In today’s digital landscape, technology prevails over the business world, streamlining operations and maximizing efficiency. More importantly, it gives small companies a chance to advance in the fiercely competitive business landscape. However, while technology has enhanced business efficiency, it has also opened doors for cybercriminals. With more sensitive information and valuable assets stored digitally, cyberattacks are occurring at unprecedented rates. But what’s more concerning is that small companies are particularly at risk as they make an easy target for cybercriminals. However, a single cyberattack can cause enough damage to cause your company to shut down. After all, it’s no easy feat to recover from financial damage, loss of reputation, and stolen assets as a small company. It’s essential to prevent such a situation by building a robust cybersecurity system. For this purpose, here are five tips that you will find helpful.
Educate your Employees
While there are countless external threats to a small company, insider threats need to be dealt with as well. Employees unaware of cybersecurity practices can lead cybercriminals straight to your digital property without even noticing. In fact, cybercriminals have created a specific class of cyberattacks known as social engineering to take advantage of uneducated employees. For example, as part of a social engineering scam, attackers often send fake emails that appear to be authentic to ask employees for credentials. Therefore, it’s essential to train and educate your employees about the safe use of technology. Educated employees will act carefully and will be more likely to identify any social engineering attacks.
To educate your employees, you can create a training program at the workplace by hiring an expert. However, it’s also a good idea to encourage your employees to pursue advanced courses in cybersecurity. With an advanced skillset and knowledge, your employees will not only be able to deal with insider threats but also those from the outside. Some enterprising individuals can even pursue a masters degree program in cybersecurity online and learn at their own pace.
Backup digital Assets
Effective cybersecurity measures do not guarantee full protection against data loss. Cyberattacks, human error, natural disasters, and technological malfunctions still pose a significant threat to your company’s digital assets. Keeping this in mind, you must prepare your company to face unexpected challenges by backing up your digital assets. With several copies of your valuable digital assets, you will be able to recover them in case they are lost. Backups will also save you from financial loss in case cybercriminals ask for ransom in return for the stolen data. Considering that 236.1 million ransomware attacks occurred in 2022 alone, a backup will be a fundamental part of your cybersecurity system.
However, secure digital storage can be quite expensive for small companies, making it important to invest carefully. So, to establish an effective backup plan you need to identify data that is most vital to your business operations and prioritize it. To further improve your backup, both off-site and on-site backups can be created. For off-site backups, it’s a good idea to choose a cloud service as it’s affordable and secure. But regardless of the location of the backups, it’s essential to store data in an encrypted form. Doing so will protect your backups from being stolen.
It is best to implement the use of virtual data software for data sharing. Virtual data rooms offer secure real-time access, controlled permissions, and collaborative capabilities for data sharing, surpassing mere backup solutions in terms of confidentiality, efficiency, and teamwork. Here you can find the tutorial on how to use it https://data-room-software.
Monitor Digital Activity
One of the most effective ways to prevent cyberattacks is by detecting threats in advance. However, to do so, you need to monitor digital activity within your business. For instance, you can keep track of system logs, user behavior, and network traffic for analysis. Doing so will help you identify any suspicious activity and anomalies that indicate a cyberattack. As a result, you will be able to take security measures to deal with any attacks that may otherwise cause significant damage to your company.
However, it’s impossible to manually record and analyze the digital activity of a business. So, you will need to install intrusion detection systems to automate the process and actively monitor digital activity. You can also use AI-powered threat detection systems for a robust security system. Such technology will record every detail and provide analysis reports to reveal any threats to your business. Alongside intrusion detection systems, you can also install prevention systems that work in coordination and take security measures in case there is an intruder detected.
Implement Strong Authentication Systems
With today’s advanced technology, it only takes a few minutes for cybercriminals to break simple passwords. Consequently, as much as 80% of data breaches occur due to passwords. Keeping this statistic in mind, it’s crucial to implement stronger authentication systems for safeguarding your data. Multi-factor authentication (MFA) systems are your best option for this purpose. As the name suggests, multi-factor authentication has several barriers to protect data instead of a single password. Some of the authentication methods used include passwords, biometrics, and security pins.
Even if a cybercriminal is able to pass through a few authentication barriers, the remaining will make sure your data stays protected. Many MFA systems also send security alerts in case there have been failed attempts to access valuable digital assets. This can help you take security measures to protect your data in case there is an ongoing cyberattack. However, authentication systems also need to be organized by providing each employee with access privileges. As a result, each employee will only be able to access data that they are authorized for.
Maintain software
Regardless of the amount of security technologies you have installed, without effective maintenance, they will fail sooner or later. Cybercriminals are actively looking for gaps in security software and don’t waste time taking advantage of them. Proper maintenance will allow you to patch vulnerabilities and make sure cybercriminals are not able to cause any harm. The best way to maintain software is by keeping it up to date by installing security patches and bug fixes released by vendors.
To make sure your software stays up to date, regularly check your technological infrastructure for any improvements that can be made. In addition to installing updates, it’s equally important to get rid of outdated or unsupported software. It’s best to have the latest software that has advanced security features to tackle any intrusion.
Conclusion
Everything has its pros and cons, and technology is no different. While it boosts business efficiency and progress, it also poses a threat to your business. With cyberattacks increasing in scale and number each year, cybersecurity is now more important than ever before for small companies that are the main targets of cybercriminals. So, make sure to follow the tips mentioned above to protect your business and prepare it for the future.
This post was last modified on August 29, 2023 6:44 PM