Big companies experience many and many cyber attacks on a monthly basis. This doesn’t sound good but big companies have big budgets for their security systems. That sounds better now, right?
When it comes to regular and smaller businesses, the ones that have yet to evolve into something bigger, the things are not the same.
Running a small business can keep you under the radar but once a hacker discovers you, your business can suffer unless you have good security. Of course, allocating a lot of money to someone that would take care of that instead of you can be quite an undertaking and even impossible for many.
That is why many of you will find the list of handpicked tips below quite useful.
Understanding what info is crucial
When you are running a small business and you have to use online platforms, you have to understand that not every bit of info or data should be dealt with in the same way. It is important to know what data is sensitive and it is important that your employees know it, too.
Credit card info, bank account info, everything of the sort is a target to hackers. You need to know that sharing that info shouldn’t be done unless it’s essential and that your employees shouldn’t give it away too. Using encryption to protect your sensitive data and info is recommended.
Letting someone see or steal sensitive data can result in detrimental effects. Advise your employees not to open suspicious attachments from people they don’t know, post procedures for encrypting crucial data and require your employees to regularly change their passwords if needed. If you don’t want to expose the crucial info you first have to understand what it is.
Security software
Now that you know what you should never share online, you should be aware that you need security software.
First of all, have a firewall in place along with antivirus software. Encrypt your data before you share. By encrypting your data you are making it almost impossible for a hacker to steal your data. Just be sure to find the right piece of software since there are so many antivirus programs that it gets quite tricky to find a good one.
One good sign is the price. You can afford not to pay in the beginning and go with free software but once your business starts growing, you will need to invest in more sophisticated software.
Staying under the radar
Getting exposed online is easy. If you are an ambitious company and your networks are not secured, almost anyone can see your IP address. And, these addresses say a lot.
That is why you need to consider using a VPN (Virtual Private Network) when browsing. Using this technology allows you to roam the web anonymously. Whoever spots you, sees a fake IP address that is half of the world away from. Therefore, it gets quite tough for a hacker to track you down.
Another important segment is the data share. When sharing data don’t just send out important content and files through emails or online data sharing websites. Instead, use torrenting. That way you are more protected. For this to work you should look for the best VPN for torrenting. A lot of VPNs limit the data you can use, make sure to look carefully.
Do not let your data get stolen. Stay anonymous and use torrents. That way you are invisible and untraceable.
Wi-Fi protection
You have to make sure that your Wi-Fi router is well-protected. A Wi-Fi router is an easy access point for hackers.
Your office probably has a Wi-Fi network so make sure that it is invisible to the outsiders. They need to be protected by encryption. Set up a strong password and change the default settings.
Also, set your wireless access point so that it doesn’t broadcast the network name.
Update antivirus software and passwords
Yes, it can get annoying but you should always update all of the antivirus software you have along with the passwords.
This was partly mentioned above but so many people avoiding doing this even though it is not that hard. Update your passwords every month or two and use strong passwords. They should be at least eight characters long with a mix of symbols and letters.
When it comes to antivirus software, you should update that regularly too. Hackers always come up with new viruses so it’s important to update your software. If you don’t do that, the app won’t recognize the new threat.
Summary
When you are online, you might think that no one is watching but that may not be the case. That is why you should do everything to stay under the radar and repel cyber attacks.
