9 Smart Tips to Increase Cybersecurity for Small Business

Don’t underestimate the size of your business and make any hazardous mistake. You may later have to pay its hefty cost. We are talking about cybersecurity. As we all live in the digital era, everyone is prone to be a victim of its loopholes: cyber-attacks. Small businesses are also not left behind, and hackers also victimize them. According to a report, smaller businesses suffered an overall annual loss of an estimated $80,000 in 2017 in the USA.

Not protecting your business from cyberattacks will leave your sensitive data vulnerable to hackers. You can lose confidential data like debit and credit card numbers and consumers’ details in the wrong hands. It will lose the trust and faith of consumers in you, and they will approach your competitor.

9 Tips to Improve Your Small Business Cybersecurity

So far, if you did not become the victim of cyber threats, it’s right for you, but don’t underestimate hackers’ power. Secure your small business by making cybersecurity utmost priority and invest in resources that can tighten up security measures in your business. If you are not getting what we meant to say, then read this blog to know cybersecurity tips for small business.

You can either invest financial resources or follow reasonable measures to secure your entity. Both we have described in detail below.  Choose the relevant one for you and prevent a data breach.

#Tip1: Update your passwords regularly

The most comfortable measure you can follow is to change your passwords regularly after every 50-90 days and don’t share them with anyone. You require a complex or strong password to make it difficult for hackers to crack. The cyber experts and researchers say, if people have to change their passwords every 90 days, they tend to use a pattern called transformation. You can use a password generator that develops a unique password with all complexities (special characters, lowercase and uppercase letters, and numerical). 

#Tip2: Train workforce

Your workforce is equally responsible for creating a cybersecurity policy for small businesses. Practice the best measures and procedures for securing confidential data like an employee, vendor, and customer information. Every employee must follow your cybersecurity norms in the organization to prevent a data breach.  As mentioned above, create a strong password for your business accounts and have your employees two factor authentication or sign up process on office devices. Update them with regular security norms so that an insider will not cause the maximum damage.

#Tip3: Throw away outdated devices

Don’t use outdated devices like Computers, laptops, and mobile devices. Update your operating systems and web browsers regularly to protect them from the latest threats. Check for new versions, including security software and any software that seek regular updates. If you are using cloud based software, ask the provider to update it. If your workforce uses mobile devices, install security, and antivirus apps on each device.

#Tip4: Limit access

Keep away unauthorized users from your system’s access and accounts. Even a trusted employee or person should not get access to your business systems. Track the flow of information between employees and find whether they share any company’s confidential data amongst each other. Create individual logins for employees whenever possible and limit the privileges of individual employees.

#Tip5: Secure Your WiFi

Limit the WiFi access for all employees and allow only guests and clients its access. Set up the WiFi and don’t share its password with employees. You can set up a separate WiFi network for guests and prevent unwanted people from joining your business WiFi and accessing files. Use WPA2, Update Your Firmware and Software, change the network name, or eliminate Rogue Apps to secure your Wifi network.

#Tip6: Create Backups

Create a backup of information at every workstation. In case your information goes missing or is deleted, you must have another copy. All information must have its duplicate copy. For instance, keep the vendor information on the desktop and keep it on the company’s server. Ensure that both copies are secured and use encryption and passwords to protect all your essential information. The easiest backup method is using an external hard drive. You can also use USB pen drive for a smaller data carrier or a portable hard drive with storage capacity.

#Tip7: Secure your payment gateways with EMV

Are you running a grocery store or retail store? Then you must have the card swipe POS (Point Of Sale) machine at the store. Instead of that, use EMV chip readers for accepting card payments. It works with your bank or card processors using validated tools that prevent you from fraud services. You can also use the different payment method by accepting mobile payments. Stick the QR codes outside your store and make it convenient for consumers to shop from your store.

#Tip8: Protect Your Website with an SSL

Install SSL (Secure Socket Layer) at your every website page, which is publicly available. It ensures your data transmission over the internet and server is secured. SSL makes it nearly impossible for a hacker to steal information from your website. Also, Google gives brownie points in its algorithms if it is incorporated into your business. Hackers can’t decrypt the conversation between business owners and clients, as it works on end to end encryption principle.

#Tip9: Hack yourself

One of the best ways to identify loopholes in your system is to hire ethical hackers or IT consulting firms to help you figure it out. From there, you can start making changes that better protect your business, your network, and your customers.

Key Takeaways

In this blog, mentioned cybersecurity norms ensure a safe environment to run your business. Unlike old days, you won’t be attacked by goons to get looted, today hackers and many evil minds is around you. So to be on a safer side, it’s better to follow these measures and invest in security first. If you are studying marketing a computer module in your higher studies, we recommend you to view Marketing Management Solutions Manual.

It’s not necessary to invest millions in it, we have also mentioned few inexpensive measures like changing password and limiting users’ access to your system you can follow. So pledge now to secure your business from going into wrong hands.