A career as an information security analyst is one of the top technology jobs nowadays and for a good reason. Billions of dollars are spent every year to fight cybercrime, and companies are now willing to pay top rates for the best talent available.

The high demand yet low supply makes cybersecurity experts expensive, though. And the shortage of skilled workers has led organizations to either get outside help or develop their own internal security systems. Whichever they choose, knowing how to refine operational timeliness and efficiency is essential for success.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at several tips to help companies improve their cybercrime protection.

1. Cybersecurity Planning

It is no exaggeration to say that every organization needs a cybersecurity plan in place. It allows businesses to efficiently navigate the current digital landscape while protecting their companies’ interests.

A sound cyber defense plan should include the existing security practices and the objectives that need to be addressed in the next few months, years, and the long run. Furthermore, companies need to develop a protocol for risk management in order to assess the dangers that could jeopardize organizational data and systems.

2. Security Awareness and Guidelines

No matter how sophisticated a company’s IT security procedures are, employees remain a weak link that opens up a gap in even the toughest of defenses. It’s, therefore, crucial to let them take part in organization-wide onboarding and department-level training, especially since many cyber-attacks usually involve some type of social engineering.

Defining the best organizational methods such as using stronger passwords, reporting suspicious behavior, and the like is crucial as part of an employee awareness process. The practice can also be reinforced by providing training materials and simulations in preparation for situations related to data breaches.

3. Internal vs. External Security Team

Should companies train their internal security team or hire a third-party provider?

Having an in-house cybersecurity group means you can retain control of company data without having to risk offloading it to an outsider. You also get to oversee a team that is already familiar with how to run the organization. However, finding talent will not be easy, and building your cyber defense crew from scratch will take time.

An external security team is a viable option too. It can provide better support right from the start and allow you to focus on core activities without having to supervise an internal team around the clock. But choosing to hire an outside group gives you less control over them, and there might be trust issues.

4. WHOIS and Domain Analytics

Cybercriminals are becoming more innovative with their attacks and now is probably the right time for businesses to try unconventional methods as well to deal with these threats. What then?

As a protocol, WHOIS offers a repository of all the crucial details available for almost any domain in the world—allowing specialists to contact website owners and find information regarding the dates of registration and expiry, the location where they registered, and more.

With a WHOIS API service, you don’t have to check the records manually as a variety of facts about a domain can be filtered and organized. The data provided is available for both domain analytics and investigations at one’s fingertips.

5. Automated Cybersecurity Processes

Gathering information on threats is important to discover and develop cyber defense solutions. Since this task often involves large amounts of data, companies can save time by using various automatic processes.

Automated incident response, for example, makes manual and time-consuming security tasks a lot easier to handle since staff can use software to perform the role—e.g., programmatically opening and closing tickets, sending messages, filtering suspicious emails, and more.

Artificial intelligence and machine learning can also be used to reinforce cybersecurity in a network as they are able to analyze a lot of data and make decisions based on findings faster than humans.

* * *

Organizations that wish to succeed in their endeavors will have to face the present and future cyber threats head-on with improved network defenses. By enhancing the way they handle cybersecurity, businesses become capable of operating in a timely and efficient manner—two critical components of success.