Negosentro | Tips to Protect Your Small Business from Cyber Attacks | As a small business owner, you may believe your business is immune to the impact of a cyberattack. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case.
Today, as hackers get smarter and technology improves, more and more small businesses are being targeted. After all, many business owners don’t invest in the tech required to keep their data safe, nor do they learn the basics of cybersecurity, such as what is ransomware. These things make businesses vulnerable to attacks.
While this is true, there are steps you can take to safeguard your business and data. Keep reading to learn what these are.
Education Is Key
It’s important to make sure you understand what cybersecurity is and how cyberattacks happen. However, it’s not just the owner and management that needs this information. You also have to provide training to employees.
Keep in mind, though, that one-time cybersecurity training isn’t enough. With threats changing all the time, it is imperative that you continually update your training based on the latest threats to your business.
Create a Cybersecurity Plan for Your Business
The cybersecurity plan you create needs to include an employee training program and an incident response plan. If you want to ensure your network is secure, you have to make sure your team knows the proper procedures and policies to follow.
When creating your incident response plan, be sure to include who needs to be contacted if a breach occurs, where data and your data backups are kept, and when law enforcement or the public should be noticed of the breach.
Have a Smart Password Strategy
It is important to establish password best practices for your business. This includes things like only using passwords that are, at a minimum, eight characters long. The experts have stated that length is better than complexity. Also, let your team choose unique, long passwords that they can remember.
If you deal with extremely sensitive information, using multifactor authentication may be smart. With this, two identifying factors must be used before access is given to a program or system. You can think of this as the ATM, which requires you to use your bank card and PIN to access your funds.
Make Email More Secure
Almost 50% of all malicious email attachments come from files sent to a person’s email. Implementing basic safety protocols, such as not opening suspicious links or attachments, is a good first step. If you have clients’ personal information, you can use encryption. The sender and recipient must have a passcode to open the information.
Use Antivirus Software and a Firewall
The firewall is a type of digital shield. It keeps malicious traffic and software from getting into your network. There are several different types of firewalls, but there are two basic categories – software and hardware.
You will find some firewalls are built with the ability to scan for viruses. If yours does not offer this feature, you need to make sure that you install antivirus software that will scan your computer and help you identify and eliminate any malware that has made it through the firewall. This will also help you better control a data breach since you will receive an alert if there is a problem. You can be proactive rather than reactive with these protections in place.
Protecting Your Small Business
As you can see, there are more than a few tips you can use to protect your business data. Keep the information here in mind, which will help ensure your business is protected and that no serious issues arise. Being informed is the best way to ensure that your data and business are secure.
