There is a lot of blood, sweat and tears that go into setting up and maintaining a successful business. Regardless of what industry you’re in, you’ll have spent many hours finetuning your operation to get it to where it is today. For those who operate online, unfortunately, there are criminals lurking in the shadows who are constantly coming up with new tactics to gain access to confidential data and ultimately, steal money.
If you’re a small business in particular, the thought of becoming victim of a cyber crime may be too much to bear. Also, such an event could cause irreparable damage to your company. Thankfully, we have plenty of useful tips and strategies you can put in place today that can add an extra layer of protection. Here are just some of them.
Infographic created by Donnelley Financial Solutions, an SEC filing software company.
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Call In the Experts
For those who already have cybersecurity measures in place, you may feel you want to do that little bit more to protect your business. If this is the case, it’s time to call in the experts. You can check out Totality Services who provide IT support for SMEs. One of their primary expertise is protecting small and medium-sized businesses against cybercrime. You can work with IT specialists to put additional systems in place to lower your risk while protecting your assets in the process.
Back Up Your Data
Have a think about how much confidential data your business has. Whether it’s to do with the business, client details, or customers’ addresses, all this information needs to be kept strictly safe and secure. For that reason, you need to make sure you’re backing up your data regularly. Storing it somewhere secure and out of sight will mean cybercriminals will come unstuck should they try wreak havoc on your business.
Raise Cyber Security Awareness
It’s not just you as the business owner who needs to be in the know about cybercrime. Whether you employ a handful of people or have dozens of employees in your organisation, everyone plays a part in protecting the business. When you raise cyber security awareness with colleagues, they will know what actions to take to keep themselves and your operation safe. One way to do by implementing regular training into the workplace. There are specific cybercrime courses staff can embark on that will teach them on what to look out for, such as phishing scams.
Choose Strong Passwords
There are a whole load of passwords that you’ll use in your business. Whether it’s for your social media accounts, payroll, or software, make sure you pick strong passwords that are hard to crack. You will be surprised how many companies opt for ‘password123’ as theirs! This is great news for cybercriminals. In fact, they won’t have to break a sweat gaining access to your company accounts. Pick a strong password made up of letters, numbers, and symbols. If you’re worried about forgetting a password, you could download a specialist app to house them in. Alternatively, write the passwords down on a notepad and keep it somewhere safe.
Install Specialist Software
In 2023, there are no excuses not to be using cybersecurity software. Malware attacks can happen to any business. To avoid malware from infiltrating your systems, it’s crucial you have anti-malware software in place and remember to update it. Also, ensure your firewall is turned on too. This will add an extra layer of protection to your business network.
Protect Your Social Media Accounts
Social media is a great marketing tool for businesses. Platforms like Facebook and Instagram allow you to cultivate your own community and engage with customers. While there are plenty of pros of socialmedia, you need to be aware hackers are lurking on them too. With that said, it’s vital you have social media procedures, policies, and defences in place. Although cybercriminals won’t be able to access your financial data and systems directly, they can still cause major reputational damage with a single status or tweet from your business account.
Use Multi-Factor Authentication
Another standard practice small business owners should use to protect data is in the form of MFA (multi-factor authentication). This verification process orders users to provide two or several proofs of their identities to access accounts. One example could be inputting a specific code or answering a question. While some employees may see this step as a nuisance, having it in place will certainly add more protection to your company.
When you use any or all of our suggestions above, this will strengthen your business’s security and most importantly, keep cybercriminals out of sight and out of mind. While there will always be cyberattack threats for businesses of all shapes and sizes, knowing you’ve got preventative measures in place will help you sleep that little bit more soundly.
