Cybersecurity for Your Small Business

cyber attacks

A cyber attack can cripple your business for months, especially if you lose delicate data that supports your business. Imagine losing your client’s data and being blackmailed for it. This is the reality for all small businesses who’ve gone through cyberattacks.

Statistics show that 60% of small businesses that have been through cyberattacks never regain their positions until after six months. Six months is a long time to be out of business. You need to do your best to protect your business from cyberattacks.

You could be wondering why hackers target small businesses. Most small businesses have more digital assets than individual consumers. However, they have fewer cybersecurity measures than large businesses, making them an easy target for hackers.

Here are a few tips you can use to protect your business.



Train Your Employees on Cybersecurity

Your employees have direct access to your computers and are responsible for all the activities they handle there. Train your employees on computer best practices when working on work computers.

Teach them not to open links from unknown sources and how to safeguard their computer passwords. You should also discourage them from using work computers to log in to their private accounts. This will expose your work data to hackers. Most private social media and communication accounts are not well secured and are easy to hack.

Discourage your employees from disclosing their passwords outside the workplace, and don’t allow them to take work computers outside.

You also need to discourage them from using public wifi when attending to work duties with work computers. Public wifi is a breeding area for hackers.

Provide Firewall Security for Your Connections

Hackers target small businesses because of their flimsy online protection. Most small businesses don’t see the need to secure their online space or don’t have the budget for firewall security. However, if hackers get to your computers, you’ll lose more than money. You could lose your credibility as a company. Worse still, you could be forced to close your business after a cyberattack.

Invest in firewall security for your connections and get them updated frequently. There are 2.3-2.6 million robberies in the US every year. Cybersecurity robberies are included in this list. If you don’t want your business to be on that list, update your firewall security frequently.

Use Updated Antivirus

Antivirus software can protect your data and lock cyber thieves out. However, it has to be a credible antivirus from a credible source. You can look up the most credible antivirus providers and buy from them.

You can run the programs often to keep your computers secure. You also need to update the antivirus software when it expires. A day without antivirus to protect your computers could cost you a fortune.

You also need to run this software on incoming files, such as tax prep records. 71% of small businesses outsource this accounting activity, making it an easy spot for hackers to target. If you receive any files from third party sources, scan them with an antivirus before uploading them to your computer.

Practice Your Incidence Response Plan

Despite your measures to keep off hackers, they might still figure out a way into your systems. If this happens, you and your staff need to know what to do to minimize the losses.

Create a cybersecurity incident response plan and practice it with your employees. You can make up situations similar to cyberattacks to assess the effectiveness of your plan.

Seal any loopholes you identify in the plan to make it as complete as possible.

Secure Your Business from Cyber Attacks

As a small business owner, you need to protect your assets and clients’ data. However, small businesses are easy targets for hackers. You need to beef up your cybersecurity.

You can use antivirus, train your employees on cybersecurity, and provide firewall security for your connections. You also need to practice your incident response plan to ensure it’s watertight.



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Valerie M.

Valerie M. is a writer from Upstate New York. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Journalism from The State University of New York at Fredonia in 2016 and is currently working at a digital marketing agency where she writes blog posts for a variety of small businesses all over the country. Valerie enjoys writing about music, animals, nature, and traveling.