How To Protect Your Business and Customers From Cyber Attacks
2020 Small Business Cyber Security Checklist
With a global pandemic that has lasted longer than expected, we are all struggling to adjust to the new “normal.” There has been a substantial increase in online activity throughout 2020 across many industries. With the holidays approaching, it’s likely this increase in online activity will lead to an increase in potential cyber attacks.
Small businesses are among the top targets for cyber attacks throughout the year. They become even more inviting during the holidays when web traffic reaches it’s peak. Neglecting to implement the proper security measures can put your business information and customers sensitive information at risk.
Keep reading to learn more about our “must have” components for implementing an effective cyber security plan. You can also download the full checklist and schedule a discussion by completing the form on this page.
Protecting Your Business From Cyber Attacks
Have A Strict Cybersecurity Plan
There’s no joking about cyber security. Keeping your sensitive business data secured is essential when attempting to protect your business and your own personal data. That being the case, it’s important to have a clearly defined policy in place. For every employee accessing the internet on a work device, these guidelines should be included in any pre-employment documentation.
Protect Your Devices
Additionally, keeping employee devices, like laptops or mobile devices, should be secured. This is another key point within a cyber security plan. Employees should have authority to access only the data considered essential to perform their job duties. While also being limited to the software they are able to install on their devices.
Use Strong Passwords & Multi Factor Authentication
Requiring password protection on these devices can also protect you in the unfortunate scenario where these devices get stolen. These passwords should be unique for each employee and should be updated on a consistent basis. You can read more about password security here.
Network Security
With wi-fi becoming more available it’s hard to find a place that doesn’t offer their guests a wireless connection. Protecting your customer data should not end when customers leave your website. If you operate a physical location. It’s likely your customers could be connecting to multiple public networks which could leave your networks susceptible as well.
Credit and debit cards are an extremely popular form of payment. Gone are the days of using cash or checks. These types of payments will utilize your network connection in order to be processed. If PCI best practices are not implemented or your network is not properly secured, customer data could be compromised during data breaches.
Additionally, with more employees requiring remote access it’s putting some additional strain on businesses to keep their data secured. Using a virtual private network (VPN) establishes a secure connection to your sensitive business data while your employees are working remotely.
Fill out the form to download the checklist for more tips about creating a secured public network.
Protecting Your Customer's Sensitive Data
Let’s shift gears and dive a bit deeper into your website. As an ecommerce retailer keeping your sites secure should be a major priority. Especially now with the Holidays approaching and the pandemic on the rise.
Encrypting Customer Data With An SSL
Our first tip for keeping your customer data secured online, is installing a Secured Socket Layer (SSL) on your site. This encrypts customer inputs in forms or checkout pages of your site. This is so important that Google will no longer index sites that do not include these.
Further, specific browsers will stop users from even entering a site that doesn’t have a SSL installed. The majority of customers will not complete a check out process if a site is not secured with an SSL.
Maintaining Your Website
Properly updating and maintaining your site should also be a priority. If you handle this on your own and don’t do it consistently it could leave your site vulnerable to attacks. Keeping your site up to date can guard from newer types of attacks that developers have protected against. Learn more about how Stellar Blue Technologies keeps your site secured here.
Pre-Holiday Security Check
Lastly, preforming a pre-holiday security check. As we’ve mentioned, peak holiday traffic leads to an increased risk of cyber attacks and small businesses are a major target. Preforming a pre-holiday security check can help ensure your site can handle the influx of traffic while staying secure.