{"id":20487,"date":"2017-09-07T15:04:58","date_gmt":"2017-09-07T14:04:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/digileaders.com\/?p=20487"},"modified":"2018-08-01T13:52:37","modified_gmt":"2018-08-01T12:52:37","slug":"charities-know-need-cybersecurity-plan-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/charities-know-need-cybersecurity-plan-one\/","title":{"rendered":"Charities know they need a cybersecurity plan, so why do so few have one?"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s no surprise that cybersecurity is\u00a0a priority for most charity-technology leaders today, but does\u00a0the wider charity workforce understand\u00a0the need to invest in it?<\/p>\n

With more digital\u00a0threats today than ever, it\u2019s important that\u00a0charities put plans in place to mitigate potential risks and address\u00a0any skills shortfalls, regardless of perception.<\/p>\n

Although it can take significant time for an organisation to improve its capacity to respond to cybersecurity challenges, existing resources can help \u2013 for example the Government\u2019s\u00a0Cyber Essentials Scheme<\/a><\/strong>. There\u00a0is no charity-specific standard for cybersecurity; charities are expected to use the same, well-established, risk-based approach to cybersecurity management that other organisations use.<\/p>\n

Common vulnerability trends<\/h3>\n

When thinking about establishing digital\u00a0security, the first step is to familiarise yourself with the most common threats\u00a0today \u2013\u00a0two of which being ransomware and\u00a0data breaches.<\/p>\n

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  • In recent years, ransomware attacks have begun using\u00a0fear to compromise organisations \u2013 encouraging the victim or organisation to hand over money to deter the assailant from stealing and deleting vital data. Although these attacks could be described as reasonably \u201clow tech\u201d, few\u00a0organisations have plans to deal with these situations if they do occur \u2013 or know how to protect their systems from such a hijack in the first place.<\/li>\n
  • Data breaches have underscored the critical need to actively protect against cyberattacks on information technology systems and thefts of sensitive information. In the charity sector, such information can vary from details of fun run volunteers to highly-sensitive information on human rights investigations.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n