Why does my business need the Essential 8?

Why does my business need the Essential 8?

With more employees now working remotely, the government has identified cybercrime as one of the biggest threats to businesses. The Australian Cyber Security Centre’s 24/7 Global Watch receives a phone call about a cybercrime incident every 10 minutes. The Essential 8 is a set of strategies that can be customised to prevent your business from falling prey to cybercriminals.

Cybercrime is such a threat to the economy that the government recently announced a $1.35 billion investment (Cyber Enhanced Situational Awareness and Response package) over the next ten years. While no business is 100 percent safe, implementing the Essential 8 is an effective first step preventing cybercriminals stealing your data, money and reputation.

 

Why should my business implement the Essential 8?

Minister for Home Affairs, Peter Dutton said in September 2019, “Cybersecurity incidents have been estimated to cost Australian businesses up to $29 billion per year and cybercrime affected almost one in three Australian adults in 2018.”

Cybersecurity is more of an issue now thanks to Covid-19, with Australians working from home, away from their security framework.

So, The Essential 8 is the basic security measure all businesses should have implemented. Your business is unique and has its own risks, so it’s important we discuss with you how best to prevent cyberattacks from threatening your business.

 

What are the Essential 8?

  1. Application control can prevent staff opening and executing all non-approved applications, including malicious code.
  2. Configure Microsoft Office macro settings to prevent staff from allowing macros from the internet delivering and executing malicious code on your systems.
  3. Restrict administrative privileges to a few key staff members, so cybercriminals can’t gain full access to your data and systems through an unwitting employee.
  4. Multi-factor authentication for staff when they access sensitive information or perform certain actions.
  5. Daily backups of your data can save a lot of headaches if a cyber incident does occur, such as a ransomware attack. 
  6. Patch applications or updating software is essential in preventing malicious code executing on your systems.
  7. User application hardening greatly increases the effort required by attackers to modify an application, such as Flash and Java.
  8. Patch operating systems, so any vulnerabilities are fixed in the system.

We specialise in implementing cybersecurity strategies tailored to your business and its unique vulnerabilities. Preventing a cyber attack and maintaining your security measures saves time, money and stress.

 

To avoid risking your client’s data and your reputation, ask us about how we can implement the Essential 8 for you.

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