One of the biggest mistakes that you can make as a small business owner is believing that your company is not at risk of a cyberattack. While bigger companies and well-known brand names often make the news after an attack, the truth is that these types of attacks are actually the rarest. It’s the small businesses that hackers and cybercriminals will often go after most of the time, due to the fact that they tend to be easier targets without the same strict security measures in place in comparison. Since a cyberattack can be so devastating for a small business that might not have the means to recover from it, it’s important to put these best practices into place.
Outsource IT
First of all, make sure that you are working with IT professionals when it comes to your cybersecurity. While there are several things that your business can do to make sure that the risk of an attack is lowered, a managed IT support company has the knowledge and expertise to prevent it even further, help with disaster recovery and more, including finding weak points in your business network that you might not have been aware of.
Use Firewalls
A firewall is either a type of hardware or software that acts as the first defense against potential dangers to company devices such as malware. This is one of the simplest and most effective things that you can do to protect your company from cybercrime, since it provides a barrier between your business and any criminals that are trying to access it.
Verify Message Senders
Social engineering is one of the main tactics behind a lot of cyber-attacks today, and it’s easy for anybody to fall victim. All it takes is for one of your employees to receive an email that looks like it is from a legitimate sender, but if they provide the information requested before checking the sender, they may have just sent it to a cybercriminal. Because of this, it’s important to make sure that all employees understand the dangers of social engineering or phishing, and check all messages that they receive before opening, clicking on any links, or replying.
Use a VPN
With more and more people working from home these days, this can pose yet another cybersecurity risk for your small business. Home Wi-Fi networks are often easier for hackers to intercept compared to more secure business networks, so there needs to be measures in place for employees who are working remotely. Using a VPN is the best way to stay secure in this situation as it encrypts the data and makes it impossible for hackers to intercept. You should also provide employees with VPN access that they can use if they plan to work remotely in areas that offer public Wi-Fi, as these open networks are usually the easiest for hackers to gain access to.
Despite only hearing about the attacks on big companies that make the news, small businesses are typically the most common target of hacking attacks.
