One of the worst things in the whole world for a small business owner to face would be getting hacked. A cyber criminal is going to instantly have access to your information, confidential information such as customer credit card numbers, passwords, login info, and so much more. They can even ruin your entire business if they want to with the amount of information they have.
To a degree, getting hacked and having your information compromised can impact your business in the worst way possible. It instantly ruins your reputation; you could end up on the news with bad PR, lose customers, pay a fine, and deal with a lot of other big problems. Overall, it’s not a good look, and it can destroy your business. But you can protect your business from cyber criminals so here are some ways to do it!
Start Off By Investing in Antivirus Software and a Firewall
Hackers are targeting small businesses because they know smaller companies often have weak cybersecurity systems in place. They are also after the valuable data that small businesses have, such as customer information, credit card numbers, and login credentials for larger partner businesses, which criminals can then use to gain access to more valuable systems.
While it’s super simple, just having some security like antivirus and a firewall will help a lot. Both of these will help you in keeping out unwanted and dangerous traffic. Both of these can also detect signatures that may indicate a cyber attack and notify you. It is important to remember that just like antivirus software, the firewall will need to be updated regularly for maximum protection.
Get a Dedicated Team
Just because a business uses antivirus software doesn’t mean it’s safe from cyberattacks. Businesses need to have an IT team or dedicated employee that proactively looks for vulnerabilities, such as a faulty router, and installs update as soon as they are available. Then, they need to ensure that all computers and devices connected to the network – including employees’ home systems if they work from home – are updated.
While you should have a dedicated team (whether you outsource or not), there will need to be other things you’ll have to do, too, in terms of services. Slowly, more people are looking into penetration testing companies. These are known for helping out with searching for big and small exploits and potential security risks that organisations may potentially have. Besides, they may be able to find issues that even your dedicated IT team can’t find or even antivirus software can’t find.
Keep Your Staff Trained
It’s not enough to have a dedicated team of staff to help you out; sometimes, you’re still going to need to go even further with all of this. Educating your staff on best practices and how to protect the business is key. Some of the basics include reminding employees not to open attachments or click links in emails from people they don’t know and even implementing procedures for encrypting sensitive information.
Training your staff may seem like a hassle, but the payoff is significant. Every time a staff member doesn’t click on a phishing link or doesn’t download suspicious software, your business is a lot safer. Incorporate cyber crime awareness into new hire onboarding and regularly update the training.
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