Cybersecurity / Six simple steps
Six steps to a
safer business.
In plain English.
Security doesn't have to be a mystery. Follow one business through the six steps security professionals use, each paired with something you already know from protecting a home.
Imagine this is your business.
People, devices and information keep your business moving every day. Protecting them comes down to six simple steps, each with an everyday comparison.
Decide what matters and who's in charge.
Agree what is most important to protect, who is responsible for each part, and the few rules everyone follows.
Like house rules everyone knows.
In the picture: the security plan, the person in charge and the house rules.
Know what you have.
List the laptops, phones, Wi-Fi, email, customer files and accounting system your business depends on. You can't protect what you don't know you have.
Like a home inventory for insurance.
In the picture: an inventory list, and every laptop, phone, file and system numbered.
Put sensible protections in place.
Locked doors and badge entry, sign-in codes on phones, regular updates, safer email and staff who know what a scam looks like. Each one closes a different door.
Like locks on the doors.
In the picture: a locked door, sign-in codes, updates, email filtering and staff training.
Notice when something looks wrong.
Monitoring tools watch for warning signs, like a sign-in at 2 a.m. from somewhere unexpected. Finding a problem early keeps it small.
Like a smoke detector.
In the picture: monitoring, a smoke detector going off and a strange late-night sign-in.
Know what to do when it happens.
A short written plan says who to call and what to do first: disconnect the affected computer, fix the problem and tell the people who need to know.
Like a fire drill.
In the picture: a short plan, a call for help and the affected laptop unplugged.
Get back to work, then learn from it.
Restore files from a backup copy kept somewhere safe, get people working again, and update the plan so the same problem is less likely next time.
Like rebuilding after a storm.
In the picture: files coming back from the backup copy, and the plan being updated.
Every step forward counts.
Most businesses already do some of this. The goal is to know where you stand today and take the next sensible step.
Curious where your business stands? Let's talk ↗Where these six steps come from
These steps follow two free, widely used guides. The NIST Cybersecurity Framework, from the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology, organizes security into these six functions. The CIS Controls, from the Center for Internet Security, turn them into a practical checklist of safeguards.
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