How to Apply Cybersecurity to All Company Devices

Cyberthreats are everywhere, and unfortunately, the rate of attacks has been on the rise since day one. If you’re running a business, you need to secure all of your company devices as much as possible to avoid preventable security incidents.

If your sensitive data gets stolen or leaked, you could be held legally responsible through fines and injunctions. However, not all devices are easy to protect, especially ones you can’t control.

Here’s how to handle this situation.

1. Take control over company devices

Unless your employees are remote or hybrid, there is no reason for them to take home company laptops, tablets, and smartphones. You should have a policy in place that prohibits company devices from leaving your office, coupled with an actual physical alarm that will sound if devices are removed from the building. It’s not enough to require protective cases for phones and tablets. Your company devices need to be protected against unauthorized use.

This might sound extreme, but for companies that have been hit by devastating cyberattacks that destroyed their businesses, this is a solution they wish they had implemented.

Imagine having 50 employees, and you allow all of them to take their company laptops home, and their kids, spouses, friends, and other random people end up using these devices. Maybe their kid needs to type up some homework, or a friend wants to borrow a laptop for a Zoom meeting. Now your company laptops are being used by a variety of people you don’t have a contract with. They not only have access to your sensitive company data, but they don’t have the cybersecurity training you provided your employees.

When laptops get taken home, they tend to become personal computers, too. Your employees are likely going to do risky things, like download unapproved software, use unsecured networks, and more. This puts your laptops at risk for all kinds of malware, including ransomware.

2. Take basic precautions

Securing devices isn’t too hard, but it takes a little work. Implement and enforce cybersecurity basics, like updating software, using endpoint security, implementing strong passwords, and using encryption when possible. If you’ve issued tablets, follow tablet security protocols because they’re a little different.

Education and training are part of basic cybersecurity precautions, too. When you provide comprehensive training on cybersecurity best practices and raise awareness regarding how hackers are using social engineering to trick people, you can significantly mitigate the risk of security breaches caused by human error.

3. Implement automatic updates

Since your employees are likely always in possession of their issued devices, you can’t really rely on them to manually perform all required updates. That’s why you need to enable automatic updates and even use your own custom software application that constantly checks for outdated software and will run updates your employees can’t cancel.

4. Install software that limits laptop use

When you provide company laptops, for example, you need to maintain control over them as much as possible in terms of how they’re used. It’s wise to install software that limits the applications that can be installed and prevents files from being copied to a drive.

All actions taken on the laptop should be recorded, and this data can be sent to your cloud storage provider automatically at set intervals. The purpose isn’t to spy on your employees, but since you can’t know if or when someone will make a mistake or become an insider threat, securing company laptops is the only protection you have.

5. Implement a backup system

All devices need to be backed up periodically, but laptops especially. People tend to create more files on laptops than on mobile devices, like tablets or smartphones. However, every device needs a regular backup system in place.

Like updates, it won’t be easy to get your employees to manually perform a backup, so you’ll want to set up all your company devices to automatically be backed up to the cloud on a regular cycle. Consult with a cybersecurity expert on this to make sure you quarantine each new backup to ensure you’re not going to infect your cloud server.

Secure your company devices now

If you’re uncertain regarding the security of your company devices, like laptops, tablets, and smartphones, now is the time to approach cybersecurity head-on. By implementing tough policies, automated updates, rigorous training, and secure solutions, you can greatly reduce your vulnerability to devastating cyber threats.