In today’s economy, small businesses play an important role. With the development of the internet, small businesses have been able to reach new customers from all over. Technology has also made storing information and data easy and quick for small businesses. Although technology has opened many doors for small business owners, it has also opened doors for people to attack your business digitally. As a small business owner in today’s world it’s imperative that your cyber security is top notch.
It may not seem like your small business would be a target of a cyber-attack but it’s more common than one would think. Since big businesses are beefing up their cyber security, hackers have turned to small businesses. Hacking is when a hacker changes software in order to bypass security in order to gain access to your business’ data. Once they have hacked into your system they are able to potentially install what is known as ransomware. Ransomware is a software that blocks access to systems in your computer until a ransom is paid. Hackers also can gain access to your confidential files. The majority of these attacks are on small businesses and taking necessary steps against them is important. Not only are hackers an issue but data loss is as well. Data loss is when information is deleted due to a malfunction in information systems. This can be caused by failures in processing, storage, and transmission. Hacking, ransomware, and data loss can be detrimental to your small business and can cost you in the long run. Thankfully, with the rise of these threats, the software and things to do to protect your business have as well.
There are many things that can be done in order to protect your small business. First and foremost, you need to set up security guidelines for your employees to follow. These security guidelines should include strong password selections, penalties for not following guidelines, and strategies to protect company and customer’s information. These guidelines will ensure that there is no weak link in your company’s cyber security. You must also provide protection to your computers and the information that they contain. Using anti-virus is the best way to protect your computers against attacks. Anti-virus is a software that is used to protect you from hacking. It is important that you update your antivirus when you can. If you do not, you can leave application vulnerabilities. Hackers will use these application vulnerabilities in order to get to your data and information. In order to protect these application vulnerabilities, you may have to apply a patch to the software. Patching is software designed to update your antivirus. The update will close any application vulnerabilities there are. Along with a solid antivirus a firewall can also be placed. A firewall is a system that will stop any unwanted access but will let you communicate outward. Firewalls are another great way to protect your computer.
It may seem unlikely but cyber-attacks can come from mobile devices. It’s important that you protect your and your employees’ mobile devices. There are many challenges when dealing with mobile data. Make sure that if there is confidential or sensitive information on mobile devices that they are password protected and the information is encrypted. Hacking can also involve physically alter a computer’s hardware. It’s important you protect your computers physically. Locking them up and restricting access can improve the chances that no one alter your computers. Securing your wi-fi networks is another huge step in cyber security. Making your sure your wi-fi is encrypted, hidden, and password protected will help protect your business from a lot of headaches in the long run. Limiting access to who can access your internet connection can stop a lot of threats. Allowing with limiting wi-fi access, you should also limit installing any software on computers. Make sure only select few people have permission and authorization to install any type of software.
The last threat to your small business is data loss. Many small business owners make the mistake of not backing up their systems. They do this for various reasons. The biggest one is they feel that it is a hassle and not worth the time. That however is not true. Backing up your small business’ data can be very simple. This is an internal threat. Backing up your data and files is important. If files are lost or damaged, you can restore those files if you have backed up your information. Backing up is when you save your files to an outside storage system. Many people and businesses use a cloud service. A cloud is an online storage system. Clouds are a quick and easy way to back up your files and data. You can also have external storages and it’s smart to have hard copies as well.
Technology continues to grow and continues to be a part of our lives. As a small business owner, you need to keep up with the technology and the security measures needed in order to do that. Hacking and ransomware can be avoided with simple and easy practices along with antivirus and firewall protection. There are many different software’s that provide antivirus. Some even provide firewalls as well. You can find more information through the FCC website. There you can find information on what software is best for your business and your wallet. They can also provide you with a step by step guideline built around your company’s specific needs.
As stated above it’s important that your employees are educated and up to date on cyber threats and cyber security. Backing up files to a cloud could save you and your company a great deal of hassle in the event of data loss. Preventing data loss may seem like not a big deal at first but it can ruin your company’s saved files and confidential files. So, do yourself a favor and protect your company from cyber-attacks so you can continue to grow it as a business.
