Small business owners spend a lot of their time worrying about things like payroll, inventory, schedules, and loan payments. One of the things that too few small business owners worry about is cybersecurity. That’s a dangerous habit because small businesses make excellent targets for cybercrime.
Large businesses assume they’ll end up targets for cybercriminals. That means they enact both basic cyber security tips, but also deploy advanced countermeasures.
Most small business owners can’t afford advanced cybersecurity options or the staff to manage them. They can, however, use some of the following basic cyber security tips to protect their businesses.
Train Employees on Security
Most employees don’t walk into work thinking about or even knowing about basic cyber security. You must train them on cyber security tips for users. A few examples include:
- Logging off of workstations
- Not sharing passwords
- Changing passwords
- Not opening or forwarding emails from unknown senders
While these might feel obvious to a security-minded business owner, they’re often entirely new ideas for high school students or those fresh out of college.
Firewall
Think of a firewall as a really solid fence between your business network and all the evils of the Internet. It helps prevent unauthorized users from accessing internal data and can help prevent viruses and malware from getting inside your network.
If you can afford one, invest in a best-in-class firewall since it’s one of your main protections from data theft.
Backups
If your system is compromised in some way, a backup can prove a lifesaver. A backup of critical data and applications lets you start fresh with very recent data.
You can opt for on-site backups to a server or go with cloud-based backups. Whatever method you choose, make sure the data backs up on a regular basis. Daily backups are generally considered the safest option.
Application-Specific Security
Some businesses depend heavily on a single application or suite of applications to run their business. For example, you might use specific financial software for all of your transactions and banking. You might use a specific cloud service provider as a host for all of your applications.
You can often find specific security options for these applications.
Of course, some businesses opt for an all-inclusive small business management software suite like SAP. While these systems centralize information and resources, it also means a breach exposes your whole business.
If you use an all-inclusive system, consider some form of SAP security or comparable security package.
Getting the Most Out of These Cyber Security Tips
Getting the most out of these cyber security tips means starting with the biggest security threat. You must start with your employees.
Employees represent one of the biggest security threats because they access your system all the time. That means they can accidentally compromise your security at any time. Getting them up to speed on basic cyber security protocols represents a huge step up in your security.
Are you launching a business and looking for more tips to help your startup? Check out the many excellent startup posts available on this site.
