Cybercrime is something that companies large and small need to take seriously in today's world. Not being a big target won't protect you when 43% of all cybercrime targets small businesses. Companies that don't do enough to protect their businesses will find themselves victims of cybercrime.
The good news is that you can use many cybersecurity best practices to protect your business from hackers. Below are the top business IT security tips that every company needs to know.
Using strong passwords is a no-brainer when it comes to business security. You don't want employees using easy-to-remember passwords based on personal information. That makes accounts easy to hack.
However, strong passwords will only get you so far. There are many other methods of compromising accounts that you need to protect against. That's where two-factor authentication helps.
Two-factor authentication adds a secondary login code to your account login. You get this code on a personal device or authentication application. Unless a hacker has this code, there's no way for them to access a company account, even if they have the password.
Malware is software people download to computers that appear to be regular files. Hackers disguise these files as images, PDF documents, applications, and more. When you open one of these files, malware gets installed and hijacks your computer system.
Malware can log keystrokes, steal data, lock down computer systems, spread across a network, and much more. Needless to say, you need protection against this threat.
Anti-malware software will scan files when downloaded against a threat database. If it detects a threat, the files will go into quarantine for you to examine. You can also regularly run scans to look for threats that make it to your network while waiting for definition updates.
While it is convenient to allow everyone access to all your company resources, doing this comes with a lot of risks. It only takes one employee getting compromised to expose your entire company to hackers.
You can limit your risk when this happens by implementing access controls. Very few people in your company need access to all your sensitive data. Put controls in place that limit what each person can see.
You can easily do this by taking advantage of user groups in systems like Azure Active Directory. You can use these control systems to assign data permissions to control what individuals can see easily. That means a hacker gaining access to an employee's computer can only access a limited amount of information.
It's hard to manage a business network when you don't know what happens on it. You'll need monitoring for every machine to get the necessary information. With a hardware firewall, the process is much easier.
A hardware firewall is a commercial digital security device you put in front of all internet traffic in your business. It scans every packet that comes in and out of your network to look for issues. Since hardware firewalls have threat databases, they can stop malicious traffic before it becomes a problem.
You can also use your firewall to control internal access to the internet. If you don't want employees using specific websites and causing problems, you can put rules in place that block them on your network.
Cyberattacks aren't the only thing you have to worry about when handling business cybersecurity. You also have to worry about hardware failures and accidental file deletions. If you aren't prepared for that to happen, you'll struggle to recover the information you lost.
A backup strategy will help you safeguard your data in a secure location. If you want to make things easier, you can invest in a cloud backup solution.
This software can backup your data on a schedule and give you instant access to recover your missing information. You'll be able to return your company to full production far faster than if you needed to rebuild your data sources from scratch.
Unfortunately, a robust security system can only get you so far with internet security. It only takes one mistake to compromise a business network. And when human error is the cause of 52% of data breaches, you need to do everything you can to train your team.
The first place to start is with online downloads. People should only download files from reputable websites approved by your company. Circulate this list to everyone in the company to ensure everyone is aware.
Your team will also need to be aware of phishing scams and how to spot them. Even the brightest people can fall victim to these attacks. Teach people what to look for to stop them from offering sensitive information to attackers.
Every day you leave security issues unresolved in your business is a risk to your business. Hackers target large and small companies, so you can't count on your size to protect you.
The above cybersecurity best practices are a great start to securing your business. Find someone to help you put them in place to ensure you take digital security for businesses seriously.
Are you looking for someone who can help you fortify your cyber defenses? Reach out to us today to speak to a security professional who can help.
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