As the use of technology in the workplace grows, small business owners need to be looking into cyber security to protect their businesses and their clients. While you may think that intruders will ignore your small business because they have bigger fish to fry, that’s not always the case. More and more online intruders are hacking into small businesses because they know cyber security is often overlooked. This gives them access to your systems, documents, and clients’ information. To protect against these attacks, try out the four tips below.
Have a Consultant Hack Your System
While it may seem counterintuitive, to know where to start improving your cyber security, it helps to have someone hack your system. There are various IT consulting firms that have specialists who will hack your existing networking system. This will identify leaks and other problem areas, and the consulting firm will use that information to help you fix them. Preparing for and addressing these issues before someone truly attacks your business will save you and your company, time, money, and reputation.
Provide Employee Training
Many times a leak where a potential intruder can access your network is caused by ignorance on the part of employees. One of the best ways to protect against intruders is to provide cyber intelligence training for your staff members. When you inform them of proper cyber security protocols, they can learn how to effectively work with your network without providing any potential leaks for intruders to find. They can also be on the watch for any signs that there has been a security leak. Your employees are your first line of defense; use it.
Implement Regular Password Changes
Having and keeping track of regular password changes can be a pain and may seem unnecessary. However, regular password changes can help keep intruders at by. The ideal time to change passwords is every three months. You can make this an automatic system that will show up on employees’ computers. You can give them a few warnings before making it mandatory to change all passwords. This will ensure that employees are doing everything necessary to protect the information they use on a daily basis.
Limit Access
Cyber security threats don’t always come from outside intruders. Sometimes the problem can be internal. To help mitigate this risk, you should provide only limited access to network information. Not everyone needs access to all parts of the business’s network. Rather, employees should have restricted access to only areas of the network that are necessary for them to do their job tasks. This way, if an employee does pose a risk, they can only affect and access a small portion of the company rather than causing companywide problems.
Online intruders are becoming more of an issue for small business than they ever have been before. The above tips are just four of the many ways to protect your business. Your security system should not be stagnant—that’s how it becomes ineffective. Instead, make sure your cyber security is constantly evolving and growing to protect from cyber-attacks.
