How to Protect Your Business from Ransomware and other Cyber Attacks
Malware is designed to hack into your system to steal critical information such as credit card numbers, which then can be used for financial gain or other purposes like identity theft. As technology is getting smarter, so are hackers.
It is a common misconception that small businesses aren’t targeted by hackers, and aren’t typical victims of cyberattacks. Contrary to popular belief, hackers use this misconception to their advantage and are able to target hundreds, if not thousands of small businesses.
Businesses on a small scale usually have less aggressive technological shelter, less resources, and less awareness to focus on cybersecurity, making them an easy target. As an entrepreneur, it is extremely important to learn and understand the threat of malware and cyberattacks, and how you can protect your business against them.
Ransomware Protection for Small Businesses
Backup Data on a Regular Basis
While this may seem like a complete hassle, it is crucial to have a copy of the information backed up in case of a breach. Making use of a cloud service with a high level of encryption will give you the ease of having the data elsewhere, and not getting stranded if the business gets hacked. Enabling two-factor authentication is also of great help since this added security step can prevent any unauthorized party from accessing your business’ data.
Secure Your Network
The importance of securing your network can never be overstated. Having a secure network is extremely crucial, and by far, the most important factor when it comes to protecting your business from any breach. Having a firewall set up to safeguard and look over all access to your network is critical. Ensure all computers have antivirus software installed and running – it will promptly detect any sort of virus and get rid of the threat. Without protection, all of your business’ data is vulnerable which allows risky malware into your system, compromising the entirety of your business.
Use Strong Spam Filters
Phishing is a type of scam that targets people by sending an email, which appears to be from a trusted source. In case an email has a link that does not seem familiar, it is best to not open it as they usually contain viruses and malware created mainly to weaken your computer’s security. Additionally, adding efficient spam filters further reduces the risk of employees falling for a scam and unconsciously allowing malware into your system.
Consistent Software Upgrades
As malware and cyber threats continue to become more sophisticated and technical, developers keep creating new updates to keep up with their evolving nature and patch any loophole hackers could use to access your system. You know those annoying pop-ups on your screen to update your software? Those aren’t completely useless and actually are of great help against cyber threats and hackers looking for a victim.
Educate Your Employees
According to various studies, it has been shown that cyber-attacks are usually caused by unaware employees who aren’t able to identify malware and subsequently help the hackers. It is crucial to educate and train your employees to recognize cyber-attacks, e.g., suspicious links, ad pop-ups, phishing scams, etc.
Frequent Password Changes
It’s extremely important to brief your employees to never use simple and easy-to-guess passwords. Additionally, changing passwords and login information every couple of months should be made mandatory because vulnerable passwords allow hackers exceedingly easy access to any business’ data.
VPNs – An Added Security Measure
VPNs do not directly protect you against viruses but they do hide your online traffic and make it private. By setting up a VPN on your office network, you can ensure that every connected device is able to leverage the IP masking and encryption capabilities of a VPN.
Cyber-attacks and ransomware are evolving and getting more sophisticated each day. Fortunately, the aforementioned steps will improve protection and keep you safe from most, if not all, threats.
