Threats to cybersecurity and the technology that businesses rely on continue to be significant and complex, weighing heavily on the minds of company leaders. Estimates suggest that more than 2,200 cyberattacks occur every day globally.1 Accordingly, a recent study by The Hartford revealed that many businesses cite increased threats of data breaches, phishing scams, malware, and the potential financial and operational impact of a cyberattack as causes for concern. While they are focused on cyber insurance, mitigation procedures and testing to ward off exposures, businesses admit to needing support to help them stay atop the ever-changing risks.
Proactive preparation is essential for companies to safeguard against cybersecurity threats and breaches. The Hartford’s research also revealed that 49% of businesses plan to develop or refine their cyber strategies in the next year, placing greater emphasis on cybersecurity policies and training.2
Businesses should focus on four cyber hygiene areas to reduce vulnerability to cyberattacks.
1. Enable Multifactor Authentication (MFA)
Multifactor authentication (MFA) serves as a crucial method to mitigate the risk of unauthorized access to business systems. It has seen increased adoption in recent years, and businesses should continue to deploy it enterprise-wide to prevent an attacker from gaining access to a computer system. This includes making certain that business partners with remote access also implement the security technology. Requiring users to provide two or more verification factors to gain access to a company resource, like an online account or a virtual private network (VPN), helps protect against phishing attacks and reduces the risk of identity theft. Moreover, many industries now have regulations that require MFA, so not implementing this safeguard is also a compliance issue.
2. Have Secure Backups
Having secure backups is another important step that companies can take to protect their data. This helps maintain business operations during disruptions like a ransomware attack. According to industry experts, reliable backups aided in the recovery process in 68% of ransomware incidents, often removing the need for a payout.3 However, for backups to be effective, they must be both current and segmented from other parts of the business’ systems, so they aren’t impacted by an attack. It’s important to occasionally test the viability of the backups being kept by the business.
3. Prioritize Patches
Keeping current with patches to an IT system is a fundamental part of a proactive cyber strategy. Based on a recent industry report, in 76% of intrusion cases, threat actors exploited one of 10 specific vulnerabilities.4 Prioritizing patching can significantly reduce the risk of intrusions, as many attacks leverage known vulnerabilities that can be patched.
4. Implement Incident Response Plans
Employees can be the first line of defense. Coupled with an incident response plan (IRP), comprehensive employee training programs can drastically lower risk. These courses can teach employees how to react to phishing and other unusual activity. An effective IRP, which is an outlined approach to dealing with a cyber threat head-on, can help businesses of all sizes, and should involve all the key people and decision-makers within a company. Most importantly, an IRP should involve the business’ cyber insurance carrier. During a cyberattack, an experienced insurance carrier can engage an incident response coach or cyber attorney as well as other service providers who may be brought in to remediate the situation.
Though a company can't be fully shielded from cyberattacks, these strategies can help mitigate their impact.
Learn more from The Hartford's 2025 Risk Monitor report.
1 “The Top 37 Cyber Crime Statistics You Need To Know In 2025,” SpyHunter, Jan 2025.
2 The Hartford’s 2025 Risk Monitor Report, viewed April 2025.
3, 4 “2025 Threat Report,” Artic Wolf, April 2025.
