How can you keep your business as safe and secure as possible? A strong first step is by conducting an IT and security assessment, offering insight into the vulnerabilities in your IT infrastructure. But once the assessment has been completed, what should you do next? Maybe businesses that conduct these assessments often struggle to implement the necessary changes effectively, leaving them exposed to security risks. In this guide, we explore the key steps Dundee and Fife businesses can take to turn their IT security assessments into action.
How to Act on IT Security Assessment Findings
A comprehensive IT security assessment provides businesses with a detailed overview of their vulnerabilities, risks, and areas for improvement. According to the 2024 UK Cyber Security Breaches Survey, 50% of UK businesses reported a cyber-attack in the past 12 months, with many citing a lack of follow-through on security recommendations as a key factor in their vulnerabilities. So, let’s look at how businesses in Dundee and Fife can effectively translate IT security assessment findings into action:
Prioritise Risks Based on Threat Level and Business Impact
Even though not every security risk poses an immediate danger, some do require urgent action. These vulnerabilities should be categorised into three key risk levels:
- Critical Risks: High-priority threats that could lead to major security breaches, ransomware attacks, or data loss require immediate action, such as patching vulnerabilities, strengthening network security, or implementing access controls.
- High-Risk Issues: Any gaps in security that increase the likelihood of a cyber-attack but may not be an immediate threat. This includes weak passwords, outdated security policies, or unpatched software and should be addressed as soon as possible.
- Medium and Low-Risk Concerns: Issues that do not present an immediate risk but could become a problem if left unresolved, including improving employee security awareness, refining IT policies, and enhancing backup strategies.
Implement Technical Security Measures
Once risks are assessed and prioritised, businesses must take technical action to strengthen their IT security. This is achieved through making sure systems and software are always up-to-date and access controls and user authentication are in place to prevent unauthorised access. Businesses should implement multi-factor authentication across all sensitive systems and apply the principle of least privilege to limit employee access to only what is necessary for their role. Additionally, as cybercriminals often target networks, employee devices, and cloud environments, businesses should implement network and endpoint security. This means sensitive data is encrypted, and intrusion prevention systems are established to monitor and block malicious activity.
Strengthen Data Backup and Disaster Recovery Plans
When your business has a solid data backup and disaster recovery strategy, you don’t have to worry about ransomware attacks, accidental data loss, or hardware failures disrupting your continuity. To attain this, automate regular backups so data is stored securely in multiple locations, including in the cloud and off-site. Develop a business continuity plan that helps your business recover quickly from a cyber-attack and test recovery procedures regularly to ensure they work as expected in the event of an attack.
Implement Ongoing Security Monitoring and IT Management
Maintaining robust cyber security requires continuous monitoring and proactive management. We recommend deploying real-time security monitoring tools to detect and respond to cyber threats before they cause damage and using threat intelligence services to stay updated on the latest cyber risks and attack trends. Furthermore, work with a trusted IT support provider to schedule regular IT security assessments, ensuring that your systems remain compliant and secure.
Work with a Trusted IT Partner for Implementation
Many businesses in Dundee and Fife lack the internal resources to handle IT security improvements alone. However, partnering with a reliable IT support provider ensures that your cyber security strategies are aligned with compliance requirements and all security recommendations are implemented correctly and efficiently.
Helping Businesses in Dundee and Fife Implement IT Security Best Practices
At 1 Office, we proudly help businesses in Dundee and Fife implement the right solutions to stay protected. Our comprehensive IT and security assessments provide clear, actionable recommendations, and our expert team ensures these measures are put in place efficiently and effectively. We offer:
- Customised Security Action Plans: Prioritising critical issues and providing tailored solutions.
- Cyber Security Implementation: Deploying firewalls, encryption, MFA, and other security tools.
- Ongoing IT Support and Monitoring: Ensuring long-term cyber resilience.
- Employee Training and Awareness Programmes: Helping teams recognise and prevent cyber threats.
Take Action on IT Security
A security assessment is only valuable if the findings lead to action. Ensuring your business implements IT security best practices is critical to protecting data, reducing cyber risks, and ensuring long-term resilience. Contact us today to get an IT and security assessment.
