How Your Small Business Can Prevent Cyber Attacks
Today, it’s no longer a question of if, but rather than when your business is going to find itself under attack by hackers and cybercriminals. The number of cyberattacks is on the rise and moving at an alarming rate, and no business is safe. In fact, small businesses are often a more common target than the big names since they tend to be more lacking when it comes to security systems and are therefore easier to breach. Education and preparation are two key factors when it comes to protecting your business against a cyberattack. So, what can you do to spot one potentially happening and stop it in its tracks?
photo/ Jan Alexander
Work with Professionals
The truth is that no company should be struggling to do their own IT if they’re unable to hire an in-house team of professionals. Hackers know that small businesses can’t afford to hire the extensive IT departments that you’ll usually find at the larger corporations, and that’s why small companies are often a more attractive target to criminals. However, outsourcing to IT support companies like Integrated Computer Services gives your business the chance to have access to the same level of expert IT support and protection from cyberattacks at a fraction of the price compared to hiring an in-house team.
Provide Employee Training
Employees who don’t know anything about cybersecurity are often one of the biggest reasons why cyberattacks are allowed to happen. The truth is that everybody in a company should be working together to prevent cybercrime and avoid becoming the next victim of an attack. And with hackers constantly coming up with new and more sophisticated ways to commit their crimes, it’s important that employees are kept up to date on a regular basis. Cybersecurity training should never be a one-and-done thing; offer regular refresher training and keep your employees updated often on what they should be looking out for.
Create a Security Culture
Simply providing training isn’t often enough when it comes to preventing a cyberattack. Even the most well-trained employees can miss signs or make mistakes, so creating a culture where this is freely talked about and cybersecurity comes up in general conversation is crucial. When you have a strong security culture, employees are going to feel more comfortable talking about something that they’ve spotted even if they think it’s nothing. And it’s this level of vigilance and communication that can often stop a cyberattack in its tracks.
Prepare Disaster Recovery
The sad fact is that even with the right professional support, training, resources, and culture, your company and its employees might not always be able to spot an attack or stop it before it is too late. Because of this, it’s important to have a strong plan in place for disaster recovery to ensure that you have clear steps to follow in the worst-case scenario. Trying to figure out how to recover from an attack when it’s happening is never a great idea for anybody involved. A structured plan to follow will help ensure that the damage is minimized as much as possible.
Today, no business can afford to operate without being on alert when it comes to cybersecurity and the potential for a breach to occur.
Author: Carol Trehearn
