How to Protect your Construction Company Against Cybersecurity Threats
How to Protect your Construction Company Against Cybersecurity Threats
With all the benefits of technology, there come many risks as well. Technology is now integrated into every aspect of our personal and professional lives, leaving our data vulnerable to cyber attacks. As our world becomes more technologically advanced, these cybersecurity threats will continue to increase significantly. The construction industry is no exception to these threats. As subcontractors begin to integrate computers, laptops, smartphones, and tablets into their businesses, they open themselves up to potential harm. This presents a catch 22. If you adopt technology into the workplace, you leave yourself vulnerable to attacks, and if you don’t opt for connectivity, you risk becoming irrelevant. Thankfully, there are steps that you can take to protect your business without giving up technology.
The first step in protecting your construction company against cybersecurity threats is to recognize and address the problem. Many industries, construction included, continue to act oblivious to the problem at hand. Unfortunately, ignoring the problem won’t make it go away. It may seem like it could never happen to you, but it happens to people like you every single day.
Table of Contents
Make it a priority
Once you recognize this as a problem, you need to make it a priority for your construction company. While it may not seem like an urgent issue, it will likely become one if you don’t address it right away. The longer you wait to address cybersecurity, the more at risk you are putting your business. Someone could hack into your system at any time, so stop waiting and put security measures in place before you’re in a position you don’t want to be in.
Formulate a response plan
One of the best steps you can take is to formulate a response plan in case an attack does occur. If an attack occurs and you don’t have a plan, you’ll likely be flustered and unable to think clearly. Having a plan in place will take some of that stress away and leave you in a better position to protect your company.
Install preventative measures
Installing preventative measures is another crucial step in protecting your construction business. After all, it’s much easier to prevent a problem than treating a problem. If you have multiple devices such as tablets, smartphones, and laptops being used within your business, consider installing security solutions and measures onto each device. Some of these measures could include data encryption and permission settings. Data encryption prevents hackers from using data obtained during a hack and permission settings can prevent a lower level employee from stealing potentially sensitive information.
Focus on employees
Another way to protect your business is through careful employee screening and training. When going through the hiring process, make sure you are thorough in conducting background checks and contacting former employers. This can save you from hiring someone who could allow an intruder access. When you are training employees, make sure that they know how to spot threatening emails or links. It is also important that you enforce internet policies regarding dangerous sites. If you allow employees to roam the web freely, you increase the risk of potential hacks from these sites.
Conclusion
You’ll never be able to protect your company from 100% of threats, but being smart and prepared will undoubtedly go a long way. Cybersecurity threats are only going to increase, so it’s up to you to install preventative measures and plan ahead. If the day ever comes where there is an attack, you will thank yourself for having a plan in place.
Source:
