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Strengthening Corporate Cybersecurity in China

A group of China-based hackers had compromised hundreds of thousands of Microsoft email servers. This hack affected personal users, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and other organisations, such as hospitals and government agencies, leaving their data exposed. This high profile cyberattack reflects the increasing importance of corporate cybersecurity which has only become more important with the rise of remote work during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ransomware is a common form of cyber-attack, where hackers lock their targets out of their own servers, systems, and data until the victim pays a ransom to the hackers to regain control. These attacks are likely more frequent than what is reported in the media, as companies avoid publicising these cases to limit reputational damages.

SMEs are vulnerable to ransomware attacks since many do not have sophisticated cybersecurity systems. These are steps SMEs can take to improve their cybersecurity practices and protect themselves against ransomware and other cyber threats:

Cyber risk assessment

Before adopting a particular cybersecurity strategy, companies should conduct a risk assessment to identify what data and related assets are the most important for the organisation, their level of risk exposure, and how to manage any vulnerabilities. Then, companies can grasp their strengths and weaknesses in cybersecurity and develop strategies to address deficiencies.

A risk assessment will include the mapping of sensitive and critical data. Depending on the nature of the business, a company might hold especially sensitive or critical data that a risk assessment deems to require a higher level of protection. Such sensitive data may include the health records or financial information of customers and employees, while critical data could include assets that are essential for running the company’s core functions, such as operational processes and intellectual property.

Multifactor authentication and password strength

Multifactor authentication offers an additional layer of protection that makes hacking more difficult. In addition to a standard email password, for example, multifactor authentication necessitates at least one additional input, such as a personalised code sent to a user’s phone or secondary email address.

Companies can upgrade user passwords by requiring them to meet certain standards, such as having a minimum number of characters and combining numbers and symbols. Nevertheless, while this will increase corporate password quality, password strength alone does not replace the protection offered by multifactor authentication.

Create regular backups

Creating offline and online backups on a regular basis is an effective method of minimising the impacts of a ransomware attack or other cyber intrusion. Backups allow companies to restore enterprise data at a point in time before a cyber attack, thereby making them more resilient to the effects of an attack.

Backups should be stored separately from other data, so they are not compromised in the event of a data breach. Companies may enlist a service to store their backups in the cloud, use a separate private network, or a combination of both.

Companies can also undertake periodic trial runs where they practice recovering and resuming operations based on backups to determine the viability of such a strategy if it is eventually needed. If backups are successful, companies may avoid the need to pay hackers a ransom in a ransomware attack, or can at least reduce disruptions until they resolve the crisis.

Developing an organisation-wide cybersecurity strategy

Given the ubiquity of internet technology in the functioning of virtually all companies – and the increasing sophistication of cyber attacks – corporate cybersecurity strategies can no longer be limited to IT departments. Rather, cybersecurity principles must be integrated into the day-to-day functioning of all departments, whether it be human resources or research and development.

In addition to developing internal cybersecurity policies to protect against ransomware, phishing, and other threats, companies operating in China must comply with the country’s cybersecurity regulations. This includes compliance with the Cybersecurity Law, which imposes minimum security standards and other requirements, such as relating to data storage. Foreign companies with global operations and cybersecurity standards must therefore ensure that their processes comply with China’s specific cybersecurity requirements while also offering robust protection.

PARTNER

Qlik’s vision is a data-literate world, where everyone can use data and analytics to improve decision-making and solve their most challenging problems. A private company, Qlik offers real-time data integration and analytics solutions, powered by Qlik Cloud, to close the gaps between data, insights and action. By transforming data into Active Intelligence, businesses can drive better decisions, improve revenue and profitability, and optimize customer relationships. Qlik serves more than 38,000 active customers in over 100 countries.

PARTNER

CTC Global Singapore, a premier end-to-end IT solutions provider, is a fully owned subsidiary of ITOCHU Techno-Solutions Corporation (CTC) and ITOCHU Corporation.

Since 1972, CTC has established itself as one of the country’s top IT solutions providers. With 50 years of experience, headed by an experienced management team and staffed by over 200 qualified IT professionals, we support organizations with integrated IT solutions expertise in Autonomous IT, Cyber Security, Digital Transformation, Enterprise Cloud Infrastructure, Workplace Modernization and Professional Services.

Well-known for our strengths in system integration and consultation, CTC Global proves to be the preferred IT outsourcing destination for organizations all over Singapore today.

PARTNER

Planview has one mission: to build the future of connected work. Our solutions enable organizations to connect the business from ideas to impact, empowering companies to accelerate the achievement of what matters most. Planview’s full spectrum of Portfolio Management and Work Management solutions creates an organizational focus on the strategic outcomes that matter and empowers teams to deliver their best work, no matter how they work. The comprehensive Planview platform and enterprise success model enables customers to deliver innovative, competitive products, services, and customer experiences. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, with locations around the world, Planview has more than 1,300 employees supporting 4,500 customers and 2.6 million users worldwide. For more information, visit www.planview.com.

SUPPORTING ORGANISATION

SIRIM is a premier industrial research and technology organisation in Malaysia, wholly-owned by the Minister​ of Finance Incorporated. With over forty years of experience and expertise, SIRIM is mandated as the machinery for research and technology development, and the national champion of quality. SIRIM has always played a major role in the development of the country’s private sector. By tapping into our expertise and knowledge base, we focus on developing new technologies and improvements in the manufacturing, technology and services sectors. We nurture Small Medium Enterprises (SME) growth with solutions for technology penetration and upgrading, making it an ideal technology partner for SMEs.

PARTNER

HashiCorp provides infrastructure automation software for multi-cloud environments, enabling enterprises to unlock a common cloud operating model to provision, secure, connect, and run any application on any infrastructure. HashiCorp tools allow organizations to deliver applications faster by helping enterprises transition from manual processes and ITIL practices to self-service automation and DevOps practices. 

PARTNER

IBM is a leading global hybrid cloud and AI, and business services provider. We help clients in more than 175 countries capitalize on insights from their data, streamline business processes, reduce costs and gain the competitive edge in their industries. Nearly 3,000 government and corporate entities in critical infrastructure areas such as financial services, telecommunications and healthcare rely on IBM’s hybrid cloud platform and Red Hat OpenShift to affect their digital transformations quickly, efficiently and securely. IBM’s breakthrough innovations in AI, quantum computing, industry-specific cloud solutions and business services deliver open and flexible options to our clients. All of this is backed by IBM’s legendary commitment to trust, transparency, responsibility, inclusivity and service.

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