5 Tips to Protect Your Business Online |
Posted: December 4, 2017 |
While the Internet has brought so much convenience and increased accessibility into the business world, it's also created new threats and vulnerable. And sadly, these threats are becoming exceedingly complex and common. By 2021, it's expected that cyber-crime damage will cost about $6 trillion a year. As a business owner, you likely use the Internet for communicating with business partners, networking with other entrepreneurs, and as a medium for marketing your product or service to consumers. To keep your business safe in the online world, be sure to keep reading for 5 helpful tips. 1. Enforce Strong Passwords Online security starts at the hands of your users. In a world where we have to remember all sorts of passwords, it seems much easier to use simple login credentials that we know we won’t forget. While it’s convenient for users, it puts business data at risk. Hackers can use all sorts of attacks to brute force or guess simple passwords. One of the best and easiest ways to protect your business against cyber-threats is to enforce complex passwords. Your business’ password policy should require that passwords be no shorter than 10 characters and that they include a mixture of uppercase and lowercase letters as well as numbers and special characters. Having a strong password policy will make it much harder for a hacker to make their way into your business network. Some complex passwords can take hundreds of years to guess, even with the use of password cracking software! 2. Ensure the IT Infrastructure is Secure Your IT infrastructure houses all sorts of sensitive information. From employee records to business contracts, it's important that this information is kept away from hackers. To mitigate the risk of most cyber-threats, be sure your infrastructure includes a firewall, anti-virus, as well as spyware and malware detection software. You'll also want to have a robust backup policy to prevent data loss in the event of a cyber-attack. Other tips for securing your infrastructure including:
A secured and hardened infrastructure is a lot less vulnerable to some of today’s most common attacks. With the end of the year around the corner, now’s a good time to have your IT team take a good look at the current infrastructure and figuring out ways to make it stronger. 3. Use a Secure Email Provider Business emails are prime targets for hackers looking to get the inside scoop on both small and large companies. Email attacks are extremely common, and at least 85% of companies have dealt with a phishing email attack. Phishing and other email-based attacks typically target popular web-based email providers such as Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft. If your company uses one of these providers, your business emails are at a much higher risk of being compromised. To provide top security for your business inbox, consider using a secure email service in tandem with online email security services. There are several companies that offer secure email services that stop spam email and identify suspicious emails. All of these providers allow you to send and receive encrypted email. With encryption, it’s extremely hard for a hacker to gain access to email messages. 4. Lockdown the Network Did you know that there are more than 50 million wireless hotspots in the world? You don’t want your business’ network to become one of them. Unsecure connections and open access to your company's internal network leaves the door wide open for hackers to exploit and target your business. If you provide WiFi in your office building, you'll need to protect it. To secure your wireless network:
Wireless connections are convenient but they’re also highly vulnerable to attacks. Be sure to lockdown your business network to keep hackers from making their way inside. 5. Encrypt Business Data Confidential business data as well should be protected to the highest extent. You don’t want a hacker gaining access to your employee’s social security numbers or your company’s secrets. This data not only needs to be secured when it’s shared with other users, it also needs to be properly protected when it’s at rest. To protect your business data, be sure to use encryption. Most operating systems offer full-disk encryption tools that encrypt every single program and file on the hard drive. Conclusion If your company has never been the victim of a cyber-attack, consider yourself lucky. But, as these threats continue to grow in number and complexity, it’s important to take the necessary steps to protect your business. Keep these 5 tips in mind to make your business less vulnerable to online attacks. Have you dealt with cyber attacks? How did you secure your online presence? Share your story in the comments.
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