Cybersecurity is crucial for all businesses. Yet, often small businesses don’t consider it as an issue to address. Many small business owners start to think about cybersecurity when they grow in size and their budget is a bit larger. What they fail to understand is they are a major target for cybercrimes. Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report reveals that 71 percent of cyberattacks occur at businesses with less than 100 employees. Criminals know very well that small companies don’t always take their security seriously, which puts them at a higher risk of attacks.
That said, if you run a small business and cybersecurity is not a priority, change this. Here are a few things you can do to protect yourself from cyberattacks even when resources are limited.
1. Educate Employees About Cybersecurity
Most employees are oblivious to how risky their online behaviors can be. In fact, about 90 percent of data breaches are a result of human errors. This underpins the importance of educating your employees on all matters about cybersecurity.
Train them in the best cybersecurity practices, what to do if an attack happens, and importantly, encourage them to report any incident. According to Nulab, 58 percent of employees keep perceived cybersecurity risks to themselves. Your efforts to stop cyber crimes will only bear fruit if every employee reports any incident.
2. Keep Your Software and Hardware up to Date
Technology changes every day, and it’s best to keep your systems updated. Even it means updating every day. Here are some things you can do to safeguard your business:
- Download and install software updates as soon as they become available
- Use a firewall for your Internet connection
- Install and regularly update antivirus, anti-spyware, and anti-malware on every computer
- Monitor your system regularly to detect any anomaly
3. Develop a Cybersecurity Plan
It would be challenging to protect yourself from cyberattacks without a sound cybersecurity plan. It becomes easier for your business to respond to cyberattacks as soon as they happen if a good is in place. This will help mitigate damages that could leave your company on its knees.
With a plan, you will know who to contact, when to mitigate, and how to deal with bad cybersecurity behavior. According to Nulab, some reckless habits include:
- Emailing passwords to other employees and to people outside the company
- A password containing fewer characters
- A password containing no special characters
4. Increase Your Email Security
Businesses around the world deal with multiple email threats every year. You are not an exception and must be prepared to deal with any email security threats. Some things you can do to keep email threats at bay include not opening suspicious links and attachments. You can also encrypt your documents so that both sender and recipient must enter a passcode to open them.
5. Outsource Cybersecurity
It’s okay to outsource cybersecurity if you have a shortage of cybersecurity skills. There are many IT companies out there to help your business improve its security. Research them and contact those you feel are up to the task.
Cyberattacks, if not mitigated, can significantly hurt the growth of your business. The earlier you enforce the right security measures, the better. Need help to protect against security threats? Consider a Cybersecurity Program powered by WOZ U.
