It might have been inconceivable only a decade ago to find your SME being targeted by a hacker group from North Korea by the name of Lazarus Group, but here we are! While your business might not be targeted by those guys per se, the threat of cyber attacks by any number of individual or state-sponsored actors has become so great that companies that fail to put in place the correct measures are highly likely to be involved in some form of cyber-based attack. In fact, according to some statistics, 46% of all cyber breaches impact businesses with fewer than 1,000 employees…which is a pretty terrifying prospect to consider.
Fortunately, there are plenty of things you can do to avoid becoming another statistic, some of which are simple, and others are all more involved but ought to result in a much higher level of protection.
6 Tips to Enhance Your Business’s Cybersecurity
i. Outsource The Job To Cybersecurity Professionals
Let’s get real here: if you’re an average business just trying to make ends meet and already have enough on your plate without the need to implement a brand new IT department and fill it with cybersecurity graduates that will bleed your budget dry, it’s probably best to shift the job to those who do this day in and day out. According to one such provider, Fortinet Saicom Managed Services, this can result in real-time security monitoring, allowing you to know when an attack or hack is occurring to stop it in its tracks, simplifying the process and reducing the cost to you as a business owner…all great things. As long as you outsource your protection to a company well-versed in the art of cybersecurity, you should be able to sleep better at night, knowing that they will have you covered if something occurs. In a way, you can look at the cost as insurance against this kind of persistent threat.
ii. Regularly Update Software And Systems
If you’re the kind of business that still uses Windows XP, then shame on you! Older, out-of-date, and depreciated software is a massive issue and is an enormous boon to hackers looking for ways to enter your systems. Because older software isn’t usually patched to the same extent as newer ones, you leave yourself open to attacks that would never happen if you’d just updated them. Consequently, take a look through every system you currently use and see if it needs patching and updating to newer versions. This process might be extensive, but the payoff is well worth the cost and downtime.
iii. Conduct Employee Cybersecurity Awareness Training
In almost all cyber attacks, an employee has unwittingly (or wittingly, in some instances) enabled them to access your systems. This could be from opening a phishing email and allowing a trojan to infect things or simply having weak passwords that are easy enough to crack using brute-force techniques. Regular security awareness training and resources you provide new hires during their onboarding process can go a long way in reducing employee-related failures.
iv. Backup Data Regularly To Prevent Loss Or Rebuild If Held To Ransom
Always back up your data, even if you have to increase costs to facilitate such a procedure. Having regular backups stored both onsite and off at a cloud data center will ensure that if you’re attacked, you will be able to reset your systems and download the most recent backup data. Moreover, if you’re a victim of the dreaded ransomware attack, instead of having to stump up money to decrypt the data they’ve scrambled, you can simply inform the police, clear your systems, and start afresh.
v. Limit Access To Sensitive Information
In many ways, this is similar to the point about your employees. Because they are usually the unwitting weak links, it’s typically best to compartmentalize data based on a need-to-know approach. Another way of putting it is using permission-based access, whereby you only allow access to specific data to those with the requisite permissions. This not only reduces the issue of problems but creates a direct link to those who might be involved, meaning you can either punish them if they were party to an attack or provide a better training program to ensure it doesn’t happen again.
vi. Implement Two-Factor Authentication Where It Makes Sense
Yes, 2FA isn’t as secure as everyone makes it out to be, and yes, it can be a real hassle when you have a significant number of employees needing to log in using this process. But these minor annoyances can be forgiven for the protection it offers in terms of adding an additional layer of effort for any potential hacker to have to deal with (of which they are more likely to move on to another company with less protection). Moreover, you can usually find enterprise-grade 2FA solutions that have been designed for companies with a large number of employees.
Final Words
Protecting your business is no longer something that you might consider because of an article you’ve read online; it’s something that all must do or avoid at their peril. Using the ideas in this post proves that it’s not as challenging as it first appears, and with a bit of effort, you can keep your business safe.
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