Hardeep Singh
Once your SMB is a victim of a cyber attack, there is a slight delay in protecting your company’s data and information. Whether it is malware, phishing, advanced persistent threats (APT), or a distributed denial of service (DDoS), there are proactive measures you can implement that will protect your network. Here are 10 tips for reducing cyber security risk.
1. Train employees – Human error or system failure is responsible for 52% of data security breaches, so it is necessary to create a cyber security strategy and train employees on security procedures.
Training should include appropriate methods for securing devices, identification of cyber threats, understanding of confidential data, and the importance of SSL certificates.
2. Password protect – Cybercriminals need only software and malicious intent to obtain passwords from unsuspecting victims. Make sure your business has a password policy, which limits employees’ access to specific passwords.
Company passwords must also be varied, with no repetition or no variation of a single password. In addition, it is essential that passwords are updated regularly, and if a password is lost the policy includes accountability.
3. Install anti-malware software for SMB – Every system has been a victim of the malware. There is a wide variety of malicious software, including Trojans, worms, and spyware.
These insidious attacks can potentially destroy your work center. Anti-malware software will run in the background of your computer, target and destroy malware.
4. Monitor administrator privileges – Establishing limits of user activity through permissions and privilege settings on your network will help reduce security risks.
This process allows administrators to restrict and protect sensitive data as much as possible.
5. Limit the use of personal mobile devices – SMB guidelines for the use of personal equipment during working hours should prevent employees from accessing business data using their mobile gadgets.
If an employee works mostly on a personal device, it is essential that they secure the device properly. Additional security steps include backing up devices on a consistent schedule, and using encryption and the remote wipe feature.
6. Assess the security capabilities of third parties – Your SMB system is not only vulnerable to a potential cyber-attack. If you do business with vendors or third parties, you must inquire about their security capabilities before working with them.
Ask about the company’s security policies, procedures, employee training, and how often they backup data and perform system checks.
7. Keep security software updated – Not having the most current version of security software makes your system defensive. One of the simplest ways to protect your business from cyber risks is to turn on automatic updates on a PC or Mac.
This option will allow your system to receive updates when available. You should always install the update immediately.
8. Back up your data – There is nothing worse than being a victim of a cyber-attack and losing all your information. To avoid this situation, a backup of your company’s data is necessary.
Regularize it to back up any important files, databases, correspondence, and other important content for additional hard drives.
9. Use classification of data-security controls – One of the most effective ways to prevent hackers is to use multiple controls such as encryption, authentication, and authorization.
From your login credentials to the content on the webpage, these three controls provide multi-layer security for your system.
10. Employ third-party SaaS security provider – If your company relies on cloud computing, consider hiring a third-party SaaS (software as a service) security provider.
Although there is a monthly subscription fee, meeting your security needs through the cloud protects your data. An additional perk is run on the cloud, eliminating the need for software installation and maintenance.
Recover from a cyber attack
Perhaps you have not implemented preventive measures and now you feel that your system has been compromised. It is recommended that a company take responsibility and report the incident as soon as possible, which can result in damage to the reputation of your SMB, however, usually for short periods.
However, if you choose not to make the situation known, you risk destroying the reputation of your business regardless. Once the breach is identified, you need to reset all passwords, clean and reformat any infected hard drive, restore any necessary software, and recover your backup data from your supplementary drive.
