Every time a large corporation becomes a victim of cyberhacking, word spreads like wildfire on social media. Usually billions of dollars are at stake, personal data is stolen, and the company’s reputation suffers greatly. Doesn’t that sound like a nightmare? According to The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) , the majority of businesses that are hacked tend to be smaller organizations because they are under-protected.
Don’t worry, there are a variety of cyber security action steps you can take to begin protecting your business ASAP! Our IT experts have gathered a list of common (and critical) practices your business needs in place to make sure your company is over-protected…
Use a Firewall
Still one of the first lines of defense in a cyber-attack. Computers Nationwide recommends that all SMBs set up a firewall to build a shield between your data and cybercriminals. Our firewall helps keep your business moving because it protects against online security threats like spam, viruses, hackers and malware. Today, we can even set clients up with an internal firewall to provide additional protection to their external firewall. Also, if you have employees working remotely, it is imperative that you have them install a firewall on their home network as well. To ensure compliance for your business, consider providing firewall software and support for remote workers.
Encrypt Passwords
As we mentioned in a previous blog post, CN strongly suggests enforcing safe passwords. The Verizon 2016 Data Breach Investigation report concluded that 63 percent of data breaches happen due to lost, stolen or weak passwords. While companies often find it a pain to enforce, having employees regularly change their passwords strengthens their protection across all employee devices. Password managers are a great tool to safely store logins in a way that users can’t actually see the password, they can only copy it, and sometimes with a time sensitive link.
Plan for Mobile Devices
Many small businesses do not have the capital to provide employees with laptops, tablets, and smartphones, so BYOD is customary at many workplaces. Employees may use their personal devices to access company data. Combine that with the increasing popularity of wearables, such as smartwatches and fitness trackers, it is essential that companies have a documented BYOD policy that focuses on security precautions. Across the board, we recommend that small businesses require employees to set up automatic security updates and require that the company’s password policy apply to all mobile devices accessing the network. Endpoint Protection from our new cyber security partners at Webroot will implement security solutions such as antivirus and web filtering to protect employee devices.
Get An External View of Your Security Posture
One of the best ways to keep your business out of the dark and safe from attacks is to find your own vulnerabilities. Hiring a highly skilled MSP provides the technical know-how, critical thinking, and experience necessary to audit your system in search of any weak points. Once we expose the holes in your current security systems, we will guide you through custom solutions that will better protect your business, your network, and clientele.
Drive Cyber Security Strategy and Culture
Employees often wear many hats within SMBs. Even with a technical support team in place, staff can inadvertently cause breaches if you don’t train them appropriately. Therefore it’s essential that everyone who has access to the network be trained on your business’ network cyber security best practices and security policies. The policies are evolving as cybercriminals become savvier, it’s essential to have regular updates on new protocols. To hold your team accountable, have each employee sign a document stating that they have been informed of the policies, know how to use company resources and understand the penalties for failing to follow security protocols. Our partners at Perch Security are ready to increase protection for your business with the best cybersecurity programs based on speed, reliability, and their sharing community. Imagine receiving live updates about potential threats to your security and finding solutions ASAP before the situation escalates.
Plan Your Incident and Disaster Response
In the unfortunate event of a cybersecurity disaster, your organization must be ready with a leading edge strategy that will jumpstart your response plan as well as a disaster recovery plan (DRP). Focus on your proactive defense with our partners at Datto. They specialize in Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS), “your entire infrastructure (physical or virtual) is virtualized instantly, empowering you to continue your business operations without . Your cybersecurity team, usually not your IT team, is the closest to your systems and often on the front lines in the event of an incident. At Computers Nationwide, our teams are fully trained in response planning and recovery procedures.
Securely designed systems can still have vulnerabilities. Hackers are working tirelessly to weasel their way into your network, however they also prefer to take the path of least resistance. They are constantly probing their targets for weaknesses and waiting for the perfect moment to strike. You don’t want cyber criminals to be the first to discover a vulnerability that compromises your business, partners or customers. CN works hard to make sure cyber criminals don’t get the satisfaction of attacking our clients. By taking a proactive security approach, you can rest assured knowing that our team & industry leading partnerships have found and closed any security gaps in your system!
