10 Ways to Tighten Cyber Security in Your Business
For any business operating nowadays, there is simply no way to escape the need for robust cybersecurity measures. Whether you’re a large national brand or a small local business with an online presence, there is the potential to be impacted by data breaches, hacks, and malicious software.
To help you ensure you’re taking the right steps in protecting your business’s IT systems and security posture, we’re discussing 10 ways your business can tighten its cybersecurity.
1. Conduct Regular Security Audits
Regular cybersecurity audits are essential to keeping your business on top of the many risks that exist online. We recommend conducting these twice a year. At Setup4, security audits are done in four steps.
1. Define the Threats
The first step is to scan for and list all the threats that are likely to impact your endpoints (e.g. laptops, smartphones, printers), email server, cloud server, local IT infrastructure, data, and customers.
2. Evaluate Your Security
Here, we assess your company’s ability to defend against these threats. This is done by putting your IT systems through a series of stress tests, including emulating security breaches.
3. Likelihood of Threats
Next, it’s all about ranking the threats on a scale of 1 to 10 based on how likely they are to occur and directly impact your business’s IT infrastructure. This allows you to prioritise a defence strategy accordingly.
4. Design a Defence Strategy
The final step is to develop an appropriate strategy that addresses the most probable threats you may face. The corresponding security solutions vary depending on the threats, and Setup4 consultants make the appropriate recommendations to best protect your business from costly breaches.
2. Implement Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
Muti-factor authentication (MFA) is one of the most immediate and simplest measures you can take to boost the security of your business’s online accounts. This comes in many forms, including verifying a login or user through:
- Randomly generated codes in authentication apps
- A security code that’s sent to a designated phone number via text or automated phone call
- Similarly, unique security codes that are sent to a designated email address
- Biometric verification (fingerprint, face ID, etc.)
- Security questions, best used in conjunction with other MFA methods
3. Train Your Employees on Cyber Security Best Practices
No matter how web-savvy your employees may be, it’s important to ensure they’re educated on the best practices for proper cybersecurity of your business. This training should be conducted by a cybersecurity professional who can relay these best practices in an accessible manner to those who are less educated on this subject.
Employees can be trained on how to identify things like phishing scams, compromised websites and unreliable links, how to secure their work in the event of a breach, back up their work, etc. It’s also important for them to be educated about the risks that can exist even within a business or social setting.
Scammers and cybercriminals will use methods such as social engineering to manipulate employees into divulging sensitive information. By knowing what methods to look out for, your employees can better navigate the various approaches taken by cybercriminals to breach a business’s IT systems.
4. Keep Software and Systems Up-to-Date
Any time a key piece of software or general system has an update available, it’s best to install these ASAP. Updates not only serve to optimise your software and systems, but also often include essential security patches that address different security risks or exploits that developers have identified.
This equally applies to endpoint security programs such as antivirus and antimalware programs.
5. Use Strong, Unique Passwords Across All Platforms
This is one of the simplest and most common ways of boosting the security of your business across different platforms. However, many businesses and individuals still use the same password across different accounts and platforms to make their jobs easier.
While it can feel tedious to come up with strong, unique passwords for every single account and platform, this step is essential to protecting your business and the livelihoods of your employees and customers.
6. Secure Your Network with Firewalls and VPNs
Firewalls and VPNs can both help secure a business’s network.
Using a firewall will protect your IT systems by monitoring and controlling incoming and outgoing traffic based on set security rules. It will block unauthorised access to your systems, help prevent common cyber threats (malware, viruses, hackers, etc.), and safeguard sensitive data.
A VPN (virtual private network) secures your systems by hiding IP addresses, encrypting internet connections, and creating a secure tunnel for data transmissions. Through a VPN, you’ll protect your business’s sensitive information from hackers, ensure safer remote access, and enhance privacy when and if you need to use public networks.
7. Backup Data Regularly and Securely
The simple reality of cybersecurity threats is that there’s no absolute way to guarantee your business is never impacted by a potential compromise or breach. Effective security is not just about actively reducing risks, it’s also about being well-prepared in the event a risk ends up becoming a reality.
Regular data backups, both on the cloud and locally, allow your business to get back up and running sooner if a data breach or compromise unfolds. We strongly recommend having most of your files and work set to automatically back up after each change or access.
For larger local backups to an external hard drive, depending on the size of your business, you should consider doing this at least once or twice per week.
8. Limit Access to Sensitive Information
Another effective measure is to limit who has access to specific sensitive information within your company. There are several approaches to achieve this, including the partitioning of sensitive data on a server or implementing a zero-trust security model that requires all users to reverify their credentials any time they try to access sensitive data.
9. Monitor and Respond to Security Incidents Promptly
Timely responses to security incidents are critical. Whether this is handled in-house or through an outsourced IT company, make sure your business’s network is being monitored for any security incident or breach. With an appropriate defence strategy in place, IT security professionals can respond rapidly and limit the damage of a breach.
10. Invest in Cyber Security Tools and Services
Your cybersecurity posture will be notably improved with the right tools and services. From endpoint protection software, VPNs and robust firewalls to network monitoring and in-house or outsourced cybersecurity professionals; the more tools and services at your disposal, the better off you’ll be.
If you’re in the market for IT and cybersecurity experts who can protect your business, Setup4 can help. We provide a range of security solutions, including audits, network monitoring and response, security education, and much more.
Get in touch with us today to get started.
