With the end of year at our tails, we have the chance to reflect back on what happened to our businesses and what we can improve on in the next year. According to a recent report of 4,700 different businesses done by Cisco –a trusted networking hardware and software manufacturer— 67% of businesses confessed that they had a security event that disrupted their business significantly. These events included network and data breaches, outages, ransomware attacks, and more.

But of these 4,700 different companies surveyed, there were 7 common things that businesses who avoided these attacks practiced, and those who did fall victim lacked. Read below to find out how you can improve security in 2023.

1. Leadership

Not should leadership encourage employees to follow secure practices, but leading by example can make a world of difference. When staff see leadership take initiative, it encourages them to follow suit.

2. Company Culture

To piggy-back off of leading by example, having a work culture of staying educated about the latest in cyber security can reduce risk as well. Practicing a positive security culture in the workplace builds a strong defense against cyber threats.

3. Resourcing

Getting your people the tools they need to stay secure, like up to take hardware and software, can also make a difference. Not to mention having the right IT support for your employees so they can go to the experts when they need help.

4. Cloud Computing

Hackers have had plenty of time to figure out how to compromise businesses who stay on old hardware and software, but upgrading to the cloud has proven to be more secure.

5. Zero-Trust

Zero-Trust, or the practice of restricting administrator access to people who absolutely need it, has had a dramatic affect as well. Managing your accounts so that only a small amount of people have administrative access to your business reduces risk of someone compromising one of these accounts.

6. Advanced Threat Protection

Implementing Advanced Threat Protection, or ATP, is critical when it comes to keeping your business secure. ATP providers like Sentinel One have proven to protect businesses with by showing them when they are at harm and giving them time to respond.

7. Cloud-Security in the Hybrid Workplace

We know that the Hybrid-Workplace is a real environment for many businesses, but have you adopted some kind of cloud environment? 2023 may be the year to consider this because moving your applications and infrastructure to the cloud can make your company more secure.

From Cloud implementation to Cyber Security training, there are a lot of things that businesses can implement to improve security in 2023 and keep their businesses safe. Talk with your IT provider on how to get started, or contact us with any questions or inquiries.