cyber-attacks

The rise in online business and transactions has led to increasing cyber-attacks, causing a threat to business and customer financial details. The number of reports of hacking and data breaches is going up.

Nearly 81% of cyber-attacks are reported to occur for small and medium-sized businesses.  Out of these, 97% of such attacks could be prevented by outsourcing cybersecurity services, implementing security practices, and educating employees about cybersecurity issues.

Companies are investing in millions to protect their data. According to research, the cost of cyber-crime is expected to cross $6 trillion by 2021.

Unfortunately, small businesses are not prepared for hacks and breaches because of weak, insufficient, and outdated IT systems, which are inefficient to block data breach, ransomware, or business email compromises.

Related: What is A VPN? : A Complete Guide on VPN & Advantages of Using a VPN Services

So how could you protect your small business from cyber-attacks?

Hardware Protection:

As much as you prefer software security measures, we recommend you protect your hardware too. Use password managers, such as the one provided by ONPASSIVE, to create, use, and store strong passwords for each website where you log in.

On top of this, you must not overlook the loss and theft of hardware devices. Use surveillance cameras to keep a check on the office floor activities. Lock up server and communication rooms. In case you have confidential customer data, use a biometric scan to unlock the doors.

Raise Security Awareness Among Employees:

When your company and customer data is shared across different departments, you must consider educating your employees about cyber-attacks and what makes a business vulnerable to such attacks. Use security awareness programs and design slides with different cyber threat types and what can be done to avoid them. Use questions that are mandatory for employees to answer to pass the security awareness program.

Related: Why Is It Important For A Business To Use A VPN Service?

Keep Your Systems Updated:

Do not forget to update security software and haves strong firewall settings to prevent auto-installation of viruses or attacks by cyber-criminals. Install a web application firewall (WAF) to secure your site. Make your website compliant with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI-DSS) Level 1 that prevents digital data security breaches across the payment network.

Protect Your Data with Back-Up and Encryption:

Having firewalls and updated systems is great. But we suggest having a back-up of your business data for a quick recovery from the loss of equipment, cyber-attacks, or theft of devices.

Use data encryption to protect encryption keys from unauthorized access, corruption, or data loss. Activate and update full-disk encryption software to secure computer and mobile operating systems.

Conduct Regular Risk Assessments:

Once all security measures are implemented, you must evaluate and analyze frequently to identify risks. Use online risk assessment tools to check if your security measures are efficiently working or not. Scan your network to fetch gaps in your security measures and decide whether you need to hire external security services to improve your security checks.

Small businesses are at a higher risk of receiving cyber-attacks, and the steps mentioned above could help you establish check-points and measures for different types of such attacks. You could also use ONPASSIVE’s AI-based security measures to have strong passwords, identify threats, create alarms, and directly block such threats when identified.