Cybersecurity concerns are not limited to large brands alone. Yes, the consequences are more severe for the bigger organizations, but small businesses and growing firms are equally vulnerable, if not more. Some of the biggest brands have invested in bug bounty programs, where they hire ethical hackers and developers to hack a company’s recorder and other systems to find possible vulnerabilities. As a new company, you may not have that kind of resources, but we have shortlisted the best cybersecurity guidelines for your help.
- Train your employees. Employees are often the weakest links when it comes to adhering to cybersecurity norms, and they need to be educated. Let them know about common security breaches and cyberattacks and make them accountable for that they do with company’s network, resources and systems.
- Invest in network security appliance and firewalls. Investing in what’s called ‘network security appliance’ may be useful for small businesses, and at the very least, ensure that you have firewalls, so that your systems are protected from untrusted networks, like the Internet.
- Antivirus software is essential. Regardless of other factors, it is absolutely critical to use an antivirus program that’s designed for commercial use. Antivirus software programs have to be updated on a regular basis, and make sure that firmware used by the company is always patched and updated.
- Consider multi-layer authentication and network segmentation. This is something that experts recommend for every business. Network segmentation basically means categorizing and segmenting the network into isolate units/networks, so that compromise on one doesn’t impact others.
- Password creation and management must be effective. Ensure that all default passwords and IDs are changed immediately and follow the basic guidelines for setting new passwords. For example, passwords need to be at least 10 characters long, must have special characters, numbers, uppercase & lowercase letters.
Maintaining a proactive stance
Cybersecurity is not just about responding to an incident, but more about securing the perimeters of your company, so as to avoid any possible attack. Hackers are no longer using traditional means alone to hack into systems, programs and apps, and with these new methods, your cybersecurity policies have to evolve and must be updated on a regular basis. Also, take extra steps to maintain your IT network by enhancing on-premise security. For instance, moving from standard analog cameras to IP cameras could be a great way to monitor business premises.
Check online now to find more on cybersecurity for small businesses.
