Cybercriminals do not discriminate. No matter how large or small a business is, every company needs to care about cybersecurity. The first mistake business owners make is assuming they are not a target. Many business owners have an “it won’t happen to me” attitude – but this lack of awareness can lead to trouble. You can use this article to learn the best practices in cybersecurity so you can avoid common – and dangerous – mistakes.
Develop a Cybersecurity Plan
Your plan should be cutting-edge and comprehensive. It should also begin by detailing the true data security threat your company faces. Take the time to really understand what sort of threats could impact your business. Remember, cybercriminals are getting more and more experienced and advanced all of the time, so this is something that you are going to need to keep amending if you want to stay protected.
Next, outline your cybersecurity goals. Putting together a disaster recovery plan is also critical. No matter your security efforts, you still need to be prepared for the worst. Yes, we hope that we will never need to use this plan because we will not get breached. However, you need to be prepared for the fact that this could happen. A disaster recovery plan will prevent the impact from being so large.
Train Employees
Employees are one of the main reasons for cyber breaches. When employees lack training, they can make mistakes that result in hackers finding a way into your systems. All businesses need to train their members of staff on safe procedures to follow when online.
Some of the basic vulnerabilities you need to go over include:
- Handling or disposing of sensitive data
- Opening or responding to phishing apps or emails
- Opening infected web pages or email attachments
- Reusing passwords or choosing weak passwords
Businesses can improve their cybersecurity by training employees to spot and avoid common threats. Again, refresher courses will make a lot of sense because threats are changing all of the time, as technology changes and hackers get more experienced and advanced themselves.
Implement Firewalls
Business owners underestimate the importance of having firewalls in place, and we don’t mean the free firewalls that can be downloaded online. You need something substantial that is going to act as an effective security layer; alerting you if any malware is trying to infect your computer so that you can prevent it from finding a way in. Here’s a handy API security checklist, to make sure you cover all the basics (and some more advanced tips).
Stay Ahead of Emerging Threats
Once you have cybersecurity measures in place, you cannot sit still. You need to always measure the effectiveness of your efforts and continue to use data to make intelligent decisions. This is something that we have stressed a number of times in this article because it is so important. Like anything in the digital life, cybersecurity is moving at a very fast pace at the moment, and so you need to do everything you can to make sure that your business is protected.
Segment Your Network
If you have everything from PoS systems to self-service kiosks on the same network, you are leaving your business exposed. After all, as soon as a hacker breaches one area of your business, they are going to have access to everything on the network. By segmenting your business, you help to minimize the impact of any sort of breach.
Invest in Strong Website Security
Your website is one part of your online presence that requires a stringent security strategy put in place.
If you use outdated software or you fail to choose a third-party hosting provider with care, you could find yourself falling victim to an attack. This highlights why you need to work with the best and trusted providers. These should include your hosting, domain, web service provider, email service provider, SMS software provider, and others. You can head to hosting.co.uk to find a secure and reliable hosting provider.
It is important that you always team up with companies that take cybersecurity seriously. Do not simply assume that this is the case either. Make a dedicated effort to find out what sort of tools and techniques they are using to keep you protected.
Encrypt Sensitive Data
Unfortunately, it is impossible to make your business 100% secure, no matter how hard you try. Therefore, you should not focus all of your efforts on keeping hackers out. You also need to pay some attention to what would happen if cybercriminals found their way in. By encrypting your data, you ensure that it cannot be read. Therefore, while hackers may have breached your system, they cannot steal any sensitive data because it is in unreadable code.
Think Beyond Malware
There is no denying that malware is something that a lot of criminal hackers use as a part of their attack. Nevertheless, once they have found their way into your system, there are lots of different strategies that can be utilised to exploit your network. From phishing scams to trojan horses, there are a lot of different types of breaches out there today, so you need to broaden your understanding of cybersecurity threats.
Create Strong Passwords
There is no excuse for having a weak password, yet many businesses use weak passwords such as “1234” or the name of their business. You always need to change the default passwords you have been supplied with, and your new password should contain numbers, upper and lower case letters, and special characters. Plus, make sure that your employees change their passwords regularly for enhanced security.
All Businesses Need Strong Cybersecurity
There is no denying the very real threat of a data breach in the current day and age. No business is immune from this threat, big or small. This is why you need to ensure that you do everything in your power to protect your business and, consequently, your client base too. Use the advice that we have mentioned above so you can make sure that you use the best cybersecurity practices for your company in 2022.
