Businesses are attacked daily by criminals who want to infiltrate their company networks and compromise their employees, customers, and systems.
And if you pay attention to your security measures, you could protect your business. So how can you protect yourself from cyber threats? Here are the ways:
Have a firm password policy.
The first step in protecting your business against cyber-attacks is to have a firm password policy. If you don’t, hackers can easily guess or brute-force their way into your accounts and wreak havoc on your privacy and security.
The good news is that there are some easy steps you can take to make sure that doesn’t happen:
Use strong passwords. Upper- and lowercase letters, digits, and symbols make create a good password, and symbols should also be at least 14 characters long with no repeating letters or numbers within the same word (e.g., “Atlanta2Vegas!”).
Use different passwords for different accounts. To keep things simple, use a password manager to manage these different passwords so that each one stays strong while still being easy enough for you to remember (or never forget again!).
Don’t share login information with other people—not even friends or family members! Passwords should always stay private—even if someone else needs help accessing an account because they forgot their credentials.
Stay up-to-date with patches, upgrades, and antivirus software.
Patching and upgrading your software are two ways to protect yourself from cyber-attacks. Patching is updating the software on your computer to fix bugs and security vulnerabilities.
Most software has a patch system that allows easy updating, but sometimes people need to remember to update or have time because they’re working on other tasks.
If you fall into this category, consider setting up automatic updates. Consequently, they take place without your conscious awareness.
Upgrading is installing new versions of software with new features and bug fixes as they become available (usually offered as an option when you install).
Upgrading is essential because it keeps your systems running smoothly and prevents them from becoming outdated – both of which are great for security.
Encrypt sensitive data.
Encrypting your data can protect it against unauthorized access and other malicious activities. It also makes it hard for hackers to steal your information, so they may not even bother trying to break it in the first place.
If a hacker does manage to get into your system, however, they will not be able to view any of the information stored on it if you have encrypted it properly.
Use different accounts for admin rights and everyday tasks.
Using different accounts for admin rights and everyday tasks is a best practice. It reduces the risk of an outside attack, as hackers cannot access your system if they can only get into one account.
Separate admin accounts from standard user accounts and uses different passwords for each account. Admin accounts should have limited permissions, while traditional user accounts should have full access to the system.
Give admins limited internet access so they do not accidentally download malware through social media or email attachments (which can happen).
Install a firewall.
A security system known as a firewall watches and filters both incoming and outgoing network traffic. It can be hardware or software.
A firewall can be configured to block malicious traffic, such as viruses and spam, while allowing only specific traffic through, such as email messages from your company’s domain name or website visitors coming from specific IP addresses.
Control the use of removable media devices (e.g., USB drives).
USB drives can be used to spread malware, and you need to control their use. Consider using a centralized management system (CMS) that will allow you to manage removable media devices, such as USB keys. If your business does not have a CMS, it’s time to look into one.
If your company is already using a CMS, look into solutions that allow you to control the use of removable media devices like USB drives.
Consider implementing encryption on these devices so they cannot be used as an open gateway for cyber attacks in your organization.
Ensure your internet connection is secure.
A VPN creates a secure “tunnel” from your computer to the VPN server. Unless you have been permitted to access another computer, if you try to do so without a VPN, it would be like sending an email without sending it through an SMTP server first.
Suppose someone is trying to track your activity on the internet by monitoring what sites you visit and what information you are sending over the internet (i.e., when using public WiFi). In that case, this makes it much more difficult for them because now everything has been encrypted, and they can no longer see who is logging into which remote servers or websites.
Strong Password
You may not think strong passwords will help protect against cyber attacks, but they can! A hacker could easily guess that “Password1” is probably one of your passwords, so instead, use something like “ilovemydog123!”
Don’t open emails or attachments from unknown senders.
Make it a rule not to open emails or attachments from unknown senders. It’s also important to avoid clicking on links in unsolicited emails.
If you need more clarification about the legitimacy of an email, call the sender before opening it and ask them if they sent it.
If you must open an attachment that came with an email, make sure you scan the file first using your antivirus software before opening it.
This way, if there is any malware inside, you’ll be able to detect it immediately and take measures against them.
Implement a robust backup and disaster recovery plan.
Implementing a reliable backup and disaster recovery plan is among the most crucial things to undertake.
Your business should be fully prepared for an attack or a simple system malfunction that can cause data loss or downtime. You should also test your backups regularly, so you are confident they will work if needed.
Your backup plan should include the following:
A secondary location where you store your backup data (whether it’s another server onsite or offsite in a data center).
If there were ever an event where your primary location was compromised or destroyed, this secondary location would provide another set of eyes on all of your data so that no damage could occur while trying to restore from backup sources.
A regular schedule for testing these backups so you know exactly what would happen if something went wrong during an attack or natural disaster where power goes out for an extended period (which happens all too often).
Each day, criminals attack companies who want to infiltrate their company networks.
Cybercrime is a growing problem for businesses of all sizes. While cybercriminals target large companies because they have more to steal, small businesses are often easier targets because they don’t have the resources or expertise to protect themselves from being hacked.
Criminals target your company’s employees and customers when they’re inside your network, making it more likely that confidential information like credit card numbers and passwords will be stolen.
They also exploit vulnerabilities in your systems to create malware viruses, which can damage or destroy valuable data on your computers and servers.
Cybercriminals also try to infect employees’ computers with malicious software so they can take over their machines and turn them into “bots” that attack other networks (called botnets) or use those devices as spam relays for sending spam emails intended to convince recipients into opening malware attachments or clicking links that contain malicious code embedded within them.
Conclusion
Cybercrime is a growing threat, and businesses must protect themselves. The above list provides tips on how to do so, but being watchful at all times is the most crucial thing you can do.
If you implement these tips and keep them up-to-date with new technology as it comes out, then cyber-attacks will be less likely to happen in your business network or computer systems.
