10 Tips to Protect Your Business Against Cyber Threats

Cyber attacks are on the rise. And the bad news is that it’s not just government agencies or large corporations who are being hacked.

SMBs are also at risk for cyberattacks because they have fewer resources to protect themselves. Many small businesses don’t have a cybersecurity plan, which means that cybercriminals have an easy time stealing their data and holding it for ransom.

But you don’t have to be a victim.

According to the Ponemon Institute, approximately two-thirds of small businesses have been the target of a cyberattack in the last year alone. In the United States, that figure is 76 percent, a significant increase of 20 percentage points from just three years earlier.

Here are 10 tips to safeguard your business against these dangers.

Educate employees

A great way to protect your business against cyberattacks is to educate employees. It would be best if you taught them what not to do with their devices, like downloading suspicious email attachments or opening links that seem sketchy.

If you don’t want your staff members opening suspicious emails, you can establish a policy where they’re required to forward suspicious emails to IT for review.

You can also require staff members to maintain updated antivirus software on their computers and make sure they update it regularly.

Run antivirus software

A crucial step to protecting your business from cyber threats is running antivirus software. 

You should update your antivirus software regularly and scan your company’s computers at least once a day.

It doesn’t matter how well you protect your company from outside threats if you don’t have the right antivirus software in place. The best protection for you is buying or subscribing to a premium antivirus service, such as Norton Security Premium. This way, you’ll get protection for all of your devices and online accounts, not just one or two of them.

Remember that ransomware is becoming more prevalent now than ever before, so also make sure that you have backups on hand in case hackers can encrypt all of your data.

Encrypt your data

You should encrypt your data by default. While companies like Google and Facebook have been fighting to encrypt their data, few small businesses do this. If a hacker tries to access your data, it will be encrypted, and they won’t be able to read it.

Invest in a cybersecurity solution as well to help protect your company, and make sure all parties are aware of F5’s top 10 API security risks to ensure that they make it as difficult as possible for cybercriminals to attack your systems.

Use strong passwords

It may sound simple, but the first step to protecting your business is to use strong passwords. A strong password consists of a lengthy string of letters and numbers and includes upper- and lower-case letters and symbols. When you create new passwords for social media sites, banking accounts, or any other account where you need to provide personal information, be sure it’s not something that could easily be guessed. 

It is also a good idea to change your passwords regularly too. This way, if security is breached, you can determine the earliest point an attack occurred.

Back up your data

One of the best ways to protect your company from a cyberattack is to back up your data.

Backups ensure that, when an attack occurs, you won’t lose everything. If the worst does happen and there’s a ransomware attack that encrypts all of your data, you’ll be able to recover it with backup copies. One backup strategy is to use online cloud-based storage solutions like Dropbox or Google Drive.

Cloud-based storage is affordable and convenient for small businesses because it gives them access to their data in any location and on any device–even when they’re offline. It also offers the option of protecting an entire range of devices in one place rather than specific devices individually. This helps reduce the risk of forgetting about one device and leaving it unsecured, leading to a significant security breach later on. 

Just remember: if you use cloud-based storage, make sure that two-factor authentication is enabled so that no one can access your account without your password and code verification.

It might be prudent to back up to a physical hard drive kept off-site; this can be especially helpful in a disaster, not just a cyber breach.

Keep your computer updated.

It might seem like a hassle, but keeping your computer updated is one of the best ways to protect yourself against cyber threats. Hackers can use vulnerabilities in outdated software and programs to infiltrate your computer. Protect yourself by updating your program as soon as there’s a new update available.

Take out cyberattack security.

Take out cyberattack security insurance. This kind of insurance will protect your company against data breaches like ransomware, malware, and hacking events. This is the cheapest way to safeguard against these attacks and the most reliable because of its policies. You can customize what you need for protection and get more coverage if needed.

The benefits of this type of policy don’t end there – it also covers all legal fees, crisis management, and regulatory fines that could arise for your company after an attack.

You shouldn’t rely on insurance to support you if your data is accessed by a cyber actor and held to ransom. However, check the small print of your policy as not only do insurance industry trends change, so do the requirements for making a claim. In many cases, you will be required to prove you did everything you could to avoid a data breach.

A firewall acts as an electronic shield for your data. It’ll block any unauthorized access to your system and alert you if another computer tries to access your PC without permission or tries to enter it without consent. It may seem simple, but it’s imperative to have a firewall installed on your computer.

If you don’t have a firewall installed, the risk of hacking is high because hackers can gain access to your network and use it as a gateway for cyberattacks. The firewall options by Meraki act as a first line of defense in network security for businesses of any size. With a firewall in place, the risk of hacking is significantly reduced because hackers can’t gain access to what you’ve been protecting all this time: Your information.

Use a firewall

A firewall can be set up for around $200, with prices varying depending on the company’s size and how much work needs to be done.

If you want to avoid getting hacked, you must use a firewall.

Conduct regular audits

Regular audits are one of the best ways to ensure that your company is cyber secure. It would be best to start by assessing what information you hold and how it’s stored. Then, fill in any gaps with the appropriate security measures, like password protection and firewalls.

Focus on prevention, not rectifying

An excellent place to start is to put together a plan that focuses on prevention instead of just rectifying the problem after it presents itself.

When your focus is on prevention, you will be able to identify weaknesses before cybercriminals exploit them. You can do this by integrating cybersecurity best practices into your day-to-day operations. It’s also essential to have a plan to respond to an attack.

Once you have a plan in place, you need to ensure everyone knows about it and what they should do if there is an incident. Everyone must have the same information so that no one takes action or does something that could interfere with the response.

In conclusion; being proactive and having a robust plan in place to monitor the security threats to your business can help you to avoid any data breaches and keep all of your data safe and secure.