Cybersecurity for business is one of the most important things you can invest in as a company owner. Cybercrime rates are on the rise, and businesses must know how to protect sensitive data and how to keep their customer details safely stored online.
To operate within a modern marketplace, businesses must store at least some – if not all – of their data online. Many businesses now have online shops or interfaces where they store customer details in order to allow for online purchasing or engagement. This can include highly sensitive information, such as customers’ financial details, names, addresses, or proof of ID documents. Businesses will also often store large amounts of their own data and financial information online, on resources like cloud services, or within software suites.
While the online world is fantastic for functionality and convenience, operating in a digital world means that cybersecurity for business management is more important than ever. As the world of online storage expands, the rates of cybercrime continue to rise. One survey conducted by MacAfee estimated that cybercrime rates had soared over the three years between 2016 and 2019. By 2019, cybercrime rates had grown by two-thirds and were continuing this upward trend.
The Importance of Cybersecurity for Business Managers
If you’re wondering how cybersecurity affects businesses, take note of the dramatic losses affecting companies where a successful hack or data breach has taken place. Losing customers’ financial data to hackers not only puts customers at personal risk but is a death blow to any business’s reputation. No one wants to put their money or their data at risk by dealing with a company that doesn’t take cybercrime seriously.
Business owners have a responsibility to protect their customers, especially if the use of their services requires the exchange of personal details. Similarly, businesses should want to protect their employees and themselves by preventing major security leaks. If you’re interested in how to safeguard your company, these tips are an introduction to cybersecurity for business owners. These elementary tips will help you reduce cybersecurity business risks and limit exposure risks for yourself and your users.
8 Ways to Improve Cybersecurity for Your Business
1. Make Sure You Have an Up To Date BCM Team
When it comes to business security practices, it’s better to be prepared than to be caught off guard. Cybersecurity and business continuity management are heavily interconnected in today’s modern world. If your company comes under cyberattack or experiences a major breach, you should have a business continuity team standing by, ready to communicate with your Disaster Management Team. Having a well-trained, fully equipped continuity team prepared to deal with cyber breaches is half the battle. Once you have an action plan in case of attack, you reduce the chances of serious damage if your organization is hacked.
2. Staff Security Training
When it comes to cybersecurity and business, your staff should also be aware of the risks. Regular staff training on how to spot fraudulent emails or suspect information can help protect against scams and phishing emails. As a manager or CEO, you should take an active role in ensuring that your staff is cyber safe, aware, and up to speed. Employee awareness can also help you stay on top of cybersecurity and business analytics on a company-wide basis to improve performance.
3. Use Multi-Step Authentication
Multi-step authentication can ensure that there are several stages required before resetting a forgotten password or entering a database. These can include steps like a mobile notification, a CAPTCHA, or security questions. Multi-step authentication is one of the best cybersecurity tools for small businesses as it is effective but also cheap and easy to implement.
4. Create Secure Networks
Cybersecurity and business intelligence go hand in hand in the modern world. Due to the growth of the ever-connected IoT, it is more important than ever to have a secure router and secure wi-fi network. You should also make sure that your data is encrypted and that you have a secure firewall in place.
1. Strong Passwords
It may sound obvious, but secure passwords are still a must in 2021. Ensure that you and your employees use passwords that combine secure combinations of letters, numbers, and abstract characters. Passwords should also be changed regularly and should not be repeated across accounts.
2. Security Assessment
It is a commonplace now for companies to store large amounts of customer data online. For example, if you run a slot that offers customers an online casino bonus, it is easier for users if they don’t have to input their details each time. This makes storing log-in details a more optimal strategy.
To ensure that this is as secure as possible, many companies insist upon regular security assessment. This involves stress testing security systems and firewalls for potential areas of weakness. This allows companies to decide where they made need to strengthen systems or increase spending for extra security.
3. Allow for Software Updates
While it can be tempting to put off software updates, it is bad security practice to do so. Many updates include improvements to security or to anti-malware facilities. As cyberattacks constantly change and evolve, it is vital to allow systems to update in order to stay on top of imminent threats.
4. Control Access
When it comes to cybersecurity in business and industry, we must be aware of how the technological landscape is changing. For example, many employees now work out of hours from mobile devices. While this can increase productivity, it can also open doors for hackers and for cyberattacks.
The ubiquity of mobile use for workplace tasks makes it even more important to control who has access to data. Make sure that only authorized workers have access to admin settings. You should also encrypt data and make sure that staff members working off-site will pass security steps in order to access sensitive information on mobile devices.
Conclusion
While it may sound strange to focus on cybersecurity for business success, it is really a necessity in the modern world. Companies that do not prioritize securing their data could face huge financial consequences and risk losing or corrupting sensitive information. This is not a risk worth taking, especially when there are so many effective cybersecurity solutions on the market.
Author Bio:
Darrell Rios is a former IT professional and owner of a small development studio. Now in his spare time he writes about cybersecurity and development, as he has extensive experience in the implementation of IT projects.
Darrell is a guest blogger. All opinions are his own.
