03 April 2020

SMALL BUSINESS CYBERSECURITY TIPS

Submitted by: ESET South Africa
SMALL BUSINESS CYBERSECURITY TIPS

These days, cybersecurity is imperative for protecting you and your business. With so much of our information stored on computers, cellphones, servers and online, we become vulnerable to threats that could compromise the security of your company's networks, systems and information. To avoid this, computer security, cybersecurity or information technology security is the protection you need to protect your computer systems and networks.

Contrary to popular belief, cyber threats are not just a problem for big corporations and governments, but small businesses too. SMBs (small and medium businesses) are becoming an increasingly interesting target for cybercriminals. This is because they store more valuable data and assets than consumers, and are more vulnerable than large enterprises who are awarded larger security budgets. This unfortunately creates a proverbial “sweet spot” for cyber attackers.

With the long list of concerns such as spam, ransomware, malware, phishing, identity theft, malicious cryptominers and trojan horses - securing your information may sound impossible, but by focusing on prevention and recovery, you can protect your business from cyberattacks.

The Risks Of Cyber Attacks

Cyber-attacks can put your money, data and IT equipment at risk through hackers gaining access to your network. This can include client lists and their credit card information, or your company’s banking details, pricing structure, product designs and manufacturing processes. Hackers can then further access your network to gain access to your partners’ networks.

This can have a drastic impact on your business, and has resulted in at least 60% of small businesses having to shut down within six months of falling victim to a cyber attack.

Other financial risks also include:

  • Theft of banking information
  • Disruption of business
  • High costs of software repair
  • Damage of reputation through compromised customer information

Steps To Protect Your Business From Cyber-attacks

ASSESS YOUR RISKS
To provide extensive protection for your data, you need to evaluate potential risks to identifying and analyzing possible weaknesses. Examine where and how your data is stored and keep track of who has access to it. Then consider who may want to access your data, and how they may try to obtain it.

After a full assessment, you can use this information to develop or refine your security strategy, and formulate a plan to plug any gaps in your software. These security strategies should be reviewed and revised at regular intervals, and when making substantial changes to information storage and usage.

TRAIN YOUR STAFF
Although most often, unintentionally, employees can leave your business vulnerable. This can happen through losing a work device, carelessly giving away login credentials, or opening fraudulent emails deploying viruses.

The best way to avoid employee-initiated attacks is to invest in cybersecurity training for your employees. Identify what to do in the case of a suspicious email, and make it company policy that all technological devices have password access.

INSTALL THE CORRECT SOFTWARE
Studies show that desktops are the most targeted devices (78%), followed by mobile phones and tablets (37%) and company servers (34%), but antivirus software can protect all your devices.

Antivirus security software consists of multiple protective layers that detect, block and remove viruses and malware to combat malicious activities like spying, keylogging, credential stealing, cryptocurrency mining, unwanted encryption, information extraction, spam and scams.

KEEP YOUR SOFTWARE UP-TO-DATE
Hackers can easily slide through coding loopholes and outdated protection, therefore, it is essential that software is kept up-to-date to strengthen or patch loopholes to keep your business running.

BACKUP YOUR DATA
In a cyber attack, data could be compromised or deleted and could affect the running of your business.

Find a programme that will automatically backup your files and storage copies of these offline. You can then restore all of your files from backups should you become a victim of ransomware or other malicious malware. Software that you can schedule or automate is the best option to avoid human error, as well as software that preempts and protects your data from becoming encrypted or inaccessible should your system suffer a ransomware attack.

STRENGTHEN PASSWORD PROTECTION
One of the most basic, yet often overlooked security measures is passwords access. Most data breaches are caused by weak or stolen passwords, so it’s important to make them as challenging as possible and to then use them safely. Employees need to be trained on how to create a strong password, and IT departments should implement rules when setting and enforcing a company password policy.

You can further implement additional protective measures to increase password security through two-factor authentication.

PUT UP FIREWALLS
Firewalls can be either a software- or hardware-based system that works as a gatekeeper between your networks and others. This helps to filter out harmful or potentially unwanted content and communication, as well as harmful outgoing traffic to protect your networks and computers against cyberattacks.

Deciding on cybersecurity software

Cyber security methods and systems can be extremely technical, and there are a wide range of options on the market. This may make it difficult to choose the right cybersecurity company, but here are some ideas of what to look out for.

Don’t be fooled by big tech words or impressive marketing, but rather do your research to find independent tests and reviews as a good indication of a cybersecurity company’s products. It’s an especially good sign when firms are willing to test their own products and openly share these results.

Cybersecurity software may seem quite an expense, but with its importance to your business, it is something that you can’t ‘cheap-out’ on. Find a company that offers additional products rather than just specialising in one field.

A company that comes in, installs their product and then disappears won’t be able to provide you with the full protection you need. As your business grows you need a cybersecurity solution that can grow with you, so find yourself a company that offers full suites of security choices, including those you may need in the future.

Along with your full-suite security, extra support is vital. Once a threat is detected you have to move fast, and whether struggling to navigate your software or just backing up your files, support is there to help you circumvent these threats, find solutions and take the hassle out of cybersecurity.

Why ESET

This is where ESET comes in, to offer you a reliable and multi-layered security solution. We provide efficient endpoint-security for small businesses by allowing you to detect and react to cyber threats fast and effectively. You can find out more about some of our advanced technologies on offer here.

To enhance your user experience, our ESET Smart Security Premium and ESET Internet Security licenses are designed to comply with all devices including top-of-the-line Mac, Android and Linux products.