Are you looking to scale your business? Your cybersecurity strategy can help grow your business as well as defend it against cyber threats.
In fact, leveraging robust cybersecurity practices will increase productivity, empowering your team to work faster, safer and more confidently, whilst protecting your organisation’s reputation and providing it with a strong foundation for growth.
Plus if recent high profile data breaches have made you question your cyber security policies, now might be a good time to review them from the bottom up and ensure they’re aligned with your organisation’s goals.
In this blog we discuss how cybersecurity enables sustainable growth and how your business can take full advantage of the benefits a robust IT infrastructure has to offer.
- Proactive Threat Monitoring & Response
This is about actively monitoring your systems 24/7 to detect suspicious activity or cyber threats (rather than reacting once damage is already done). IT admins and MSPs use tools to centralise log data and spot patterns that might indicate attacks.
Imagine your business gets targeted by a brute-force attack on your email system at 2 a.m. A monitoring system run by your IT team would catch the abnormal login attempts and either block the attacker or alert a technician before access is gained.
When your business experiences minimal downtime and disruption, this leads to enhanced productivity, customer trust, better retention, and more new clients through word of mouth and a strong reputation.
All businesses should create frequent and easily accessible (multiple) backups of their important data and systems – securely stored either in the cloud and / or in offsite locations. If something goes wrong (ransomware, server failure, fire, accidental deletion), your business can recover quickly and continue to operate with minimal disruption.
If your business is hit with ransomware and all client files are encrypted, your IT admin or MSP can restore those files from the latest backup, sometimes within hours.
Clearly a data breach is to be avoided at all costs, but being able to recover quickly from a disaster and continue operations, will help prevent a business from losing customers, limiting lost revenue, public embarrassment and reputational damage.
- Email & Phishing Protection
Email is one of the most common attack vectors. Advanced email filtering tools will block phishing, spoofing, and malicious attachments before they reach an inbox.
If your business is the recipient of a fake invoice email that looks like it came from a supplier, email protection software can flag or quarantine it before any staff click on it.
The aim is to prevent data breaches and further repercussions, but importantly, your team stays focused and confident, rather than spending time dealing with suspicious or dangerous emails.
- Firewall & Network Security Management
This involves securing your network – essentially the digital walls and gates that guard your internal systems. Firewalls block unauthorised access, while network security tools monitor traffic for suspicious behaviour.
For example, your business may use a firewall to limit who can access your internal payment system, preventing unauthorised data access from external IP addresses.
A more secure network means you can confidently launch new digital services or support remote teams without opening up risk.
- User Access Control & Identity Management
This ensures that only the right people have access to the right systems. Your IT admin or MSP can implement Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA), role-based access, and identity management tools.
For example, your organisation might restrict access to files based on seniority. Junior staff can view documents but not download or edit them. MFA prevents access even if a user’s password is leaked.
User access minimises internal data leaks and simplifies employee onboarding and offboarding, which is critical as your business scales.
- Cybersecurity Training & Awareness
Staff training sessions and simulated phishing attacks to help employees spot threats and are key to warding off potential cyber-attacks. The goal is to reduce the human error element in cybersecurity, which remains one of the biggest risks within an IT infrastructure with multiple users.
An IT admin or MSP might run a simulated phishing campaign. If an employee clicks a fake link, they’re redirected to a learning module rather than an actual threat.
A trained and aware team means fewer incidents, better morale, and stronger company culture. You build a workforce that’s security-aware, which is a huge asset as you grow.
- Compliance Support
UK businesses are legally required to meet standards like GDPR. Some businesses mandate Cyber Essentials in their supply chain partners, so accreditation may be a requirement for winning a tender within the public sector. MSPs can help organisations implement policies, technical controls, and documentation to meet compliance requirements, guiding them through the certification process.
Meeting compliance opens doors to bigger clients, especially in government, healthcare and finance, providing growth opportunities as well reducing the risk of fines or legal issues.
Secure remote work setups using VPNs, cloud desktops, or secure app access platforms are key to the productivity of most businesses, enabling employees to log in from anywhere and access company tools and data safely.
Flexibility to hire from anywhere, support remote or hybrid work, and adapt to events like COVID or transport strikes, are all made possible with secure remote desktop solutions.
- Managed Antivirus & Patch Management
Antivirus software should be installed, monitored and managed across all your systems. Patch management should be handled efficiently, quickly updating software and operating systems to close known security holes.
If Microsoft releases a critical security patch, an IT admin or MSP should ensure it’s installed across all company machines overnight. That way, the business is not left vulnerable the next day.
This keeps systems secure and smooth-running without your team needing to spend time manually updating or worrying about threats.
- Security Audits & Risk Assessments
Regular security reviews identify vulnerabilities, misconfigurations, outdated software, and gaps in policies or processes.
A penetration test could uncover a misconfigured server that may have exposed sensitive data. The issue is fixed before it’s exploited, giving you peace of mind and the confidence to make decisions, such as investing in new tech or entering into new partnerships.
In short…
Rather than viewing cybersecurity simply as a cost, a compliance requirement or a form of insurance, a robust cybersecurity strategy will enable faster digital adoption, improve your organisation’s reputation and client trust, attract bigger contracts and protect your business during scaling.
At Comprendo we are experienced in helping SMEs scale by identifying areas for improvement in their cybersecurity strategies. Find out how a secure IT infrastructure could provide the ideal foundations for your growth plan.
<< Book your free 2-hour (no-obligation) consultation:
Tel 0345 527 4394 / email info@comprendo.co.uk
At Comprendo, we provide customer-focused IT services, solutions and support to businesses throughout North and West Yorkshire, Lancashire and beyond, including Leeds, Bradford, Harrogate, York, Preston and Manchester. Looking to outsource your IT or review your cyber security? We look forward to hearing from you.
