Businesses being put at risk by their removable devices

[sincity]

Despite having best practice guidelines in place, new research from ESET and Kingston Digital has revealed that 70 percent of organizations are failing to take the necessary steps to secure their business.

To compile their research, the two firms surveyed over 500 British business leaders to better understand how they are protecting their companies from cyber threats.

ESET and Kingston found that there is a significant disconnect between the IT teams that put best practice guidelines in place, procurement teams that provide business equipment and employees that are intended to follow the plan.

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Unsecured removable devices

The research highlighted the fact that a staggering 44 percent of businesses admitted to not securing removable devices using antivirus software which leaves their IT systems exposed to cybersecurity risk and high fines from GDPR and other regulations.

By making just a small investment into encrypted USB flash drives, organizations can better protect their infrastructure and even possibly their reputations.

Cybersecurity specialist at ESET, Jake Moore explained that British businesses need to move beyond the first step when it comes to improved cybersecurity posture, saying:

“British businesses are certainly taking the right steps forward. Putting together the best practice guidelines is, of course, the first step. However, more needs to be done. IT teams must work closely with other departments to ensure that employees are following the guidelines on a day to day basis and they have the right tools to protect their work and the entire organisation. Even though we see some businesses secure their removable devices, all it takes is one infected USB to bring down the whole IT network. When it comes to security, companies need to be 100 per cent secure and recognise that there is no room for error.”

• Keep your devices protected with the best antivirus

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