Cybersecurity has become a part of the daily news as both government organizations and businesses are facing breaches in their networks. Cybercriminals and unethical hackers not only target big businesses, but even small businesses are proven to be soft targets for hackers.
According to the U.S National Cyber Security Alliance, 60% of small enterprises are unable to continue their business over six months after a cyberattack. Small businesses have minimal security. The hackers can steal money, customer data, employee credentials and more. Cyber breaches have serious effects on the companies and damage the relationship with the customers and employees.
With such widespread attacks, how do you protect your company?
The most basic step to secure the company is to improve its cybersecurity. This will help in rectifying the technical flaws thereby making it hard for cyber criminals to hack the company’s networks.
Follow these cybersecurity tips to secure your business –
- Invest in Cybersecurity
Investing in Cybersecurity is the most important cybersecurity tip to secure your business. Cybercrime has led to multiple losses for the company. Small businesses are extremely vulnerable to cybercrimes. It is crucial to identify the threats to prevent irrecoverable damages to businesses. Cybercrimes are catastrophic for organizations and lead to huge financial losses.
According to a report, global organizations spend around 15% of the revenue on Security Solutions. In spite of such huge investments, 9 out of 10 companies have faced breaches in the network.
- Train Employees
The employees are the working wheel of a company. To secure a company, one of the best ways is to train its employees about cybersecurity. This will help in identifying and avoiding cyber traps.
The employees should create strong and unique passwords for all the accounts. Each device used in the company, be it mobile phones, laptops, desktops, etc must have a password. The employees should be notified and trained to change their passwords from time to time. This will help in covering the technical loopholes.
Whenever possible, use a two-step verification process that requires two steps sign-in process. This asks for a password in the first step and an OTP or one-time password in the second step. Only the person having the OTP can sign-in to that particular account. This helps to secure the data and contributes to its authenticity.
- Create Security Backups
Regularly create backups of the data on all devices like laptops, desktops and mobile phones. For example, you can keep the customer information on your laptop but also save it in the cloud. Make sure the cloud is secure. Use encryption and strong passwords to protect data. Password Managers can be used to create strong passwords. The software helps in generating and retrieving strong passwords, potentially storing such passwords in an encrypted database or calculating them on demand.
Practicing regular backups will assist in the continuity and growth of the company and this will avoid the loss of data.
- Update Devices
The digital devices like laptops, mobile phones, and desktops should be regularly updated. Make sure to use the operating systems and browsers of the latest version. The latest versions will provide you with the updated tools in the software.
All the software including apps and security software should be regularly updated. This will help in filling the technical loopholes and protect your data from hackers.
- Network Security Appliance (NSA)
Network Security Appliance (NSA) consists of a set of network management and security tools that are installed on the website. The NSA and Firewall act as guardians for the network. It keeps a check on all the data coming in and out of the network. Multilayer antivirus and malware protection should be used for real-time protection. Antivirus scans all the files open and detects viruses instantly.
Make sure to install antivirus on all the devices used in the company. Most of the antivirus companies provide a free trial for a few months. The user has to pay after the free trial ends. Don’t think twice about paying for antivirus services as this will definitely help your company to reach great heights.
Conclusion
Before incorporating the cybersecurity techniques in your business plan, it is very important to make employees aware of the high rising technical risk that has the ability to destroy companies. Cybercrime is destructive but preventive too. Improve the security system of the firm by using the above-mentioned ways to prevent data and financial losses.
Be aware. Be secure.
