Too many entrepreneurs are too lax when it comes to cybersecurity. The common belief is cyberattacks aren’t that big a deal and only happen to other businesses.
Consider these critical statistics that belie this: 50 percent of all SMBs have suffered at least one cyberattack in the last year, according to fundera. Moreover, 60 percent of small businesses go out of business within six months as a consequence.
The key takeaway is that a single successful cyberattack may be enough to put you out of business. It’s a good idea to inform yourself of the threats you are facing and what you can do about them. Here, Winstar Technologies covers some critical cybersecurity essentials for business owners:
What Kinds of Threats are out There?
Not all cyberattacks are devastating enough to put a business out of action. But they still target something of value. There are many avenues of approach, ranging from Denial-of-Service (DOS) attacks and phishing to malware and eavesdropping.
Netwrix explains these in detail if you’re curious. You don’t necessarily need to know the technical workings of said threats. It’s enough to know that they exist – and what they’re targeting.
Here are some items that may be at risk when you’re being targeted by a hacker:
1. Data: Business data is valuable. Some data you could lose includes product designs, employee information, client information, financial reports, intellectual property, and more.
2. Infrastructure: Sometimes hackers want to use your online infrastructure – like servers or storage –for their gains. Sometimes it’s for access to free resources and sometimes they use your servers to launch attacks.
3. Money: Often, hackers will try to siphon off funds. Some ways they do so are getting your credit card information and bank information or simply scamming your employees into sending them money.
4. Reputation: When an attack is successful, it hurts the company’s reputation. Losing your clients’ trust is never good for business, needless to say, and causes many companies severe problems.
5. Identity: Often, hackers will steal your or your employees’ identity information, which they will use to commit fraud.
How do You Protect Your Business and Enhance Cybersecurity?
The best way to protect your business is to have a dedicated cybersecurity team in charge of your setup. Of course, this doesn’t always work when you’re a small business.
What you can do – and what is enough in most cases – is follow security best practices such as installing anti-virus software and having strong passwords. We’ll cover the important specifics below:
1. Educate your employees on do’s and don’ts: Human error is the leading cause of cybersecurity failure. You must train yourself and your employees on common best practices – safely opening emails, recognizing common threats, and what to do in the event of a threat.
2. Keep your software updated: Another leading cause of cybersecurity failure is outdated software. By keeping apps updated, you keep common security holes patched up.
3. Use 2FA and strong passwords: Enabling Two Factor Authentication (2FA) and using strong passwords is the key to keeping your files and accounts protected.
4. Multiple security layers: It’s not enough to just have anti-virus software – you need to cover every chink in your armour. Some suggestions are implementing a firewall, MFA, network monitoring, WiFi, and a monitoring tool.
5. Access control: Access control refers to protecting your accounts and data by restricting who has access to what (and for how long).
6. Testing: Penetration testing is having an expert hack your infrastructure, which allows you to see where the weaknesses are. You can then shore these up to have stronger security.
7. Insurance: Last, but not least, is cyber insurance. If you’re ever successfully hacked, you can have the damages reimbursed.
When you deal with a lot of sensitive information, it’s always a good idea to consult with an expert and get them to test and later upgrade your setup.
Having a Recovery Plan When all Protections Fail
Even the best-protected setups can and do fail. Cyber insurance can’t deal with the fallout. You still have to get back up and running again, not to mention salvage your reputation. Having a recovery plan is how you can do both.
With a solid plan, you can identify what happened as well as the applications that need to recover first. You can pinpoint time objectives and assign individuals to be in charge of recovery efforts. You can put someone on PR, if applicable, to keep your reputation intact. Finally, you can improve IT security by correcting the weaknesses that caused the failure.
Conclusion on Cybersecurity
Cybersecurity is a constantly evolving practice. As threats evolve, so do security measures. The only way to keep your business safe long-term is to stay informed on the newest threats, have a cybersecurity strategy in place, and keep updating your setup.
Image via Unsplash
