The top cybersecurity mistakes companies are making (and how to avoid them)

There's not a one-size-fits-all approach to cybersecurity. Learn some of the common mistakes and how you can get on the right path.

Cybersecurity is increasingly important as more and more attacks happen all the time, leaving organizations scrambling for solutions. How can you keep your company safe from attacks and the resulting financial losses?

I discussed the topic with Alex Manea, chief security and privacy officer at Georgian Partners, a software solutions provider.

Scott Matteson: What mistakes are companies making in cybersecurity?

Alex Manea: One of the worst things that you can do is to try and stop every single attack, but that's a fairly typical mistake.

It's critical to understand that perfect cybersecurity is a goal you must always strive for, but ultimately will never reach. Make sure you understand your organizational constraints — be they technological, budgetary or even political — and work to minimize risk with the resources that you're given. Think of cybersecurity as a game of economic optimization.

On the other hand, you also don't want to make the mistake of "locking the door and leaving the window open." Don't dedicate the bulk of your cybersecurity resources toward addressing a single area or deploying a specific technology.

When you're addressing security risks, think in terms of severity and likelihood. While you hear a lot about high-profile cyber attacks like Stuxnet — complex, multilayered attacks executed by elite hackers working for nation-state entities — the majority of cyber breaches are much more mundane. In fact, you're much more likely to get hit by something like WannaCry , a relatively simple piece of ransomware that caused $4 billion in damage. It used a publicly known Windows vulnerability that Microsoft had patched months before, but that many companies hadn't yet deployed.

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