Securing your online business is crucial if you want to protect your business, your team, and even your customers.
The problem is, many online business owners feel that their organization is not big enough to warrant a cyber attack.
As a result, they fail to put into place the right security measures to keep their sensitive data secure.
It’s worth pointing out that 71% of cyberattacks happen to businesses with fewer than 100 employees, and 60% of those businesses going out of business within 6 months of an attack.
So, as a small to medium-sized business, it’s time you take cybersecurity seriously.
But don’t forget the major corporations that have fallen victim to massive security breaches too. Think Equifax, Target, and Yahoo.
Ring any bells?
Despite what tips and tricks you may learn to help with your business and IT needs, there’s always more to learn about cybersecurity.
That’s why today, we’re sharing with your 5 of the best cybersecurity practices to keep your business safe.
1. Always Run a Backup
You should always run routine backups of your business’ data and store that information in a secure offsite location.
This way, should your website become compromised, you have a backup copy that you can use to restore it.
And if any critical company data is compromised, you have a copy to help with resolving the issue.
In addition to backing up your website’s content and files, you should make copies of the following documents:
- Word processing documents
- Electronic spreadsheets
- Databases
- Financial records
- Human resources files
- Accounts payable/receivable
It’s also crucial for you to make sure the backup copies are working.
The last thing you want to deal with is an incomplete backup after your website has been hacked and destroyed.
If you use the popular WordPress content management system, there are many free backup solutions available to protect your website.
For instance, UpdraftPlus is a free backup plugin that not only lets you schedule routine backups and store them offsite, but it also enables you to restore your website with a single click.
For those not using WordPress or those needing a way to backup and store other types of data, there’s always the option of backing up using your web host, or to a LAN storage, external hard drive, or USB drive.
And if you prefer to use an online backup service, there are options such as Backblaze, iDrive, and Carbonite.
2. Use a Spam Filter
Phishing emails are one of the most common cyber attack methods. They are also the easiest to fall for because they can be so convincing.
In fact, over a quarter of employees trained on how to spot phishing emails still fall for them every year, exposing the business they work for to hackers.
One way to reduce the number of phony emails you or your team receive is to use a strong spam filter on your business email service.
This type of advanced software has the ability to:
- Scan all incoming emails in real-time and stop any suspicious ones from passing through
- Check links on all emails
- Halt any emails with attachments and test them in a sandbox environment before allowing them to pass
- Translate attachments to a safe file format to neutralize malicious code
- Scan email content that seems legitimate by checking things like email body, URLs, and email addresses
A reliable spam filter can also defend against malware, data leaks, and other serious security threats to help you protect valuable business data.
3. Prepare for Mobile Devices
Nowadays it seems like everyone has a mobile device of some sort on them at all times. If it’s not a mobile phone, it’s a smartwatch, tablet, laptop, or even a fitness tracker.
These devices seem harmless when being used by your team during business hours.
But the truth is, mobile devices have the potential to open up your systems and websites to hackers without even knowing it.
If you’re going to allow people to access your business data from a mobile device, have a BYOD (bring your own device) policy in place.
Require users to always use the most updated software versions and have a strong password in place to reduce the threat of a cyber attack.
A good place to send your team to get strong passwords is the LastPass Password Generator.
You can choose things like the password length and which characters to allow in the generator so that it outputs something you like.
Enforcing these types of security measures will help keep your online business safe and your team from accidentally causing a major security breach.
4. Require Two-Factor Authentication
There will be times you or your team make a mistake when it comes to security, no matter how much education you provide.
And while it may be accidental, the damage is all the same.
One of the simplest ways to improve your online security and eliminate security threats is to require two-factor authentication to log in.
And to make things really safe, consider using your employees’ cell phone number as the “second” password.
In the unlikely event, a hacker has access to the strong passwords you require employees to have, there is no chance they’ll have your employees’ phone numbers too.
This added layer of security helps protect you and your team from yourselves and the inevitable mistakes people make.
5. Invest in Professional Security Services
Sometimes buckling down and securing every aspect of your business is beyond your scope of knowledge and technical skill.
Either that or you don’t have time to implement and enforce all the security policies you know you should.
If that’s the case, you shouldn’t just give up on securing your online business like so many businesses do and hope for the best.
Instead, invest in managed SIEM security, so you know you, your team, and your customers are protected at all times from cyber attacks.
With professional security services, you’ll get things like:
- 24/7 managed cyber threat protection
- Suspicious activity flagging and blocking of real threats
- Smart software analysis of your networks for detecting potential intrusions
- File integrity monitoring and data loss prevention
- IT security training for you and your employees
- And much more
Using the latest technologies and staying up to date on the most advanced cybercriminal strategies, a professional security company can provide visibility and protection across your entire network.
Final Thoughts
Protecting your online business is not something to take lightly no matter what kind of business you run, how big your organization is, or what type of budget you have.
The long-lasting effects that a security breach can have on your business, your team and your customers can be irreparable.
That’s why following cybersecurity best practices from the very beginning is crucial to the growth and success of your operation.
Don’t risk losing valuable customers and your reputation as an established business when there are so many easy, affordable, and effective ways to prevent a cyber attack on your business.