats:

It has been estimated that over 90% of cyber-attacks are caused by human error in the workplace or inconsistency in understanding a company’s basic Acceptable Use Policy and Information Security rules. With the increasingly stressful conditions working remotely, these threats will continue to increase.

The Solution:

The solution is simply to increase awareness and evaluate each employees ‘ understanding of these threats. Setting up cyber training exercises is a necessary step every organization needs to take.  

Employers need to be updated with the new types of cyber threats and how to prevent them. Management needs to hire IT professionals to enlighten and educate employees on how to protect themselves from these attacks.

As we move further into the New Year with no proper solution to the coronavirus, there is no saying when companies will be able to operate from offices again and with the increasing number of companies going remote permanently, it is only essential that every working professional should be equipped with the proper knowledge and awareness of information security threats.

Name: Chidiebere Eboh

Information / Application Security Analyst

Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada.