Checking in on your cybersecurity defenses each year to see if they hold up to emerging attacks and scams is a critical task, but it often isn’t enough. You might do a checkup to start the new year, but unfortunately, cybercriminals won’t wait until the next annual review to develop new attack methods.
By the time June arrives, new vulnerabilities may have emerged, employees may have adopted new tools, and critical systems may have gone months without testing.
That’s why it’s important for you to conduct a mid-year cybersecurity checkup.
The good news is that this does not need to be a full-scale audit or complete security overhaul. Instead, think of it as a health check for your IT environment. A mid-year review helps you identify gaps, verify that protections are working, and ensure your business remains prepared for evolving cyberthreats.
Do businesses need to check their cybersecurity twice a year?
Conducting biannual cybersecurity checks is vital for businesses. Not only do threats evolve continually to outpace cybersecurity tools, but your business also changes constantly throughout the year. New employees join, software gets deployed, devices are added, and cloud services expand, all of which alter your cybersecurity needs.
If you only review your cybersecurity posture once per year, you could spend months operating with vulnerabilities you do not know exist.
- Identify newly emerging threats
- Verify security controls are still effective
- Ensure you still meet new and existing compliance requirements
- Review employee security practices
- Address vulnerabilities before cybercriminals exploit them
Mid-year security checks are essentially a form of preventive maintenance. Small issues discovered today are far less expensive than major incidents discovered after a breach occurs.
What your mid-year cybersecurity checkup should include
A mid-year review should focus on validating your existing security measures and identifying areas that need improvement.
Review your security posture in light of new threats
The cyberthreats your business faced at the beginning of the year usually aren’t the same threats you face today.
When vendors update their security tools, cybercriminals must develop new phishing techniques, ransomware variants, social engineering tactics, and AI-assisted attacks to get around them. As such, security controls that were effective only six months ago may no longer protect you.
So when it’s time for the mid-year checkup, engage all relevant stakeholders to perform a review of your:
- Risk assessments
- Security controls
- User access permissions
- Cloud security settings
- Incident response procedures
This review ensures your cybersecurity strategy is informed by current information rather than last year's assumptions.
Update software, hardware, and security policies
Outdated systems remain one of the most common causes of successful cyberattacks. Therefore, your mid-year checkup should include a review of your software, such as operating systems and business apps. You should also update the firmware in your connected devices, such as servers and even printers.
Verify that the latest security patches have been applied consistently and that unsupported software has been removed or replaced.
However, don’t forget that your office is a system that must be updated as well. As part of your checkup, review and update your company's cybersecurity policy, including acceptable use policies, password requirements, remote work procedures, and access control standards.
Test systems and simulate attacks
Many organizations assume their security tools are working properly because they have not experienced a major incident. But this assumption can lead to complacency and increased risk of cyberattacks.
Testing your defenses will let you know if they can be trusted to perform as expected during a real attack.
- Data backup procedures
- Disaster recovery plans
- Phishing awareness readiness
- Incident response processes
- Security monitoring effectiveness
Tabletop exercises and simulated attack scenarios can reveal weaknesses before cybercriminals find them.
Consult experts to see if your defenses are still strong
Even if you have a superstar internal IT team, you can still greatly benefit from an outside perspective.
Managed IT services providers like outsourceIT work with multiple organizations and monitor emerging threats daily. This means that we have broad knowledge and expertise that can provide new insight into your threatscape and cover any blind spots.
A FREE cybersecurity consultation from outsourceIT will help you:
- Assess your current security posture
- Identify overlooked vulnerabilities
- Review compliance requirements
- Evaluate new security technologies
- Prioritize future improvements
Our cybersecurity experts will also provide recommendations tailored to your business size, industry, and risk profile. Contact outsourceIT to protect your business against threats all year long.
