IT security has positive effects beyond protection against cyber attacks. As a quality feature, it positively sets your company apart from the competition. It creates additional trust among your customers, suppliers and partner companies. It improves the image of your company. It makes your company more crisis-proof and protects it from serious, sometimes existential threats.
We help you to grasp these often overlooked aspects and use them for your business.
What qualities are associated with cyber security?
Resilience, crisis resistance and failure safety
Cyber attacks are one of the biggest business risks for German companies. They can cause days of business downtime and mean angry customers, breaches of contract or even insolvency. Preventing attacks altogether or greatly mitigating their impact is an important contribution to your company’s resilience, cyber resilience and failure safety. This is exactly what good IT security does.
At the same time, measures for more cyber security train everyone in the company to react quickly and constructively in moments of suspicion. Your company will also benefit from this in IT-independent crisis moments.
Competitive advantage
A company that lives and implements IT security can advertise it and distinguish itself from the competition. Awareness of the relevance of the topic is currently growing, but many companies still have some catching up to do. IT security thus offers a real opportunity to stand out positively in contract awards and bid comparisons.
Trustworthiness
Security is a valuable commodity. The care, prudence and consistency behind successful IT security instil confidence in partner companies. Suppliers and customers rightly trust it. Particularly important here is the everyday handling of cyber security, for example sending encrypted e-mails as a matter of course. Who wouldn’t want to entrust their data and projects to a company that handles them so carefully?
Image gain
IT security is associated with many positive characteristics. Among other things, with forward thinking, a well thought-out approach, competence in a complex topic and up-to-date know-how. A welcome underpinning of your company’s good image.
In addition, efforts to improve IT security add value to your company – because it clearly communicates that you have a lot to protect.
Good internal coordination and communication
Some security measures require new habits or a little extra effort. If all employees understand their purpose, they implement these measures more consistently and with greater commitment. Successful IT security is therefore based on – and promotes – successful internal communication. This is because shared knowledge and joint commitment to the company strengthen the sense of togetherness.
Error culture
Cyber criminals speculate that employees are afraid to report their mistakes. For example, opening a strange email attachment on a hectic day. If an employee remains silent for fear of anger, valuable time is wasted in which damage can still be contained or prevented altogether. Therefore, IT security needs a positive error culture (which also benefits your company in other areas).
Personal cyber security
Successful IT security always has an impact on private life as well. Trained, informed employees and managers also take care not to become victims of cyber attacks outside of their working hours. They take security precautions and use digital media more consciously. In this way, they also protect the company from CEO fraud and data theft from devices used for work and private purposes.
How can you benefit from these qualities?
Take responsibility for IT security
The most important step is to realise that IT security is a matter for the boss. Because cyber attacks can seriously endanger the existence and success of your company. And because IT security concerns everyone in the company, it cannot be delegated to a single department. It must be initiated and prioritised by the company management.
You do not need to delve into the deepest technical details. Rather, you need the basic knowledge of where your company is threatened by which risks and how you can successfully reduce them.
Set a good example
IT security concerns everyone in the company – including you. Take advantage of this! Because the management sets the tone for how important IT security really is. A lax, careless approach signals to your employees that lip service and half-hearted compulsory exercises are enough. Instead, demonstrate how important the measures are by implementing them consistently yourself.
Start with yourself
Put your new knowledge into practice immediately. For example, gradually replace insecure passwords with secure ones and make copies of important data. In this way, you increase your own cyber security and at the same time find out which measures your employees might need help with or new solutions such as password managers.
Make IT security a topic
In our digitalised everyday life, the topic of IT security is constantly present. Pay attention to it and talk about it when you get the chance. Talk about strange emails you have received. Signal appreciation for employees who activate the screen lock when they leave their desk. Ask who they turn to when their computer “spins”.
Take targeted action
Where are the highest risks and where does your company have the greatest need for security measures? Interactive risk assessments help you to quickly identify and provide concrete recommendations for action.
The most important measure: Most cyber attacks occur via phishing emails. Therefore, be sure to train your employees in the critical use of emails.