Are you a team leader trying to build a strong culture of online safety within your agile team?
Cyberattacks are a constant threat in the digital world, and it’s fundamental to prioritize cybersecurity in every aspect of our data exchange online.
A study conducted by Harvard Business Review concluded that 60% of the teams that use agile methods increase their profit. Although agile methodologies are flexible and provide speed, they must be backed up by solid cybersecurity principles to protect data from hackers.
With this in mind, let’s explore the five best security practices to implement within your agile team.
1) Prioritize Cybersecurity Training
It’s crucial to start by educating the team if you want to foster a good security culture within it.
Teaching your employees how to identify and mitigate security risks will prevent most of the attacks from happening in the first place since human error is responsible for more than 80% of cyberattacks.
These are some basic questions you can ask yourself to help you start the process:
- Do your team members understand the importance of keeping their cybersecurity routines?
- Do you hold regular training sessions to educate the team about potential threats?
- Have you talked to them about the risks of phishing attacks?
It is crucial to encourage open discussions and provide team members with the cybersecurity tools they need. For instance, you can try VPN for free to see if this tool works for you and your team.
2) Incorporate Safe Coding Practices
Being fast and efficient is crucial in the process of agile development. Even so, cybersecurity can’t be overlooked or compromised.
This proves that your developers need to be trained on secure coding practices to ensure they write resilient and safe code. You can emphasize practices such as:
- Input validation;
- Output encoding;
- Parameterized queries.
With the three actions listed above, you can stop common attacks, like SQL injection and cross-site scripting (XSS). Furthermore, you can have regular meetings to review and test the code for vulnerabilities.
3) Carry Out Regular Security Assessments
According to the firm Lookout, phishing attacks continue to be the most common reason for data breaches. If you foster an awareness of safety online, they will actively contribute to a better security culture at the workplace.
Evaluating the safety and strength of the codes is vital when it comes to identifying and dealing with digital weak spots and gaps in cybersecurity measures. Execute a thorough scanning and testing of the most common vulnerabilities and pinpoint weaknesses quickly.
Ensure that your team can spot and report their concerns and the suspicious activities they see as soon as possible. If you’re proactive about this, you can prevent many issues and create a better security culture.
4) Promote Secure Platforms for Teamwork
Agile teams often rely on tools that allow them to streamline their work without losing sight of the team’s goal. It’s important to remember how crucial it is to choose tools with excellent security and data protection policies.
Look for software that offers the following:
- End-to-end encryption;
- Secure data storage;
- Multi-factor authentication.
Use safe communication channels to share important information and check out what password manager is best to create and store strong and unique passwords. This way, you prevent data breaches and unauthorized access from happening.
5) Implement Security Patches and Updates Regularly
Although updating software can be seen as something insignificant compared to other tasks, it is essential to protect the team’s systems and software from cyberattacks. Create a process to ensure that your team’s software is always updated.
Encourage team members to install the updates on their devices as soon as they come out, and consider automating the patch management tools. By staying informed about cybersecurity updates, you reduce the risk of malware infections and safeguard the team’s infrastructure.
Establishing strong cybersecurity practices in your agile team is crucial to keeping the projects and data safe.
By encouraging employees to be aware of their security online, implementing safe coding practices, carrying out assessments regularly, embracing safe collaboration tools, and keeping software updated, you will successfully create a good digital security culture that influences every aspect of the team’s work.
Protect your team, now and in the future, by taking the measures listed above.
