Cyber security checklist

Use our Cyber Security Assessment Tool to see what your business is doing well and what you can do to make it more cyber secure. By answering some simple questions, the tool will let you know how cyber secure your business is and give you a list of resources to help you improve.

The Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) has information to help you protect your business and staff from cyber threats.

You will need to:

• turn on multi-factor authentication
• use strong passwords or passphrases
• updating software
• backing up information
• protecting your business data
• educating employees.

It’s vital that you keep your customers information safe. If you lose or compromise their information it will damage your business reputation, and you could face legal consequences.

Make sure your business:

• invests in and provides a secure online environment for transactions
• secures any personal customer information that it stores.

If you take payments online, find out what your payment gateway provider can do to prevent online payment fraud.

There are laws about what you can do with any personal information you collect from your customers. Be aware of the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) and have a clear, up-to-date privacy policy. If your business is online, it’s a good idea to display your privacy policy on your website.

A cyber security policy helps your staff to understand their responsibilities and what is acceptable when they use or share:

• data
• computers and devices
• emails
• internet sites.

An emergency plan can reduce the impact of a cyber-attack and provide an action plan if you need to respond to a cyber security incident.

When creating your emergency management plan, you will need to consider:

• the process to report a cyber security incident
• how you will communicate a cyber security incident to your employees or customers
• how to manage your business during a cyber security incident.

The cost of dealing with a cyber-attack can be much more than just repairing databases, strengthening security or replacing laptops. Cyber liability insurance cover can help your business with the costs of recovering from an attack. Like all insurance policies, it is very important your business understands what it is covered for.

It’s important you know where to seek support and advice if you need cyber security information.

You can:

• Call the Australian Cyber Security Hotline if you want to talk to someone about support to both prepare for and respond to cyber incidents.
• Find an adviser from the Digital Solutions - Australian Small Business Advisory Services for individual support to grow your digital capabilities. The program offers small businesses low cost, high quality advice on a range of digital solutions including online security.
• Find non-government IT service providers or cyber security professionals by doing an online search.

As a business owner, it’s important to keep up with the latest scams and security risks to your business.

You can:

• Sign up for the ACSC Partnership Program for access to up-to-date information on cyber security issues and how to deal with them.
• Check the ACSC alerts for small to medium sized businesses regularly.