Your small business is at risk. There’s no way to sugarcoat it and no way to say it any more plainly. Every day there are criminals targeting businesses.
Why?
Because they want your money, they want your private data, or they just want to cause trouble for you.
It doesn’t matter what they want. The scary thing is that they can do immense damage to your company in a very short window of time. If ransomware takes control of and encrypts your data, your only recourse is to pay the criminals. But what if you could get ahead of the criminals and enact nine cyber security strategies that will enhance your company’s cyber security posture?
Fortify Your Small Business: Implement These 9 Essential Cyber Security Measures
It’s time to take a stand and act BEFORE the bad guys do their damage. These nine cyber security strategies will help your business be proactive regarding IT security.
#1 – Strengthen Your Payment Gateway With Card Best Practices
Your bank and credit card issuers can help you tremendously in the area of IT security for credit and debit cards. They will help you by supplying many of the tools that you need to validate cards and ensure that the cards you process haven’t been compromised by fraud.
Part of credit/debit card cyber security best practices is the practice of isolation. By putting your payment systems on a separate computer – even a separate internet connection – than the computers you use for internet use, you lower the risk.
Another best practice that revolves around keeping up with cyber security technology is the move from magnetic strip readers to chip cards or EMV readers. These new EMV readers are now the industry standard, and even small businesses need to comply with this new payment security measure.
#2 – Backup Everything
Your business cannot operate effectively without access to your data. If you don’t back it up, your data may not be there for you when you need it the most. A busy office creates thousands of files each day, and the secure backup of these files needs to be a part of your company’s cyber security strategy.
Backups should be made at least daily and mirrored in the cloud or an offsite server.
Backup should be overseen by an IT support and IT security professional. Companies like us have cyber security experts that are proficient in handling automatic, secure data backup and recovery for companies large and small.
#3 – Get Your Physical Access Points Secured
If the bad guys – even bad employees – can just walk into any office in the building and access computers, laptops, tablets, or smartphones, you’re not even close to having bulletproof cyber security.
You need to ensure that your devices are protected by two-factor authentication and that you use door locks and more sophisticated electronic access systems to prevent entry by unauthorized individuals.
Everyone in the company should have their own secure passwords, and admin privileges should only be given to the actual network administrator.
#4 – Have Structured Procedures In Place For Mobile Devices
The mobile devices that your company employees use can present some unique problems when it comes to cyber security. IT security experts routinely point to unsecured mobile devices as the vulnerability used by cyber-criminals to gain access to company networks.
Make sure your employees use passwords to protect their smartphones and tablets. Contact an IT security professional – like our cyber security experts – to help you with data encryption, secure file synchronization, and secure network access. Cyber security experts can help you protect your data with remote wipe capability if your phone is lost or stolen.
#5 – Secure Your Entire Website
Everyone knows that their sign-up forms and check-out pages need to be secure, but what about the rest of your company’s website?
We’ve all had the experience of going to a business site, only to find that it has been hacked and taken over by malicious cyber-criminals.
Don’t let it happen to you.
- Implement antivirus and anti-spyware software on your computers
- Do all the updates, upgrades, and patches issued by your operating system developer
- Bring in an IT security professional to do a vulnerability assessment on a regular basis
#6 – Lock Down Your Networks
Your network connects all your devices, the internet, and your peripheral devices (like printers). Each device is a point to which a criminal could gain access. Here are some tips.
- Your internet connection isn’t safe unless you are utilizing a monitored firewall and leveraging the power of encryption.
- Make sure to hide your company’s WiFI and use controlled access to customer WiFi.
- Password protect your router.
- Disconnect any WiFi-enabled devices that you don’t regularly use and security check.
#7 – Put Policies in Place to Secure Private Data
Your employees should know what the IT security policies of the company are and how to deal with private information. But they won’t unless you specifically take the time and invest in cyber security awareness training.
Once you have done the training, they should be aware of and be held responsible for following IT security protocols.
#8 – Employees Are Your First Line Of Defense Against Cyber-Criminals
Employees want to help you secure your business against cybercrime but often don’t know that they are letting the bad guys in the front door.
By training your employees on topics like phishing, social engineering, ransomware, spyware, and adware, you can drastically reduce your risk.
Following that training, employ and cyber security professional to run tests on your employees’ ability to spot these scams and intrusion attempts.
#9 – Leverage Strong Passwords And Multi-Factor Identification
Your staff should be instructed on what makes for a good password. Better yet, hire an IT security professional to set up multi-factor identification and single sign-on strategies for your business. These cybersecurity tactics can help your employees be more efficient while enabling a higher degree of security for your company.
Looking for an IT security team to help your business avoid intrusions, disruptions, and costly downtime?
Experience peace of mind by choosing Inspired IT for your managed services. Ensure your business runs smoothly and stays protected from cyber threats. Contact us now for tailored solutions that meet your unique needs!
