Cybercrime is getting worse as the years go on. Reports show that damages from online crime are increasing by 15% per year. Those are numbers too large to ignore.
You need to protect the business data you store, so it pays to invest in security measures to keep it safe. Use the five cybersecurity tips below to protect your information.
1. Secure Your Accounts
The first step to securing company data is protecting your user accounts. Require every employee to use a strong password and implement a password policy to enforce it.
Once you strengthen your passwords, implement two-factor authentication where possible. This will send a secondary code to employees that they need before logging in.
2. Update Anti-Malware
You can have a secure work environment and still suffer from a data breach. This happens because employees accidentally download compromised files from the web or email.
Anti-malware will find and remove most of these files. Install anti-malware software on every machine and keep your malware definition database updated.
3. Install a Firewall
You can install firewalls on individual computers, but you have limited control in this situation. You have to update each machine if you want to make changes.
A company firewall makes things easier. It sits in front of all internet traffic and provides a central location to manage your company’s security. It will detect threats and stop them, as well as help you control access to websites you don’t want employees to visit.
4. Train Employees
Your security system won’t work well if your employees don’t understand what to do online. Unfortunately, many people are too trusting and will make mistakes online — leading to security breaches that could have been avoided.
Invest in creating training material for your team. It should help them understand how to stay safe online and what they are allowed to do on company machines. Make sure each employee goes through this training before letting them online.
5. Test Your Security
You shouldn’t take it for granted that you have great security. You may have done everything right, but unless you do extensive testing for common cyber threats, you won’t know for sure that your company is completely secure.
There are many types of penetration testing that will help you gauge how well your security systems handle threats. Work with a third-party company to test your system and develop a checklist of items to address.
Do Everything Possible to Protect Business Data
It’s hard to do business in today’s environment when you don’t have business data — you can’t make smart choices or forecast how your business will do in the future. This means you will likely have a lot of valuable data in your organization that you must protect.
You need to do whatever possible to safeguard your business information against hackers. Follow the cybersecurity tips above to protect your company data.
Do you want to read more advice that will help you set up your tech infrastructure? Find more business technology advice on the blog.
