How do I protect my business against hackers? It is one of the most common questions business owners and IT professionals have, but it can be challenging to answer. Businesses need digital security as much as they need physical security. After all, it is impossible to have physical security if your business has no digital security!
Several different layers of defence need to be considered, including hardware, software and security policies, each of which has specific features and potential weaknesses that can affect the level of protection they provide. In this guide, you will learn five simple strategies to help secure your business’s digital operations in-house or hosted with a third-party provider.Â
Steps To Enable Digital Business Security
Ensure Compliance
Determining your compliance needs is the first step in enabling digital business security. Ensure that you comply with all applicable industry regulations, including the PCI DSS and Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
Make sure your compliance efforts are not a one-time endeavour; an ongoing process should be implemented to ensure that changes in business operations or technology do not cause you to become non-compliant. Another essential aspect of ensuring compliance is ensuring employees understand their roles in complying with company policies.
It is educating employees on what to do and why will help them avoid unintentional violations.
Confirm Infrastructure is Up to Date
Obsolete security is a top cause of successful attacks. This typically involves unsecured storage buckets and systems within the public cloud that can easily be exploited due to default misconfigurations. Regarding infrastructure, having up-to-date equipment for any digital business is critically important, particularly in the case of e-commerce, due to its inherent complexity.
This is the integral step in your digital business security strategy. The first step in any digital security plan is ensuring a secure and up-to-date infrastructure. This includes:Â
- Keeping software and updates up-to-date,Â
- Maintaining antivirus programs,Â
- Using encryption on all devices and networks,Â
- Utilizing two-factor authentication tools when possible,Â
- Monitoring logs for suspicious activity, andÂ
- Ensuring access to the right personnel.
Require Strong Passwords
Passwords are the first and foremost line of defence for your business. If a hacker can access one of your usernames and passwords, they can quickly get into any account you have on that website.
When choosing a password, be sure it is strong enough. Passwords should be at least eight to ten characters long and include letters and numbers. You must change them regularly so a hacker does not guess the one you are currently using. There are many other ways to secure your business digitally, but these are some essential basics!
You can also use password generator tools, or Google lets you generate strong passwords for your systems. You can always generate new passwords if you need help thinking of a new password.
Use SSL/TLS Certificates
Your website must use SSL certificates to protect sensitive information from being exposed. There needs to be more than a certificate; they need to be renewed regularly. To keep your customers’ information safe, it is recommended that you timely renew the SSL certificate.
From a security perspective, SSL certs help ensure that their websites can withstand cyber-attacks, vulnerabilities, and misuse of their websites, as well as keep customers’ data safe by ensuring secure end-to-end data transmission.
From a reputational perspective, adding the form of “HTTPS” at the start of their URLs gives an impression of trustworthiness.Â
It helps customers feel more confident about a secure online experience. There are many popular brands of SSL certificates like Sectigo SSL certificate, RapidSSL certificate, AlphaSSL certificate, and Thawte SSL certificate. Many resellers offer SSL certs at nominal prices and site owners should buy SSL certificates for customers’ data security.
From a business perspective, HTTPS allows for more advanced web platform features and API connections that need permission to implement, such as Geolocation service.
Use VPN Connection
A VPN connection is a private network that allows you to connect securely with remote locations. VPNs help protect your data and provide more protection for your company’s information. It also makes it harder for hackers and other malicious entities to access your company’s data.
VPN connections and cloud services offer known benefits (privacy, access from any device, exclusivity) and an additional layer of security.
Despite being imperfect, firewalls still interact with other security measures and tools we discussed and do a perfect job securing a company.
Train the employees about cybersecurity
To protect your data, you must ensure that your employees are well trained in cybersecurity. It can be achieved through a formal training program or by educating them on best practices. Either way, this will help ensure they are doing everything they can regarding security. It also makes it easier for them if they know what you expect of them.
For instance, employees could be taught not to click on phishing links by providing them with knowledge of what constitutes phishing and how to recognize a fake email. They must also be educated on other types of cyberattacks, such as ransomware, spam, malware, etc. Each new hire should be educated on the fundamentals of security measures to ensure her company is protected at all levels and that loopholes in cybersecurity are closed.
Conclusion
Digital security is something that businesses of any size need to worry about. Fortunately, you can take several simple steps to safeguard your business and its data. For example, you should regularly back up your data so that you have a duplicate of your most important files if the worst happens. You should also ensure your computer is running antivirus software and keep it updated with the latest updates. In addition, you should monitor your network for suspicious activity and ensure all your employees are trained to identify potential threats.
