by Nick Ioannou
Often when you read a book about cyber security, it can get so technical that you need a degree in Information Technology in order to understand it. Fortunately, the audience for Nick Ioannou’s “A Practical Guide to Cyber Security for Small Businesses” is, as the title suggests, the owners and managers of small businesses.
The book gives a good overview of the arguments that many small businesses and other organizations give for why they believe they are safe from cyber attack: we’re too small, we don’t do that much on the internet, we don’t have anything a hacker would want, etc. Ioannou provides reasonable counters to these arguments and builds the case for why all organizations need cyber security.
The next part of the book explains the types of protection you should incorporate into your organization emphasizing the need for layered security. Additionally, he provides good analogies to demonstrate that having good security in all areas is better than having the best security in a few areas. For example, you wouldn’t protect your house with three super-strong locks on the front door and leave your back door open.
Although the book was published in 2018, the lessons are still relevant even if some of the threat environment has changed. Additionally, the writer uses examples from the United Kingdom (e.g., monetary figures are given in pounds instead of dollars) but, again, it is the lesson that is important.
Sheri