As a startup business, you need to know how to keep your business away from cyber attacks. Most small businesses never imagined that they could become potential targets of attacks online. It sounds unbelievable but possible.
Irrespective of your business size whether large or small, you should never underestimate the extent of cyberattack threats to your business website or social media pages. Your company’s website is at risk of being under a cyber attack. It becomes further easy to cyber attackers as a result of the lack of enough resources to enhance your website’s security system. As a result of the weak system of defense, your website becomes liable to and susceptible to such attacks.
Going by these statistics, it is believed that 43 percent of cyber-attacks are targeted towards small businesses even more than at large businesses, and also that more than 48 percent of breach of data security are as a result of attempts by hackers to infiltrate small business’ websites. A little percent comes from system malfunctioning or human error. This goes to show enough reasons why small businesses should ensure that they are protected from cyber-attacks.
Ways To Protect Your Small Business from Cyber Attacks
There are several effective measures that your small business can take to strengthen your website’s security and defense.
1. Create a Password Strategy
Oftentimes, cyber-attacks become easy and successful when small businesses with weak protection use simple passwords. Whenever you or your employees have a simple password or a password that is easy to guess, your website will likely be hacked. Such easy passwords like 0000, 1234 and 12345678 are way too easy to guess. To protect your business from cyberattacks, ensure to use more complex passwords, probably with a mixture of alphabetical and numeric characters.
By implementing an effective password strategy, you will be able to slow down any potential threat and will end up frustrating the hackers. Also importantly, you should have a company strategy of resetting your passwords frequently.
2. Ensure Your Business’ Cyber Security
It is not only your homes, landed properties or cars that can be insured. You should be aware also that your small business’ cybersecurity can be insured. Cybersecurity insurance is very important for small businesses to obtain.
Likewise, in case a potential cyber attack on your business is successful resulting in the data breach, the cyber liability insurance ensures that your business is covered. If the data security breach to your company’s website results in havoc, the cyber liability insurance covers the damage and it makes sure that your business is not held liable for this as your legal costs will be appropriately covered by the insurance.
3. Make Use of Virtual Data Rooms
Virtual data rooms (VDRs) are software that allows for safe and secure storage of all your business’ data as well as confidential details. The Virtual data room, unlike the physical data room, cannot be infiltrated by third parties as its security is well enhanced even as you can get it for an affordable price.
For your employees to share sensitive and confidential data, ensure to make use of VDRs. No matter the extent of the potential cyber-attacks, virtual data rooms remain online repositories that can be trusted to keep all your small business’ files, documents, and financial transactions. Your virtual data room is only exclusive to authorized individuals whom you have given the user ID and password to gain access to your files.
4. Handle All Internal Threats Appropriately
A lot of times, cyber threats to small businesses have happened as a result of internal influences from employees of the business. Almost 55 percent of all cyberattacks on small businesses come from people who are within the business or organization. This often happens as those individuals leaking insider secrets of your small business to outsiders who have all the while been looking to hack your business.
To protect your small business, you must be very careful of the insiders who are your employees as much as you watch out for cyber attacks from the outside. This means that you are to be watchful of how you safeguard your authorization requirements and other vital details. Also, ensure that only trusted and reliable employees have access to the top confidential data of your business to prevent internal hacks.
Conclusion
You need to take your small business’ cybersecurity seriously as any successful cyber attack could have fatal implications on your business. Never assume that only big companies are potential targets of cyberattacks. As long as your business keeps certain vital and confidential data, you are at risk of being attacked. As you follow those effective ways of cybersecurity and protection, your business is sure to be safe and protected.
