5 Tips To Protect Your Business Against Cyber Attacks

Featured article by Peter McAllister, Marketing Enthusiast and Independent Technology Author

About 58% of all cyber attacks are directed at small businesses. Cybercriminals sought to exploit their digital weakness to steal private information, money or disrupt how business is done. The impact of a single successful attack can be huge – it could cause financial burden for you and your customers, damage your business, and affect your business’s reputation. As such it’s important that you do all you can to protect your business online.

Here’s a look at five things you can do to protect your small business against cyber extortion.

1. Know Your Enemy

Cyber attacks come in a variety of forms and from a variety of sources. Attackers and sources of cybersecurity threats include competitors of your business, spyware or malware authors, spammers, hackers and organized crime groups. Another considerable threat that your business faces is inside attacks. Cybersecurity insiders can include anything from disgruntled employees with access to confidential information, to contract workers who have been trusted with network access and negligent or poorly trained employees.

While some threats are more invasive than others, they can be equally jarring if you’re unprepared. It’s therefore important that make yourself aware of possible entry points and potential weaknesses and address them accordingly.

2. Back Up Data Regularly

Backing up your data is another key way of protecting your business from security breaches. It will help you recover what you’ve lost in the event of a breach. Be sure to back up all your data, from personal information and financial records to customer records and business plans.

A cybersecurity expert like Alpine Security can help determine how frequently your business needs to back up data and plan a schedule that best fits your needs.

3. Use Anti-Malware and Firewall Software

Malware, an umbrella term for a variety of malicious software, is the most prevalent cybersecurity risk to SMEs today. Installing antivirus and anti-malware can provide an extra layer of protection should a malware attack your system.

With the rapid pace of change in cybersecurity threats, be sure to pay attention to update notifications and install them as soon as they become available.

4. Prevent, Detect and Respond to Security Threats

Once you’ve installed antivirus and anti-malware tools, install an intrusion detection tool that’ll notify you of a system breach. Also, increase your network’s protection by using access lists and proxies.

Another effective cybercrime protection strategy is to encrypt all sensitive data. Data encryption is a very effective tool for data breaches as it renders data useless in the wrong hands. Almost all operating systems have a full-disk encryption software that can encrypt data on a desktop or laptop when it’s at rest.

5. Invest in Cyber Security Insurance

Cybercriminals always up their game with more advanced technology and tricks, making even the most security-cautious businesses at risk of an attack. Statistics show that the average cost of a single data breach in 2017 was USD 3.6 million. The cost of dealing with a cyber attack can best be mitigated by investing in cybersecurity insurance.

With cybercrime escalating and small businesses being the prime targets, it has never been more urgent to protect your business. Implementing these five strategies alongside thorough and ongoing employee education on cybersecurity can help ensure that your business is protected against cybersecurity threats.