This post is provide by Jason Dirkham.
Cyber attacks are more commonplace than you think for businesses nowadays, and just because you’re a small business doesn’t mean your safe. With technology advancing and changing so dramatically, there’s a lot that you should know about how to avoid a cyber attack from affecting your company. Here are some tips to protect your small business from cyber attacks.
Teach Your Staff
Your staff bears a responsibility when it comes to browsing and using the internet in the workplace. And whether they’re doing work-related stuff or procrastinating, it’s important they know how to protect themselves and the company while on online. Training and teaching your staff on what to look out for and how to act when they see something suspicious is good to do. Start by teaching everyone the basics, whether that’s what to look out for in phishing emails or setting up a workplace policy around using the internet. You are more than allowed to set rules based on what they can look at online. You may wish to block some web pages as this might be safer than having them easy to stumble on by staff. There are plenty of recommendations and guidance online on how to do this, but it might also be worth getting your IT support involved to help out.
Use Two-Factor Authentication
Two-factor authentication is essentially an extra layer of security for your company’s accounts online. It’s something where you’ll usually require another electronic device, mainly a mobile phone. A company mobile phone is worth assigning these authentication steps to, and this should be communicated to all staff who have the ability to do so. It’s giving a bit more peace of mind to the security of your accounts, especially those that are likely to hold valuable information, like the company’s finances and the data of your customers. A lot of businesses in the past have been stung for losing or having customer data stolen, so much so that it can potentially ruin a business. So take this option seriously and try and assign as many accounts to this extra layer of security where possible.
Backup Your Data
Backing up your data can be handy when you want to protect information. It can also help you in a situation where something happened to the original data. Whether it got deleted by accident or perhaps your office building burned down with everything in it. Having a backup data supply either in the cloud or at another external location is handy to provide that extra backup if it’s ever needed. At least you wouldn’t have lost it all permanently, which can potentially save your company.
Backing up your data also means you can limit the amount of physically retrievable data you store. After all, unused hard drive and product destruction protects your business from making potentially disposed-of assets usable by those looking to steal data, intellectual property, or personal information.
Consider VPN When Browsing The Internet
You might want to consider a VPN for your servers and connect to UK VPN, it’s pretty simple to do. It can help protect your data by supplying you with a state of the art encryption for your internet connection. That means that whether your staff are doing some online shopping in the workplace or dealing with customer data, it’s all well-protected. It can keep your devices safe from hackers and anyone who might be trying to find a way in and access your information. It’s worth having as a business, especially as you often end up being more of a target. You can also avoid government interference, which can be handy if you’re trying to do research on certain companies or competitors. There are many perks of getting a VPN, so do your research and look into it to see if it’s something you’d want and need.
Keep Up To Date With Latest Methods
The latest methods of hacking and cyber attacks, in general, are forever changing and becoming more unique in their attempts to find more victims. It’s important to keep yourself aware of everything that’s going on in the modern-day world of the internet. Make sure your IT department is reading up and attending the latest workshops and talks on how to strengthen cyber security as a business. It’s something that, sadly, you can never let your guard down to and one that should be constantly monitored at all times.
Protecting your small business from cyber attacks can be the difference from you thriving to falling apart. Make sure you’re keeping your staff well trained and informed of the latest attack methods. Encrypt and back up your data, making sure all servers are upgraded to the best of their ability and cost. The better you are with your cybersecurity, the more at ease you’re likely to feel.
