Cybersecurity for companies? Active management, not defence, is the key

Cyberattacks can interrupt business operations, hurting companies’ bottom lines, and can infringe upon the privacy and other human rights of consumers and the general public. Right now, there isn’t much regulation around companies’ cybersecurity practices.....

Moving from reaction to action

Companies will need to move away from reactive, defensive approaches to cybersecurity and toward more actively managing risk. That includes a range of technological and administrative shifts, some with financial costs:

• Protecting administrative accounts and network routers with strong passwords, encryption, regular software updates and frequent checks to be sure no unauthorised devices or users connect to the network.
• Restricting remote access to systems such as by disabling file and printer sharing, as well as remote desktop controls when they’re not needed.
• Scanning data storage for sensitive personal information, blocking or deleting any that is not actually necessary.
• Removing unneeded programs and files from computer storage, uninstalling and deleting them to prevent unauthorised access during a future attack

Cybersecurity for companies? Active management, not defence, is the key: Managers must think in new ways about data, communications, and business law.Scoot S..Associate Professor of Business Law and Ethics, Indiana University