Top 5 Ways to Protect Your Business From Cyberattacks

Strong cybersecurity for small businesses doesn’t have to be overly complex. Here are 5 steps you can take within your business to stay ahead of cyber treats. 

1) Require Multi-Factor Authentication 

Enable MFA across all critical business accounts such as email, your VPN or network, financial and payroll portal. With multi-factor authentication it makes it significantly more difficult for hackers to access your accounts even if they successfully obtain your account usernames and passwords.  

2) Automate Software Updates

One of the first areas cybercriminals attack are outdated softwares, operating systems, and web browsers. By turning on automatic updates across your devices and operating systems you are keeping yourself protected against the latest vulnerabilities. 

3) Train Your Team to Stop Threats Early

More than 60% of cyberattacks start with human error. This means you and your team are actually the biggest vulnerability. This also means you can be your strongest defense. We recommend  holding annual security awareness training to help your team recognize phishing attempts, malicious links, and commonly used social engineering tactics before they cause real damage.

4) Password Security 

You and all of your employees should not only create unique, strong passwords for each account, but they should be changing all of their passwords multiple times throughout the year. Avoid using the same password for multiple accounts. 

5) Protect Your WIFI

Most small businesses don’t have IT teams installing complicated firewalls, but that doesn’t mean you can’t protect your business from a weak WIFI network. Be sure to use a strong, unique password for your network and change it periodically. We also recommend setting up a separate WIFI network for guests and configuring your router not to broadcast its Service Set Identifier (SSID).

The Importance of Clear Guidelines & Commitment to Security Risk Prevention

Cybersecurity is an ongoing commitment, and should not be a one-time effort. Though you many not feel your business is a target, over 60% of all cyberattacks were against small businesses. That it is why it is important to make cybersecurity a responsibility of all team members and should clear guidelines should be included in all employee handbooks. 

Some jarring statistics to consider: 

• only 17% of small business in the U.S. carry cyber insurance coverage
• 47% of small businesses with under 50 employees report having a 0% budget for cybersecurity
• 88% of small-to-medium business breaches involved ransomware
  • Ransomware attacks result in an average downtime of 18.7 days and can cost between $120,000-1,240,000 per incident. 

Final Thoughts

You don’t always need a substantial IT & Security budget to protect your business. Sometimes, the most powerful strategy is already inside your organization— your people.

When guided with clear expectations and protocols, employees can become your first line of defense instead of a weak entry point for cybercriminals to exploit.