Cyber attacks cost British businesses £34+ billion a year, so if you own a small business and don’t think this will ever affect you, isn’t it better to be safe than sorry?
In actual fact, smaller businesses are starting to become more of a target for cyber crime purely because they have not implemented the safeguards that larger companies and victims of cyber attacks are recommending. With this in mind, we can’t stress enough how important it is to take cyber crime seriously and to help you prevent a potential cyber attack on your business, here are four ways that you can start.
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How You Can Prevent a Cyber Attack
a1) Use a Password Manager to Store Your Passwords Securely
Passwords are essential to keep any of our information safe, but they are even more so in a business! With masses of sensitive and confidential data that needs to be protected, you need to make sure that passwords are strong and changed frequently. The easiest way to do this? Use password managers such as LastPass or RoboForm! These password managers encrypt and save your passwords for you, as well as entering them automatically for you and allowing you to update them with a click of a button.
Read: Password Security: 10 Tips to Keep Your Passwords Safe
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2) Update and Back Up Regularly
Stop clicking later on your notifications for updates and make sure that all of your computer software is up to date! Updates are improvements, so if you remain on older systems, there may be cracks in the defence systems that leave you vulnerable to cyber attacks. Combine this with regularly backing up your data, such as on the cloud, and you’ll ensure that no critical data is lost in the event of an attack.
Security Tip: Always store your backed up data in remote locations away from the office (either physically or on the cloud) and encrypt it where possible.
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3) Create an Internal Policy
Did you know that your employees are the biggest risk to your business in terms of cyber security? When you think about it, it makes sense. From having weak passwords or clicking on a link in an email to employee negligence, it is down to employers to increase employee awareness of potential threats and employees to uphold these measures. Employees need to know what not to do to ensure that sensitive data is stored and handled safely, and only communicated to persons with the appropriate clearance.
Security Tip: It’s important to stay updated on the latest scams and cyber attacks and you need to inform your employees of the potential threat too. Learn from the mistakes of others and implement the necessary measures to prevent it happening to you!
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4) Consult a Security Expert
With security being the number one priority in any business, it is always wise to consult a security expert to ensure you have all of your safeguards in place; they will also be able to identify any potential security risks or holes in your infrastructure and advise you on how you can rectify these. Although this may seem like a significant expense, it is by no means unnecessary. This invaluable service could save you quite a lot of money down the road and potential issues that may arise from losing confidential information during a cyber attack.
Read: 6 Easy Ways to Find Security Weaknesses
With cyber criminals becoming more and more advanced every day, we need to be taking the time to learn about the latest scams and attacks to better understand them. Only then can we implement the necessary safety measures, ensure our employees are prepared and our business is protected.
What we can do for you:
If you’re interested in knowing more about threat awareness training for your staff, RGM are offering training courses developed by Counter Terrorism and Threat Specialists. If you need training or just advice, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
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