Cyber Security How to Protect Your Business Data

You may think that cybercriminals have much more important targets than you to pursue.

12:29 24 July 2020

Sadly, those targets are actually less vulnerable to attacks compared to small businesses, which is why they look for less secure entities because it’s an easier job. To help you ensure that your business data is secure, we’ve created a guide that should aid you.

 

Educating Employees

No matter how secure a company can be, the existence of a weak link, such as the lack of employee training can create a lot of problems for you. The employees should be the first line of defense because they’ll be handling sensitive information and inputting it into the company’s database. Providing cybersecurity education to your employees is as important as hiring cybersecurity professionals. You don’t want little mistakes or mishaps to compromise the company and cause it to get in a storm of legal issues. You may need to teach your staff some basic things like creating strong passwords, avoiding sharing of information, identifying phishing and hacking attempts, in addition to informing them of other precautions.

 

Encryption of Information

 

One of the latest trends in cybersecurity is the encryption of sensitive and important information. Encryption allows you to completely seal off certain data by only keeping one or a few keys that can decrypt it. A lot of companies use a two-factor authentication (2FA) feature to ensure the automation of the encryption process, making it simple for all employees. This makes attackers unable to easily gain access to your network because of the extra layer of security.

 

A virtual proxy network (VPN) is one of the strongest defenses against many forms of cyber-attacks. A VPN can encrypt the sent and received information over the network. A VPN allows you, employees, to operate over public Wi-Fi or in their homes without needing to worry about breaches because of the automatic encryption of information. VPNs aren’t expensive, so you might want to avoid free VPN as they lack many important features. You should try looking for the best paid VPN to make sure that you’re getting your money’s worth. Ensure that the service provider is clear and upfront about the fees and security privileges before purchasing their service.

 

Creating a Cybersecurity Policy

 

The size of the business shouldn’t matter when you’re creating a cybersecurity policy. Since you’ll be closing all vulnerabilities and fronts where hackers and malicious users can attack you, you’ll need to ensure that you invest time and money in creating a formidable cybersecurity policy. This policy is used to establish all the IT rules and security precautions that your company should follow, inclusive of all employees. How employees use the devices, networks, digital tools, and their coverage of risk are all taken into consideration when you establish a cybersecurity policy. It can be as detailed as you want it to be, and the more specific it is, the better.

 

Access Restrictions

 

A lot of small business owners are focused on external attacks solely, leaving internal attacks to become a serious vulnerability. You may want to keep your data and devices internally monitored. According to a report by Verizon, 1 in every 4 data breaches is the direct result of internal attacks. Hackers would prefer having access to data internally to be able to wreak havoc easily, which can sometimes allure some malicious employees to do the job for various purposes. The easiest and cheapest way to ensure that your internal front is secured is limiting the access of users, giving the employees the bare minimum that allows them to do their work without straying into the network at will. You can provide certain users with more access privileges than others, individually choosing who to trust with certain information.

 

Constant Backups

 

A lot of people realize the importance of backups only after disaster strikes and they lose their data. You need to be proactive about securing your data by backing it up routinely and securely. You need to make sure that your IT infrastructure is safe enough to store backups because unsecured backups can be easily breached. IT downtimes can cost your business a lot because they may take a lot of time to be fixed, leaving your business paralyzed. Backups allow you to restore to the latest version and revert any mistakes that may have happened. You can use both on-site and cloud-based backups to ensure that you’re always ready for any crashes.

 

The digital world offers a lot of benefits to businesses and organizations, but a lot of small business owners may not be aware of the true risks that cybercriminals can impose on them. Small businesses that are entirely based on online platforms are the most vulnerable to attack because the majority of their assets are available through digital channels, making them a target if they don’t a seriously secure IT structure