Top 5 Cybersecurity Tips for Your Small Business
Information technology and broadband are powerful tools for businesses not only to reach a broader audience but to increase sales performance and productivity as well. Small businesses and companies also rely on advanced technologies as much as the giant organizations, but on a smaller scale due to smaller funds and finances. However, cybersecurity threats and hacking attacks are also real and can get access to sensitive information and data of a business that can be used for malicious purposes. That is the reason, every small business must implement necessary security measures to protect sensitive business data and customer information.
Here we have listed cybersecurity tips for your small business that can help you protect business data and other sensitive information from cybercriminals.
1- Limit the Access to Sensitive Information
Not every employee needs access to everything in your company. So, the ability to make system changes and access to sensitive information should be limited to the employees whose duties require it. You can set up different data access levels for your employees so they can perform their duties greatly without having access to the business data and information they really don’t need. Educate all your employees for proper handling of sensitive information to strengthen small office security and to keep business data and information in safe hands. It is also important to know who is accessing, looking, and using at what and why they are looking.
2- Establish a BYOD Policy
Most of the small businesses and companies are unable to provide their employees with mobile devices like tablets and laptops, due to the short capital and finances. So, they allow their employees to use their own mobile devices to access and use business data. If your employees are also using their personal devices for business purposes, you must have a BYOD policy at the place and allow your network manager to install monitoring software into their devices, push automatic security updates, and remind for password changes. By doing so, you can protect your business network even if your employees are using their personal devices at the workplace.
3- Watch your Passwords
Strong password practice is one of the best cybersecurity tips for your small business as it makes a huge difference in your system’s security. Whether it is your computer login, social media profiles, or other online accounts, strong passwords are a must for all the logins to protect your accounts from third-party access. Moreover, you can also use a reliable ID protection service for all your online accounts to make sure all your private and sensitive data is private and protected too. A strong and hard to guess password is at least 12 characters long and a mix of letters, numbers & symbols. Be quick to change default passwords with custom passwords and don’t use your nickname, date of birth, or your pet’s name as your passwords. Change your passwords every three months and use a password manager instead of writing and sticking them under your desk.
4- Educate your Employees About Cybersecurity Threats
As most employees and workers are not aware of the common cyber attacks, they are unable to avert and can cause sensitive data theft or loss. Studies show that small business employees receive at least 1 phishing email every day. Such email includes malicious links, attachments, or files that can infect your business network with viruses or ransomware to let malicious persons gain access to your system and network. Educate your employees to check every email carefully and don’t click on a suspicious link, file, or attachment. Let your employees know about common phishing scams and cybersecurity attacks so they can prevent hacking attacks to keep your business data and information safe and protected.
5- Install Firewall Security for your Business Network
As a firewall is a set of security programs that prevent third parties from access data and information on your business network, it could be an extra layer of security to strengthen your cybersecurity plan. Ask your internet service provider to enable the basic firewall or install any other dependable firewall software to block outsider’s access to your network. If you have some remote workers in your team, ask them to use internet connection protected by a strong firewall to keep sensitive business data and information safe from malicious persons and cybercriminals.
