If your business has any type of online profile, it is imperative that you take cybersecurity precautions to protect your business and customers.
With data breaches costing businesses an average of $4.88 million in 2024, we’ve made a top 10 list of cyber security measures that your business must take.
Cyber Security Measures:
Cyber security measures are about taking actionable steps to protect your data from attacks from cyber criminals. These attacks are malicious and are usually aimed at accessing and misusing confidential data, extorting money, or hindering the day-to-day running of a business through ransomware, phishing scams, and other data breaches.
Our top 10 cyber security measures are:Â
1: Strong passwords
This one is quite a simple one, but an important cyber security measure is making sure that your passwords are strong.
- Use a combination of numbers, letters, and symbols to create a password that is 8-12 characters long
- Don’t include any personal information in passwords, such as your name or date of birth
- Use different passwords, rather than relying on just one
2: Installing reliable Antivirus and Antimalware software.
These programmes work by identifying and removing viruses, malware, and other bugs. They are also able to filter any harmful email or downloads, so they are an invaluable programme to have installed on your work devices.
3: Using a VPN
VPN stands for Virtual Private Network and is a way of protecting a network connection when you are using a public network. They encrypt your internet traffic and disguise your online identity, meaning that it is more difficult for other people to monitor your activity and access your data.
4: Protect with a Firewall
A Firewall provides extra protection for your online activities because it protects your hardware as well as your software, and it works by blocking viruses from entering your network, as opposed to targeting a virus that has already gotten through. Firewalls go hand in hand with antivirus software, and it is always a good idea to have both.
Firewalls can also stop hackers from attacking your network by blocking certain websites, and can be programmed to restrict confidential emails being sent from your network.
5: Ignore suspicious emails
Suspicious emails, often known as phishing emails, can scam individuals into sending over confidential information or accidentally downloading viruses by clicking on a link. It is important to stay vigilant and ensure that you don’t reply to or click on any links from email addresses that seem illegitimate. It is also a good idea to report any suspicious emails.
6: Secure your WiFi network
If you or your company still uses WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) networks, then it is time to upgrade to a WPA2 (WiFi Protected Access version 2), as it is much more secure. There is a possibility that you are already using WPA2, as it is an increasingly common way of protecting your WiFi network.
To help protect your WiFi further, change the name of your router or SSID (Service Set Identifier) and ensure that you use a complex PSK (Pre-Shared Key) password for additional security.
7: Secure any mobile devices
With mobile devices being… well, mobile, it is much easier for them to be stolen and your confidential information compromised. There are a few ways to protect your phones, laptops, and tablets. The most obvious one is password protecting your devices as well as your accounts. Another way of providing extra security to your devices is to ask your IT manager to set up a remote wiping ability. This means that if your phone or laptop is lost or stolen, you can remotely delete everything.
8: Backup your data often
It is important to back up all of your data often, either onto an external hard drive or the Cloud, so that, if ever the worst were to happen, you won’t lose all of your data. Often, this feature is included in software that handles sensitive data, but it would be a good idea to run an audit to make sure that all of your data is safely stored elsewhere.
9: Have a disaster recovery plan
Sometimes, despite all our best efforts, things go wrong. It is important to have a plan for what to do if the worst-case scenario becomes reality. A disaster recovery plan outlines how to respond to all sorts of different unplanned incidents, not just cyber attacks. The plan contains instructions on how to minimise the impact of a disaster so that the company will be able to resume key operations as quickly as possible.
10: Communicate cyber security measures to your staff
It is pointless to have cyber security measures to protect your business if no one in the business knows what they are. Ensure that your employees have read and understood your cyber security policies. It might even be worth providing the team with regular cyber security awareness and training.
More than 60% of UK businesses reported that they have suffered a cyber-attack in the last 12 months. Don’t become one of the 60% – contact Mintivo today to discuss how we can help your business.
