Cyber security is very crucial for businesses, in today’s world of growing cyberthreats and hacking. It’s mandatory that all businesses to develop cyber security, as the major business operations take place on internet.
According to the government research published in 2015, the average cost of most severe online security breaches for big businesses ranges up to £600,000. For small and medium sized businesses, online breaches can reach more than £300,000
Thus, small organizations also face major cyberthreat which can destroy their companies. Given below are some mandatory cyber security tips for the protection of your business:
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- Be Equipped with Anti-Virus Software
All the computers of the organization should be equipped with antivirus and antispyware software which would protect your computers from cybercrimes and all forms of hacking. Such software is easily available from many online. They should be regularly upgraded so as to update your computer with latest security secrets.
- Establish Security Policies
Establish policies on how your company’s employees use the personal details and identifiable information. Also, necessarily outline the consequences of violating the cyberthreat policies.
- Train Employees against Cyberthreats
All the businesses should substantially educate their employees about online threats and protection of your business’s data, including how to use the social networking sites safely. Sometimes the situation might demand the employees to reveal certain internal details about the business to various stakeholders or even competitors.
Thus, they should be taught the correct way so that the trade secrets aren’t revealed. Lastly, the employees should also be held accountable for the company’s internet policies and procedures.
- Create a remote location for Backup
Data backups are very essential for adequate security, mishandling of this can lead to the risk of theft. For greater security and protection cloud storage can be used as a remote location. But you must have an extra layer of protection for even your remotely secured documents by encrypting and protecting your saved data with strong passwords.
- Employ powerful passwords
If passwords are strongly encrypted then it becomes difficult for the hackers to hack them. Strong passwords comprise of alphabets, symbols, numerals and other characters. For instance, 12#%45ABC is quite a strong password. Encourage your employees to always put very strong passwords.
- Select a Password Manager Software
It’s very important that you choose your password software manager wisely keeping the pros and cons in mind. A password manager creates strong passwords and also remembers them for you. Now, as all the passwords are stored in the same database, the hacker can easily have access to them. Thus, you need to decide upon do you really want a Password Manager.
- Don’t Save the Customer’s CVV Number
Many businesses get their customer’s card details with the customer’s consent to make further transactions convenient. But, on the other hand this exposes the customer’s card details to the hackers. A solution for this is that, you should store all the card details but avoid storing the CVV Number. Your concern for their credit card security would make them important for you.
- Apply for Cyber Insurance
It’s a great option to apply for cyber insurance which would protect your business from internet based risks. Cyber Insurance would not only provide security but also provide your company with a balanced financial footing if any cyber -crime occurs.
- HTTPs should be enabled on your website
HTTPs websites usually have an SSL/TLS Certificate installed onto the servers. This certificate encrypts all data transmitted from browser to server, be it personal or financial information, that’s submitted through the site or the general contents of the webpage, from eavesdroppers. SSL Certificates also have the ability to tie your brand identity to your web presence. EV SSL makes this extra clear for users by turning the address bar green as well as prominently displaying your company name.
- Employ Firewall Security for your Internet Connection
Firewalls are generally designed to prevent unauthorized access from any private network. You can specifically create a set of rules on your firewall so that it knows what it should allow in and what should be blocked out. A good firewall must monitor incoming and outgoing data intricately.
- Incident Response Strategy to be created
An Incident Response Strategy allows the business to stay way ahead of the attack. Your 100% security is never certified so it is always best to have a plan in case of a cyber-attack. This will make sure that if you are attacked, you can respond quick enough to keep attackers away from getting hold of sensitive data and alert the press or customers.
- Beware of Phishing attacks
Email, like before continues to be a quite weak point in cybersecurity, with data loss and phishing attacks being two of the biggest threats. You should employ an email security solution which is capable of encrypting messages in transit and even while at rest, with its ability to verify a message origin so that it is easy for employees to spot the spoofed emails and not be a victim of phishing.
- Make a Quick Response Guideline
Make sure that you have well ahead preparations to respond effectively and efficiently when you face a cyber-attack. Communicate this secured plan to the rest of your organization and make someone in charge of ensuring that the plan is carried out timely.
- IT Infrastructure should be Cyber secured
Standard insurance policies normally don’t cover the loss of data; this is where cyber-insurance comes into the scenario. You need to ensure you are covered in any case of cyber-security threat. Moreover, you might be holding third-party data. So, it’s very essential to be safe.
- Employ a Professional Hacker
There is plethora of professional hackers available around the world who don’t wish to steal your data illegally and sell it online. They help people and various business hubs to be safe from illegal hackers. They are known as ‘white hat’ hackers and every organization must have one in order to combat the ‘black hat’ hackers. Thus, it said that you can only fight fire with fire.
We hope that, you find the above tips useful and use these for the cyber protection of your business.
