Indeed, several surveys have found more than 70% of cyberattacks target small to medium-sized enterprises. If you’re a business with a budget for cybersecurity, it doesn’t mean you’re safe. It only means you’ll be targeted by more sophisticated criminals. Don’t worry because figuring out you have to do something about your safety is almost half the job. The rest is simple if you have the right means. Here are some measures you can put in place to strengthen your company’s cybersecurity:
Top 11 Cyber Security Best Practices For Your Business
1. Make Use Of A Firewall
One of your best defenses against cyberattacks is your firewall, so you shouldn’t neglect it. As the name suggests, a firewall acts as a guard or wall standing between a cybercriminal and your data. It’s the most basic yet most essential step in your cyber defense system. Now that most people are working from home, make sure to install firewalls on the computers used for work.
2. Hire Experts
Don’t hire a company to create your cybersecurity strategy until you’re satisfied with their track record. They’re not just starting to learn on the job, so they need to have reference points on how to protect a company of your nature and size. When looking for the right fit, you’re looking for companies with the most experience like For All Secure and others. Doing this will save you a lot of headaches and money.
3. Document Your Policies
Simply stating what’s needed to be done by each employee or team regarding cybersecurity isn’t enough. You’ll have to write everything down for guidance and future reference. You’ll be surprised how much information you intend to use would be lost if you don’t take this simple measure of documenting each policy update.
4. Factor In Mobile Phones
Almost everyone has a smartphone now, which means a significant number of your employees won’t only have mobile phones but will also use them to access work-related equipment. If your cybersecurity plan didn’t pay attention to mobile devices, then this means you did little to protect yourself because this is a very big hole. Since mobile phones are personal devices, they can be exposed to many transactions. Factor these gadgets into your security policies from the get-go.
5. Conduct Employee Training
None of this is worth it if you’re the only one who understands it. Cybersecurity isn’t one of those subjects strictly reserved for the information technology (IT) team or top management. This is a company-wide concern, so proper training should be conducted for all employees to make sure everyone is on the same page. As a company, when it comes to cybersecurity, you’re only as strong as your weakest link!
6. Make Sure To Use Passwords
Emphasize to your employees the importance of changing weak passwords as they’re more susceptible to theft. Even though changing passwords can be draining, it’s necessary and it shouldn’t be treated as optional by you or your employees. Protect all business devices and accounts with strong passwords and change them periodically when there’s a need.
7. Regularly Update All Software
The more you neglect software updates on your company devices, the more vulnerable you become on the internet. Although most updates are free, they’re still not free to create. See them as patches software companies work hard to fix vulnerabilities. They can’t just be spending all that big money on negligible things, so as soon as an update comes up, it should be a priority to upgrade.
8. Enable HTTPS On Your Site
You’ve probably seen ‘https’ written at the beginning of every site you visit. What this means is all data on the site is encrypted because it’s transferred from the browser to the server. This will protect your clients’ financial and personal information from fraudsters online who might pounce on it if left unprotected and use it to steal identity. Plus, as a bonus, because a lot of people know on the internet what this is for, it’d give your website the credibility it needs.
9. Make Sure All Data Is Backed Up
Even after doing all this, you might still be vulnerable. If you get attacked and lose all your company data, nothing else will give you much comfort than the knowledge that you had all your data backed up. Back up everything from financial records, human resources files, word processing data documents, and spreadsheets to all databases. You also need to return the data that’s already utilized on the cloud. For extra care, don’t keep your backups in the same location as the central data itself. Keep them in a separate place, so if an accident occurs such as a flood or a fire, it doesn’t take everything with it.
10. Have Anti-Malware Software Installed
It doesn’t matter if you’ve repeated countless times that your employees should refrain from opening any phishing emails as it exposes them to dangerous malware. However, it still happens from time to time; and if it does, your devices should be protected by strong anti-malware software.
11. Utilize Multifactor Identification
If your passwords or other identification data is stolen and used to attempt to login into your company data, it’s best if you have multi-factor identification settings in place. It’s highly unlikely a thief will gain access to both a Personal Identification Number (PIN) and password. Using these as part of your security measures will give you an added layer of protection.
Conclusion
Security isn’t something you can expect to master once and for all. It’s a moving target and if you want to be safe, you must continue to move with it. Advance your security measures periodically to stay ahead of the tactics being used by cybercriminals. Consider the ideas mentioned here as you strengthen your defense against suspicious online activities.
