The internet is a crucial aspect to running your small business, however you may not have taken into consideration the real threats that may be evident through internet usage known as cyber attacking. Understanding cyber security is a must for any small business owner to prevent hackers or scams manipulating data and systems which could cause your business to go into meltdown.
Here are a few top tips to ensure that you are up to date with protecting your business from cyber security threats:
Secure Wi-Fi networks
If you haven’t already done so, be sure to secure your Wi-Fi networks with complicated passwords that only yourself and your employees would know. You could also hide your Wi-fi network so that outsiders don’t attempt to hack into the system. Set up your router so that it doesn’t broadcast your network name and it may be an idea to password protect it also.
Back up your files
Should there be any chance of a hack, it is crucial to back up important data and files that keep your business running smoothly. These forms of data may include word documents, excel spreadsheets and other documents where customer and client information is stored. If these documents ever got lost, it would look very unprofessional to those who are regular clients. You may have to declare the fact that you have been hacked into, which would be an unfortunate instance as they may lose trust in knowing that their personal data is safe within your company.
Set passwords
Ensure that you set passwords on all systems and devices where possible and use a number of different passwords so that if your systems ever were hacked into, they cannot get through all of your data. You may like to look at a password manager in order to track the different passwords. It is also best practice to regularly rotate all passwords.
Antivirus software
It would be a huge benefit to invest in anti-virus software to check all files on your system to ensure that there are no viruses present on any devices. There are many anti-virus software options to choose from, but be sure to find one that runs across plenty of devices and does a thorough scan so that no viruses are missed.
Educate employees
When posting online or emailing clients and customers, employees should be aware not to give away too much information that could be open to hackers or security threats. If employees are not aware of this, your business could fall into huge risk. It is not just clients that employees should be aware of, but also competitors who would revel in finding out important data and statistics about your business. Keeping sensitive data under wraps is crucial and as the boss, you should hold regular meetings to be sure that such information is not shared to external parties. You should also make employees aware of “spear phishing” whereby the scammer impersonates you and then asks your employees to do certain things e.g. transfer money.
If you would like any further information on cyber security, contact catalyst2 today.
