Be Prepared for Tomorrow’s Cyber Threat

Cyber threats are one of the most significant risks to your organisation. Therefore, it is crucial to prepare your business for the dangers of tomorrow. 

Cyber-attacks can lead to financial loss and loss of critical data. It is vital to prepare for the aftermath of a cyber-attack and have a strategy to incur the cost of recovering from such an incident. Small and medium-sized  businesses suffer the most from such attacks because they are not prepared for the attack and don’t have any plan or strategy to deal with such type of attacks.

The reality is most small business owners think they have nothing worth stealing. Therefore, they don’t take any such measures. It is essential to understand the significance of cybersecurity. No matter, if you are a smaller firm or a more prominent organisation owner, you should take protective measures. 

Following are some of the most effective ways that can help you to cyber-secure your organisation:  

1.      Know your data and identify areas of risks
It is essential for a company to know the type of data they have. After having complete knowledge of data, it is necessary to understand and identify sensitive data and the areas of risk. Identifying the areas of risks will help you in strategising your plan for your company.

2.      Always have a back-up of your data
Backing up data is one of the essential steps that every company should follow. It will not only help you protect the data but will also help you to restore the data after the threat. 
Protecting your business data should be your utmost priority, and you should always have a back-up of all your business data and details. As a company owner, you should keep a check and ensure that there are regular backups of the business data. This will help you and your business during a natural disaster or a hack attack.

3.      Install Anti-Malware Software
Malware is a program that can attack your computer and are very harmful. However, you can prevent these attacks with a few measures. You can avoid attacks of malware by installing anti-malware software and using a firewall. The benefit of using a firewall is that it detects and blocks some of the malicious programs.
Set up firewall security and ensure that anti-malware security software is there on each business computer. Install this software on all your business devices and prevent these kinds of threats.

4.      Encrypt the Data
Encryption of business data is one of the most effective ways  to protect your data and achieve security over your data. Encryption is the process of encoding the data. In simpler terms, encryption is the translation of data in such a way that only authorised parties have access to it. It is all about translating the data into another form, a type of secret code which can only be accessed by people who have the right encryption key.

Those who are not authorised do not have access to the data. The best part about encryption is that it works even during data transportation. It is one of the best possible ways to ensure and maintain data security. Not only this, but encryption will also protect data across devices (mobile phones).

5.      Choose Strong Passwords
According to research, 73% of users have the same password for multiple sites. Using the same passwords increases the risks for cyber threats as cybercriminals can easily use that information to log in and access your different accounts. Therefore, it is essential to choose strong passwords to protect yourself from all kind of cyber threats.

Choosing a strong password is essential for your healthy digital life. It will protect you from identity theft, financial fraud, and will help you achieve data security. Protect all the devices with a strong and complicated password. 

Share the password only with the device user and ask him/her to not share it even with the other employees. You may also use two-factor authentication.

6.      Educate and Train Your Employees
In the end, your employees are your biggest asset. Therefore, it is essential that you educate and train your employees about cybersecurity. Give security awareness education to all your employees and teach them about the different online threats. Your staff plays a huge rule. Therefore, you should make sure that every new member completes his/her training program.
Ask them to be aware of fraudulent emails. Train them and tell them the importance of having strong passwords and why it is crucial to maintain and choose strong passwords. Inform them about their computer rights and responsibilities and tell them how their role can make a huge difference in protecting business data.

Whether you’re a business owner or an individual, these precautions ensure the cyber security of every individual who accesses the internet every single day.

CPO Magazine:       Airtract:      Image: Nick Youngson

 If you would like free advice about your cyber-security please contact Cyber Security Intelligence

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