In the modern business world full of industrial espionage, cyber-attacks and other illegal activities that often target companies, it is extremely important to be protected in every way possible. Business owners often think that cyber attacks are something that happens only to large enterprises, but that’s not true. Every type of company, whether it’s a small business or a huge conglomerate, is a potential victim of cyber-attacks.
Today, we are bringing you 6 quick security tips to protect your business from virtual attacks:
Invest in a quality antivirus program and use a firewall
A good antivirus program is the first line of defense against malware – trojans, worms, ransomware and a ton of other digital threats. If in some case a malware makes its way on your computer, your antivirus software needs to be capable of detecting and removing the threat before it can harm your system. Remember to equip not only your desktop computers with antivirus software but your mobile devices as well.
A firewall is just as important as an antivirus program, and today, most Internet routers have an onboard firewall, just remember to turn it on.
Minimize your social media risks
Today, we are living in the era of Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, so it’s extremely important to establish some guidelines for your business’ social media. Experts from Bedrock IT advise to decide who will manage the social network accounts of your company and only allow those employees to do so. After you decide who’s in charge, educate them on confidentiality – there is some information that can’t reach people outside the company under any circumstances.
Educate your employees
It is crucial for all the staff, whether they’ve been working in your company for decades, or whether they were hired yesterday, to be trained on the basics of cybersecurity. The most important stuff they should know is how to create strong passwords for their account, use two-factor authentication and identify the symptoms of phishing. These little steps will help keep your company, as well as your employees’ cyberspace safe.
Think about internal threats
According to a study by Verizon, 25% of all data breaches involve internal actors, which means that the threats lurk not only outside your company but possibly inside it as well. Protecting your company from the inside is an extremely important layer of defense. It is advisable that all employees have bare minimum permissions they need for their job. This reduces the risks of a sensitive data breach by minimizing the data employees can access. You can also implement physical access limits to some parts of the business if necessary by using security checks, fingerprint scanners, RFID door etc.
Always back up your data
It is essential for your company to have a recovery system in case of an emergency. For the optimal safety, use a combination of online cloud backup with network-attached storage backup.
Write a company cybersecurity policy
By coming up with a company cybersecurity policy, you will let all your employees know what type of internet behavior is acceptable, and what is not. State clearly what the proper usage of a company’s computer is, and which applications can be installed as well as which are forbidden. Remember to enforce consequences for the employees that fail to follow the company’s policy – your entire business may depend on it.
In this article, we have outlined some of the cyber threats that are lurking around and can harm your business. Even if you do not have employees that are highly educated in IT, there are still some steps you can take to secure your company. Cybersecurity is like an onion – it consists of many layers, and each of these layers helps to keep your business safe.
