Over time, digital platforms have given businesses more opportunities to get noticed, expand, and achieve greater sustainability.
By being online, companies can now reach more customers, expand their market share, penetrate global markets, and achieve a good level of presence. However, as the online space offers several opportunities for businesses to grow and become more profitable, so does it expose them to cybersecurity threats.
According to research, several companies across the globe have experienced one form of cyber-attack. These include but aren’t limited to ransomware attacks, phishing, access breach, and advanced malware.
Despite the debilitating effect cybersecurity threats have on businesses, not all business owners understand how to protect their businesses against security risks or boost their online safety. This business blog has five techniques a business owner can use to promote security within the organization.
1. Seek Expert Services
Security measures work a bit like insurance, so you don’t know you need it until the worst happens.
For example, in a cyberattack, your third-party cybersecurity specialists take immediate action to swiftly diagnose and administer the right security recovery measures.
Therefore just like having insurance, engaging experts in managing your network or cloud security will save you the stress of dealing with unknown attacks and potentially damaging your brand reputation.
Additionally, cybersecurity services can include continuous offensive security services, in which the process of analyzing and eliminating cyber threats is automated.
Other reasons to outsource cybersecurity and other areas of IT include saving you time and money, and you’ll have access to consistent and updated information on the IT operations and security of your business.
2. Work With A Secure Hosting Service
Most businesses online have a website, increasing the chances of success. While it’s suitable for a website to be graphically and aesthetically appealing, what should matter more is that it is secure.
Thus, before deciding on a company to host your website, follow up on reviews referrals and do your own research. What you’re looking for in a hosting provider is:
- Secure servers
- Competent staff
- Reliable systems
- Proven track record
Hosting package
Choose a secure hosting package that’ll provide your website with a TLS certificate (the successor to SSL). The communication between your website and your customer’s browser is encrypted to keep hackers from seeing what’s going on. If you choose a more self-service package, ensure you have a techie you can trust and use a service like Cloudflare for added security.
3. Utilize Strong Passwords
Passwords give access to your system, so you must pay attention to them and ensure they’re strong enough to secure your business.
A strong password usually consists of upper and lower-case letters combined with numbers and special symbols. Passwords of this nature are much more challenging to crack.
Furthermore, your password should be unique and not predictable. You can use a group of unrelated letters and words, but make sure you can easily recall them when you need to.
The more complex the password, the more secure it’ll be. You shouldn’t share your password or any other information that could give access to your business through email without having it encrypted.
Encryption converts information into a secret code that external agents can’t crack. It reduces the possibility of theft because of the format they convert the assets into.
4. Update Your Security Software
Your security system is as effective as the quality of your software. Outdated software increases the chances of your business experiencing cyber-attacks and becoming a target for cybercriminals. However, consistently updating your software to the most recent version helps protect your business from security risks.
Regularly update your software security program and the programs installed on your computer and digital devices. You can make this process easier by setting your software programs in the automatic upgrade so they can install updated versions of themselves. This way, it becomes harder for cyber thefts to infiltrate your security system.
5. Back Up Your Business Data Regularly
Losing business data and not retrieving them can cause your business to suffer a significant loss. Regular data backups help protect essential business assets such as your data.
A backup system stores data and allow you to recover them. If you have backups of your important data and files stored, you can easily retrieve them even when a cyber-attack occurs, preventing your business from suffering a catastrophic loss.
When backing up your assets, you should use multiple backup systems. Use both internal and external backup systems. If you need to store some of your data offsite, external backups can help you achieve that. By doing so, your data will be safe even if your network servers are compromised.
Another backup technique is cloud storage like AWS. A cloud storage system keeps your files and documents over the internet, beyond infiltration. Clouds allow you to store as much data as you can. However, when uploading your assets to the cloud, ensure they’re encrypted. Encryption makes your information more secure than leaving them in its raw format.
Conclusion
Boosting your business’s safety and security is crucial to your success. A safe and secure company will save you from losses that can impair your reputation, cause you to suffer financial losses, and in a specific situation, earn you a lawsuit.
With just a few simple steps such as those outlined above, you can boost your business’s safety and security and run a firm immune to cyber-attacks and any form of cyber risk.
Consider the ideas mentioned here as you plan and prepare. Here is another article for you – must-do steps when implementing CSV.
