Cybercriminals seem to be everywhere these days. They seek out weaknesses in WordPress plug-ins, breaking into databases and are constantly operating scams to steal data. The following are tips to help you stay safe in the dangerous cybercrime environment of today and to operate your business using best practices.
Make sure your employees are educated on the risks
The more your employees are informed about the risks of cyber-attacks and the vulnerability of data; the more likely they are to follow best practices. You need to tell them how to secure passwords, explain to them the encryption, and make sure they know what they should look out for when emails come in.
You also need open communication between people so that they can inform others about risks that they may be seeing in your particular digital workplace environment.
Update your systems and make sure you have the basics covered
You don’t necessarily need sophisticated defences to protect your business from cybercrime. You need to have antivirus software such as McAfee, in addition to strong security measures in your passwords; and you need to update systems regularly.
But all of these should be pretty automatic if you have the right procedures and automation in place. If you need an IT professional to have a look at them, then make sure you do, so that you can get things running smoothly.
Have a cybersecurity audit
You could go a step further to have a cybersecurity assessment to understand where the holes are in your cyber defences and to get them plugged. An assessment will go over all of the risks to your data and also look at how the human effect can impact on your cybersecurity. By having a cyber assessment, you are following best practice and will be able to understand your risks in greater detail.
Antivirus and firewalls
We touched on this already, but you need to make sure that all systems within your company, and interacting with your server, have appropriate antivirus and firewall technology. You need to also think about outsourcers and freelancers, and anyone working from home.
Have a security policy
The best way to stay safe is to make sure that you are active with your security policy. Outline it in onboarding sessions with employees and make sure that it is informed by strong security advice from IT professionals. The protocols you put in place should become part of your business strategy, as failing to keep your business safe can be a massive problem for your business.
Do data backups routinely
All of your data should be backed up into archives regularly so that you can recover quickly in the case of a theft or cyber attack. Disaster recovery involves having a clear process for when things go wrong, and your backup is a key part of this.
You can set configurations so that all your devices automatically backup, and you can have your main server backed up elsewhere, perhaps to the cloud, on a regular basis as well. Make sure you don’t lose any data in case of an attack by backing up regularly.
You should also take things one step further by investing in the right form of insurance. For example, public liability insurance can cover legal fees, and damages should a customer suffer loss through cybercrime.
Open lines of communication with the IT security specialists
One of the main ways to stay ahead of the risks is to have a branded communication with IT professionals who are at the cutting edge of cybersecurity. This could be as simple as receiving newsletters daily about the risks for the technologies that you use, or by having regular touch-base sessions with a cybersecurity specialist who can guide you on current risks and how your system may be inadequate to tackle them. Having this ongoing support is a crucial aspect of maintaining a secure business operation.
Cybersecurity should be taken extremely seriously and should be an integral part of your business processes. If you fail to plan for cyber attacks then at some point it is quite likely you will be hit, and in that case, you may suffer severe financial or reputational damage. Be proactive about cybercrime security and make sure that your business is following best practices.
