The UK government has estimated that a third of all businesses have experienced some form of cyber attack in the last year. One of these included an incident that took NHS 111 offline for a substantial amount of time. Following this, they proposed a proper Code of Practice that means businesses must obtain a Cyber Essentials certificate which shows they have the right security protocols in place. What’s in it, and how will it work? Let’s take a look.
Keeping businesses safe
The new ‘code of practice’ is aiming to set standards for ensuring the right level of cyber security education in business – but one question that has been asked is, will it really be effective without the right technological interventions in place?
Business leaders are worried that it won’t be. Cybersecurity and online safety threats are evolving all the time and the way companies respond to them needs to be addressed seriously. There are a lot of simple things that many businesses aren’t doing that could go a long way to helping fight these threats, such as installing professional anti-virus software on all work equipment and finding a gold-standard Surfshark VPN to ensure safe browsing at all times.
What does the code set out?
In brief, the new code of practice sets out the key points and actions that senior management need to take in order to strengthen their cyber resilience in the workplace. It suggests that businesses take full advantage of all the digital technologies available to them, which can fuel innovation and drive competitiveness in a global landscape that is becoming increasingly challenging.
Largely, by many organisations it’s considered to be a real step in the right direction in terms of the way in which companies approach the very real cyber risks that are being posed. However, the UK’s credentials as a cyber power are not quite at 100% there yet.
One of the main reasons why is that it doesn’t offer much in the way of instruction on how organisations can improve network security and this needs to be addressed… why?
Well, we’re working from home more…
Over the last few years, the way we work has changed immeasurably and perhaps one area in which the code of practice falls a little short is that it offers little in the way of advice for those companies that employ a more hybrid approach to their work, or indeed those companies that are fully remote.
These models have brought a great deal of flexibility to workers and it has resulted in an increase in productivity, but when a workforce is more dispersed and isn’t always in the office or workplace at the same time, or is all working remotely – it presents greater challenges for keeping company hardware and software safe and free from attacks which can result in real damage to a company brand, image and finances.
The last word is that whilst the code of practice does offer a great chance for businesses to address their cybersecurity concerns and work harder to make them more effective, there needs to be greater emphasis placed on those companies that employ different methods of working too. Only then will the working model be at its very best.
Also Read: A Complete Guide on Document Verification in the Cyber Security Industry
