What are the responsibilities of a cybersecurity consultant?

Up until a few years ago, you could protect your business adequately from cyberthreats by installing a firewall and antivirus software on your work devices. Considering the rapid pace at which new cyberthreats emerge and existing ones evolve, your business needs the expertise of a cybersecurity consultant to ensure that your cyber defenses are always adequate.

What is a cybersecurity consultant?

A cybersecurity consultant is an information security expert who helps businesses determine their cybersecurity risks and the measures they need to take to mitigate those risks. They are also sometimes called information security consultants or cybersecurity advisors.

Cybersecurity consultants are rarely full-time employees. Instead, they are usually hired on a per-project basis to assess a specific cybersecurity concern or to help implement a new cybersecurity strategy. After the project is complete, the consultant may be retained to provide advice and support as needed.

What does a cybersecurity consultant do?

Cybersecurity consultants may specialize in certain requirements or industries. For example, some may be specialists in regulatory compliance. But in general, cybersecurity consultants perform the following tasks:

Analyze threats and system vulnerabilities through routine checks and tests
Develop, implement, and update protocols for detecting and preventing cyber incidents
Train employees in cybersecurity awareness and best practices
Provide supplementary guidance to the client’s in-house IT team
Provide sound IT advice based on the latest cyberthreats and data security trends

Why should you hire a cybersecurity consultant?

Cyberthreats continue to evolve, becoming more and more dangerous to businesses with time. Ransomware, for instance, can now compromise cloud-based systems in what is called a ransomcloud attack. Working with a cybersecurity consultant can help your business stay prepared and equipped to face such changing threats for the following reasons:

1. Consultants possess specialized knowledge and experience

If you already have an internal IT team, you may think hiring a cybersecurity consultant is nothing more than a redundancy, but you’d be wrong. IT professionals specialize in various fields, and those that comprise your in-house team may be well-versed in network administration or software development but lack the necessary cybersecurity expertise. Putting them in charge of your business’s data security could result in a suboptimal cybersecurity infrastructure.

Cybersecurity consultants, on the other hand, specialize in information security. They know the cybersecurity landscape well and are up to date with the latest cybersecurity trends. As such, they can provide your business with a thorough assessment of your cybersecurity posture and make well-informed recommendations for improvement.

2. They offer objective solutions

Because a consultant is technically an outsider to your company, they can provide an objective perspective on cybersecurity issues. Oftentimes, cybersecurity concerns are not immediately apparent to those within the company who are too close to the problem. A consultant can help you identify potential cybersecurity risks that you may have otherwise overlooked.

What’s more, a consultant’s third-party status means they are not as affected by internal company politics as full-time employees are. This allows them to make cybersecurity recommendations that are based solely on what is best for the company, not on what will further the agenda of any particular person or group. For instance, a consultant may recommend the implementation of a new cybersecurity solution even if doing so means replacing an existing system that is championed by a powerful individual within the company.

3. They can help educate your employees

As they perform their daily tasks, employees are exposed to cybersecurity risks through a variety of channels, such as email, the internet, and social media. Oftentimes, these risks are not immediately apparent, and employees may inadvertently put the company at risk by clicking on a malicious link or opening a phishing email.

A cybersecurity consultant can help educate your employees on how to identify cybersecurity threats and how to avoid them. Increasing their awareness transforms your employees from a potential vulnerability into a veritable cybersecurity asset. Doing this also empowers them to take an active role in protecting the company, which can further strengthen your cybersecurity posture.

If you’re looking to improve your cybersecurity posture, hiring a cybersecurity consultant is a step in the right direction. At [company_short], we have cybersecurity specialists who can help you augment your company’s cyber defenses and equip you to face any cybersecurity risk. Contact our IT experts now to get started.

5 Crucial elements your data security strategy should cover

Cyberthreats continue to evolve as cybercriminals refine their methods and tools. Not only are there more ways to launch cyberattacks today, but cyberthreats have also become more dangerous to businesses. Newer ransomware versions, for example, do not just prevent user access to key systems, but also steal victims’ data.

Thus, it’s imperative for businesses in Salt Lake City to develop comprehensive cybersecurity strategies against multiple types of cyberthreats. In order for such strategies to be effective, they need to cover the following key elements of data security:

1. Access control

Some of the biggest threats to your data security come from within your company itself. Insider threats, as they are called, are former and current members of your organization whose negligence, errors, or malicious actions endanger your cybersecurity. They could be disgruntled workers who steal your data to sell to competitors or they could be executives whose compromised work accounts were used to hack company databases.

An effective way to protect your business from insider threats is through access control. It involves granting employees only the access they need to do their respective tasks. For example, the members of your sales team can access customer data but not your company’s financial or employee information.

By limiting employees’ access to information, access control minimizes the amount of company information that insiders can leak. It also makes it easier to determine how a data breach occurred, as well as develop measures to prevent the incident from reoccurring.

2. Authentication

Passwords remain among the most popular methods for securing online business accounts, even though they’re far from the most effective. In fact, 61% of data breaches in 2021 involved credentials, according to Verizon, with 25% of these incidents involving stolen passwords.

Your cybersecurity strategy should, therefore, include more stringent measures for verifying user identities than simple passwords. One such method is multifactor authentication (MFA), which requires users to provide two or more proofs of their identity before they can gain access to an account.

Besides passwords, verification factors can include biometrics (e.g., fingerprint and iris scans), security questions, one-time codes (sent via text or email), and physical items, such as tokens and keycards. MFA makes it much harder for cybercriminals to gain access to your company accounts by increasing the number of verification factors to gain entry.

3. Data encryption

There are several methods cybercriminals can use to access your data. On top of infiltrating your network, they can also capture your data as it is transmitted over the internet. Or they could eavesdrop on your phone or online conversations in order to gain access to sensitive information.

Data encryption protects your data against these threats. It scrambles stored or transmitted data into a code that unauthorized users cannot decipher if they do not have a decryption key. This ensures that even if cybercriminals were to intercept your business’s data, they won’t be able to read, use, or sell it for profit.

4. Mobile management

Smartphones and tablets have become essential tools for business, as they allow employees to work remotely. However, these devices are also a major security risk because they can easily be lost or stolen.

Mobile management involves the use of software to secure and manage mobile devices that are used to access company data. It enables you to locate lost or stolen mobile devices and lock them remotely. You can even use mobile management solutions to remotely wipe all business data stored on these devices in case they’re lost or their owner leaves the company.

5. Data backups

Having backups of crucial business data ensures that after a data loss incident, such as a natural disaster, cyberattack, or hardware failure, you have the files necessary to immediately resume operations. This way, you can prevent extended downtime and its many adverse effects on your company.

When developing a data backup strategy, you should follow the 3-2-1 rule. This rule stipulates that you should create three duplicates of your data, which are stored on two different media types, and with one copy being kept off site. This way, you can be confident that even if your primary and secondary data storage solutions fail, you’ll still have a backup copy to fall back on.

Cybersecurity can play a significant role in your business’s resilience and potential for growth. To ensure that your cybersecurity strategy effectively covers all your bases, consult with the cybersecurity specialists at [company_short]. We will evaluate your company’s cybersecurity infrastructure and help you develop a business plan that addresses all the required elements and helps you meet your data security goals. Talk to our experts today.