Tips For Preparing Your Business Against The Threat of Cybercrime
Cybercrime always feels like a faraway threat.
It is something that you know exists, but until it happens to you, it is more an idea than a danger, but that is exactly the sort of mentality that hackers and cybercriminals use in order to succeed in their endeavors.
Cybercrime includes everything from phishing spam to complex social scams to outright hacking. There are multiple ways that you will be targeted, some easy to spot, others far more sinister. Understanding the risks and preventing damage are the best ways that you can curb the threat of cybercrime.
In fact, these preventative measures are the best means to improve your defenses and avoid the threat of an attack for as long as possible:
Risk Assessment and Management
There are several risk management techniques available that will help you identify weaknesses in your organization, as well as provide a better understanding of prevention, detection, and reporting.
The risks that you will be managing are not only hackers. Fraudsters are another huge threat, with businesses around the world losing an estimated 5% of their revenue to them. Understanding where threats come from, as well as the damage they could pose to your individual business, is crucial to help you plan accordingly and invest in the security infrastructure that works best for your needs and customers.
Train Your Employees
The biggest weakness to your business is going to be the human element. This can be partially due to your employees, or it might be a total blindside. If their login information has been stolen on another site, and that login information is the same for your business, hackers have easy access.
You need to train your employees to recognize phishing and other suspicious links. Train them so that they can protect themselves at home and at your work.
Follow Up By Limiting Access
Endpoint security, limiting user access, timing user access, and other simple solutions are excellent when it comes to further protecting your business (and your employees) from cyberattacks.
Remove All Unnecessary Programs
Old programs and old files alike can be a huge weak spot in your business. Old programs are still active, even if you have not opened them in years, only they have not been updated. Their security is lax, and therefore can be the perfect back-door into your business if you are not careful. If you do not use a program at all, then properly remove it from your system. If you occasionally use it, ensure that it is regularly updated.
Have an IT Department
Not every business is going to be able to afford their own dedicated IT department, and that is fine. What is not fine is being completely defenseless. There are agencies that you can hire that will allow you to access IT specialist help whenever you need it. They can go through, audit your security, and work to improve it. They will also be there in case an attack does occur and can help mitigate the damage at the source.
