Cyber security is an essential part of running a business. Businesses nowadays will rely heavily on the use of technology, so it is important that you have strong cyber security within your business, to protect you from any potential cyber-attacks. Even if you are running a small business, there is still a threat of a cyber-attack, which is why it is important to find ways to improve the cyber security within your business.
In this article, we will go over 5 different ways that can help you improve cyber security within your business. If you are a business owner, or you are planning to open your own business, then this article is for you. Keep on reading to find out how you can protect your business from cyber-attacks.
Hire an IT department
One great way that you can improve cyber security within your business is by having an IT department. When running a business in the modern age, it is likely that you will be using a lot of technology to help with the overall running of the business. Technology can help us complete daily tasks and it can also improve general efficiency and productivity within a business.
Having an IT department is a great way of protecting your company from cyber-attacks as your tech team can work hard to ensure you have strong cyber security. As technology continues to evolve, so does the way cyber-attacks work, which is why it is so important that you have a team who can constantly make improvements to your company’s security.
One method that has been proven to be effective is static application security testing, which is a way of analyzing codes in any apps you provide to staff or customers, to find any weakness. App security testing is effective because it can pick up on any weaknesses within the tech you use and fix those weaknesses so that your company stays protected.
Invest in the latest technology
As mentioned above, technology plays a huge role in the running of a modern business, so it is important that you invest in the latest technology. Old and outdated technology is not going to have as good of security as modern tech, so it would be a good idea for your business to upgrade any outdated technology that you may be using.
Modern technology will be more equipped to deal with the threat of a cyber-attack as they would have been fitted with more security. If your business has been running for years, it is likely that you may have lots of old computers or company laptops for your staff to use. It would be beneficial for your business to assess the current tech and take steps to upgrade the technology, so that your business can stay protected from a potential cyber-attack.
Educate your employees
Another good way of improving cyber security within your business is by educating your employees. Staff training is so important within a business as it keeps all of your staff informed and updated with the most recent changes. This is relevant when it comes to cyber security too. Your staff needs to be kept informed of the latest ways of improving cyber security so that they can action those points on a daily basis.
If you have an IT department within your business, then it would be a good idea to get your IT department to run regular meetings to demonstrate to the other members of staff what they need to be doing to ensure the company data is protected. Staff training is also a great way to give your staff the opportunity to speak about what improvements they feel could help the business and also gives them a chance to ask any questions.
Multi-factor authentication
Multi-factor authentication is another great way of improving your businesses cyber security. When you log-in to a network, you will be required to enter a password, while having a password is effective, if a hacker guesses the password, they will be able to access all of the businesses data.
Multi-factor authentication is great because it adds a whole new layer of security onto the process of logging in, so instead of just putting in a password, you will be required to complete other steps before you are logged in. For example, once you have put in your password, you may then be asked to enter in a 4-digit code which is sent to either your email or your mobile phone.
Having multi-factor authentication in place will help to keep your private data secure and your company protected from a cyber-attack. It is important that all of your staff know about the process of multi-factor authentication and why it is important, so that they can effectively use it every time they need to log in.
Regularly change passwords
The final point we are going to discuss is regularly changing your passwords. Within a business, it is likely that you will need to use a lot of passwords to access data and complete daily tasks and while passwords are a great way to keep information secure, it is so important that you and your staff are regularly changing passwords so that hackers cannot access your business.
Changing your passwords regularly and using strong passwords are both effective ways of improving your business cyber security, so it would be a good idea to set up a regular system so that your staff all change their passwords at the same time. If you need a lot of different passwords for different things in the business, then it would be helpful to use a password manager, to help everyone remember the different passwords. It is unfair to expect everyone to keep on top of the constantly changing passwords, so using a password manager is a good way of storing all the passwords in one place.
Summary
The importance of cyber security cannot be overlooked; running a business in the modern age means that you rely heavily on technology, which is why it is essential that you protect your business from cyber-attacks. If you are a business owner, or about to become one, hopefully this article has given you some helpful tips that you can use to protect your business and allow it to thrive.