As more and more business is done online, hackers are increasingly taking advantage of unsuspecting business owners. Many small and medium enterprises do not have the technical expertise or the budget to provide adequate protection. However, you don’t have to be a technical wizard to protect your business. Here are some of the best cybersecurity tips for small and medium businesses to help boost your security, help prevent cyberattacks, and avoid costly hacks.
Many companies automatically assume they won’t be attacked because they aren’t big enough. They believe that cybercriminals will save their attacks on larger businesses. While hackers certainly want to achieve great things, many of them will not want the increased risk and effort involved. These companies typically have cybersecurity specialists working alongside state-of-the-art systems. Many of them will simply move on to smaller companies, simply because they are small fruits compared to them.
A small business owner cannot afford to take cybersecurity lightly. They need to focus on improving cyber security in their business to improve data protection and more. A single cyberattack can cost a business dearly. Not only will this result in data loss, but it could also permanently lose the trust of your customers. Siem Toolis a triangulation of AI that thinks like a human analyst to automate the process of detecting, investigating and responding to threats, increasing them. With that in mind, we’ve gone ahead and provided some of the best and easiest-to-implement cybersecurity techniques that you can use to improve the cybersecurity of your business. These tips will help you better position your business in today’s digital-dominated environment.
Content:
Top Cyber Security Tips for SMBs:
Implement a firewall
One of the best things you can do to improve the security of your business is to install a firewall. You want a firewall present because it helps you keep unwanted people out of your network. A firewall can protect your network from unauthorized intrusions and can be a software or hardware solution. Your router must have a firewall installed. Similarly, you can further protect yourself with a software firewall . Spending money on a next generation firewall is one of the best ways to secure your network. You also want to make sure you protect your remote workers with one of these.
Fix your passwords
You want to make sure your passwords are effective throughout your organization. First, you need to implement a password policy that every user must follow. Passwords within the policy must include uppercase, lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols. It must also be at least 10 digits long. Each user should be required to set unique passwords and change them every 6 months. You want to train all employees to create effective passwords. Ideally, you want to give all employees access to a secure password manager. The password manager will do all the work for your employees, as it will automatically generate secure and strong passwords. Best of all, passwords can be securely stored in an encrypted vault, ready to be used when a login is required.
Security Training
You should regularly show your employees how to optimize their cyber security. You want to participate in routine security checks. This is the main way to create a better cybersecurity culture throughout the organization. You want to cover all the basics of cybersecurity during this training. You must show them how to create unique and effective passwords, how to avoid phishing, and how to keep their devices and network from getting infected by avoiding suspicious email attachments and downloads.
Multi-factor authentication
This is the practice of using two forms of authentication to log into an account. With multi-factor authentication, the user not only needs to know the username and password, but also has a separately saved code to access the account or network. This could be an SMS message, a mobile notification, or an authentication app.
Backup policy
You need to make sure that you are constantly making backups. You want to have secure backups of everything you need. You never know when trouble will happen. You want to always have a backup of your important data. Otherwise, you may be exposed to ransomware attacks. During these attacks, they will encrypt your data and make you pay to get it back. You need to backup everything so that your data is well preserved. In addition, you need to make sure that all your data is encrypted. Don’t wait for trouble to happen. Be proactive about your business data. You want to have at least (3) backups on various types of media, including at least one stored offsite in a secure location.
Update All
You will find that computers and mobile devices are constantly updated with security updates. These updates are necessary to keep your devices safe. That is why it is so important to update all equipment regularly. However, the same is true for software and even operating systems. You want to apply these security updates and fixes as soon as possible. There should be a policy that you must update all systems and software immediately. It is better to leave the automatic update settings so that they are performed without user intervention.
Segment the network
It’s always a good idea to segment your network to reduce risk. You want to split the network and turn them into subnets. This is a good and easy way to secure your network and even improve performance. By segmenting things, you can ensure that if one part gets compromised, the other won’t. You want to make it as difficult as possible for an attacker to gain access to your systems and network. By segmenting it, you give them more steps. You also want to segment your data based on privileges. Try restricting access to sensitive data and restricting the use of administrator rights. Prevent all employees from accessing sensitive data. Grant access only to those employees who need it. This limits your exposure. Also, revoke access to employees as soon as they leave the company.
Spam filter
You need to do everything possible to avoid phishing attacks. Unfortunately, phishing attacks are the most common cyber threat for small businesses and one of the most effective. This is primarily because employees don’t know what to look for when it comes to detecting phishing emails. A single email can allow an attacker to bypass your perimeter protection and create a lot of problems. They can install malware through phishing, which can expose your entire system to more attacks.
Secure networks
If you have a wireless network in your business, you need to secure it as best you can. You want your network to be encrypted. Don’t leave your network open and vulnerable. At a minimum, use WPA2 encryption. If possible, use WPA3 for better encryption. Whenever you set up a network, change the default administrator username and password. Never leave the default router settings. Also, make sure you block access to your router from outside the network.
Implement web filter
This is probably best left for more advanced users. However, this is an option for some consumer and professional equipment. You can deploy a web filter that provides protection against web attacks. This can prevent anyone on the network from being sent to a phishing site or any site hosting known malware or viruses.