Just because you are running a small business doesn’t mean you are beyond hackers reach. In fact, small businesses are more susceptible to data breaches and attacks because they are relatively unprotected and unprepared. Unfortunately, data breaches are proliferating daily and many small business owners don’t know how to prevent them. Needless to say, a data breach can have severe legal and financial consequences. Here are 4 best tips to protect your small business from data breaches.
1. Strengthen and change your passwords regularly
The easiest way for a hacker to access your confidential data is by exploiting your weak passwords. Anyone can guess passwords which include your company name, your name, “123456”, etc. Make it a unique combination of uppercase, lowercase, special characters, and numbers. Also, make your employee change their password regularly. Furthermore, you should add Two-factor Authentication for doubling up your business security.
2. Trusted Hosting and Encryption
Troy Gill, manager of AppRiver Security Research stated that businesses should use only trusted Hosting provider. Even if they are popular, make sure that they use encryption for all your site’s data. For all the transactions taking place in your website, ensure that it is secured with SSL/ HTTPS encryption. Also, using End-to-End encryption (E2EE) and Virtual Private Network (VPN) will shield you from many breaching attempts. Encrypt, Encrypt and Encrypt!
3. Secure your hardware too
This is what most companies ignore. Data breaches can easily happen if your servers, laptops, electronic devices, routers, and cell phones are not secure. You are at a big risk. Alarm system and security cameras help, but you need security labels to provide you with an extra layer of security. Such labels are created to protect system/ product tampering and can significantly reduce your business cost in long-run. You can use https://www.seareach.co.uk for all-round protection from tampering and theft.
4. Have the right partners and platforms
Do you have Web application Firewall (WAF) to protect your site against various cyber-attacks like Denial of Service (DoS), Brute Force or Cross Site scripting attack? Also, make sure that the e-commerce platform you use for storing, transmitting or processing payment-card is PCI DSS compliant. Failure to comply by these standards can result in hefty penalties if any data breach occurs. Choose the right partners and the right platform.
5. Be aware of spam and Malware
Phishing attempts are made quite often by attackers to exploit your sensitive data. As per studies, targeted emails are responsible for nearly 30% of security breaches. These emails usually consist of a malicious email attachment which can even track your computer screen or a phishing link to get your login/credit card credentials. Even, Ransomware has been popular since 2016, where the attacker seize your data and ask for a ransom to restore it. Always update your Operating system, install trusted Anti-virus software and back up your file for avoiding data loss.
