Prevention is better than Cure: Learn how to protect your business from Cyber-Attacks
Hacking, phishing, data-stealing are the new buzz words in the business environment. Though cybersecurity is not considered significant enough in small companies, protecting business from cybercrime should move up the priority list. Cybercrime is on the rise and so it is important to know how to fight it. We tell you 5 ways to protect small businesses against cyber-attack.
1. Keep your servers and softwares up to date
System updates can be time-consuming but some businesses don’t understand that it can help in protecting the data.
Hackers usually know all about the updated softwares in the market and hence target the low hanging fruits, businesses that don’t have a System security plan in place
2. Train & Educate your employees about the Cybercrime threat
Educating your employees about phishing attacks is the fastest and the safest way to protect your business from Cybercrime
Cybersecurity training should be conducted on a regular basis and the IT staff should be upto date with new technologies
Educate employees on not to open unknown pop-ups, downloading files from unknown sources
Devising an IT policy for staff will help in protecting small businesses from cyber-attacks; for e.g. not allowing the employees to use office wifi from unsecured devices. This will help in keeping cyber threats at bay
3. Strengthen Passwords
Make sure your password policy forces employees to keep strong passwords- which means, have more than 8 characters in your password, with a mix of special characters, upper and lower case alphabets and numbers. If you just have only numbers or only alphabets in your password, the hacker can crack it in less than 8 secs. For a few longer ones, it is just a matter of hours and your password is out. So frame it with the most difficult combination which you can remember!
Make sure the passwords are changed after every 3 months
The more complicated the password, the better. This will help in protecting business from cyber crimes
4. Encrypt and take Back up of Important Data
Data is the foundation for many businesses today. Have multiple passwords to open sensitive date
Also don’t keep the data in one source, divide it into various segments
Encrypt servers, desktops, laptops, mobiles with advanced internet security so that when data travels from one network to another it is not compromised and you can protect the business from cyber-crimes
5. Get Insured
God forbid if a cyber-attack takes place, there is insurance for cyber risk that you can avail. However, there is no insurance in the world that can make up for lost data, but it can off-set the cost borne due to business interruption.
Protecting business against cybercrime is an ongoing process. You cannot be complacent and should always be prepared for a cyber-attack. Strict limitations and having a security framework that covers all points of breach is the only way to minimize the occurrence of such attacks