Cybersecurity Strategies Every Small Business Should Implement

• By Jennysis Lajom
• 07-11-2024
• Technology

Small businesses have been more exposed to digital attacks with significant security threats. Cyber hackers claim that small businesses have fewer protection tools and are targeted.

However, one data breach can result in substantial financial loss, damage to a company's reputation, and loss of consumer trust. A small business can shield itself and save financial capital using fundamental cybersecurity practices.

While keeping your business safe from intrusions, the ever-changing nature of cyberspace may be a strain. Hence, if you have even a small organization, you need the proper advisory and help to deal with these cyber threats successfully.

What Makes Small Businesses Prone to Cyber Attacks?

Cybersecurity is not a priority.

Nowadays, the majority of small businesses fail to implement adequate cybersecurity measures. More than half of these individuals feel unattackable due to their small size. It would seem that security isn't a top priority since the threat isn't seen.

Consider a small business with few employees. Since there is no physical location, everyone needs to work from home. As remote data sharing becomes necessary for this business, it might go downhill quickly. A secure remote access solution would allow workers to safely access and exchange critical business information.

Easy to Manipulate

Small business owners feel vulnerable to cybercriminals who exploit their connections. Because they are less experienced in dealing with cyberattacks, they face a greater risk of ransomware.

Cybercriminals also target domain names where phishing or malware offers access to a password. This may lead them to steal and sell the domains to the owner or others. Thus, one should buy domain names from a company that ensures safety.

Poor Resources

Cybercriminals usually target small businesses because they lack the resources, budget, and time for advanced security.
Small businesses know to protect confidential information but don't have an IT department, so they are more concerned with expanding business than security. When businesses grow, they forget or run out of funds to invest in advanced security measures.

Outdated Technology

Many smaller businesses depend on outdated software and hardware to protect themselves from cyber dangers; thus, they often upgrade and repair their internal systems. The vulnerabilities in security that this generates will be exploited by fraudsters online.

Lack of Understanding of Security

A further critical problem is that small and medium-sized business personnel could benefit from training on best practices for cybersecurity. This puts them at risk of downloading malware or falling for phishing schemes. Hackers may simply take advantage of security holes caused by people unaware of the problem.

Common Cyberattacks Small Businesses Should Know

Malware and Virus

Malware refers to any form of hazardous programming utilized in an attack. The most common kinds of malware are viruses that can easily invade your computer as soon as you open an attachment from an email or download a file from the Internet. They can also hide them in harmless files so that few small or medium-sized organization employees see them.

Insider threats

Insider attacks occur when a dissatisfied employee, profiteer, cyber espionage, or vandal uses work credentials to break into vulnerable network regions. Internal threats may cripple a firm or ruin its brand since certain workers have access to consumer payment information, secret corporate data, and confidential conversations.

Human error

Human error is also an inadvertent insider threat, primarily resulting from unsecured access credentials. It sometimes leads to hackers' penetration into secret areas or devices of the network when it takes severe proportions if the hackers are well aware of the network's configuration infrastructure and know how to apply the obtained access credentials.

Human error can cause physical breaks, like someone accessing the server room or workstations. Sometimes, an open workstation after a user has already stopped working on an application may let a hacker manipulate and steal sensitive data without anyone noticing.

Ransomware

Ransomware occurs when an attacker encrypts a user's data, holds it for ransom, and unlocks it. It prevents users from reclaiming control and may be removed from many machines, including servers.

There's no assurance that you'll be allowed to reaccess your system even though you pay the ransom immediately.

Phishing

Hacking involves conning people to reveal confidential information like addresses, credit card numbers, usernames, and passwords. For that, they forward you spam emails from a company you trade with. People fall into these traps and soon become afraid, which guarantees a price or other huge deals or takes them to a fake web page where they will leave some personal information.

Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS)

The web server that hosts your website is programmed to respond to any request from an external computer. Hackers exploit this by sending millions of forged requests to a victim's server. The web server cannot allow access because it expends enormous amounts of time and computational power to handle every request; thus, it denies access to users.

Botnets

Automated tools called botnets make the assault sequence easier. They comprise several devices linked to the Internet and run bots intended to compromise your system. A bot is an automated program that might resemble human actions or perform instructions devised to send spam, steal information, or give an attacker access to a computer or network.

These attacks are less common but tend to be more severe when they occur. This is because of their data and connections to more prominent companies. This kind of organization should prioritize cybersecurity measures.

Additionally, small businesses are experiencing an increasing risk of impersonation attacks, in which cybercriminals impersonate legitimate businesses or individuals. These attacks frequently target employees through deceptive emails or fraudulent communication, exploiting their limited resources and cyber security awareness.

10 Cybersecurity Practices for Small Businesses

Owning a small business makes you powerless about cyberattacks. The awareness of the latest trends in security can make it easier for you to secure your business better. Here are the following tips on keeping your business secure:

Train your employees

If employees are irresponsible, your business's security might be jeopardized. The exact number of data breaches caused by insiders who intentionally or unintentionally give hackers access to your networks varies by region and industry. Still, this is undeniable.

Employee attacks may take many forms. For instance, the employee may give his login details or lose the company tablet. Another risk your company faces in its network is the employees' accidental opening of malicious emails.

Keep Your Systems and Software Updated

Hackers attack outdated software and operating systems. Small businesses must ensure that all their systems, including antivirus software, web browsers, and operating systems, are regularly updated with recent security updates.

Automating updates can be a very effective and simple solution to secure systems without people. These advanced cyber security technologies that detect vulnerabilities quickly may better protect your system.

Use a Virtual Private Network (VPN)

A virtual private network (VPN) adds another degree of protection to your business. VPNs enable employees to access your company's network remotely or while traveling safely. They do this by routing your data and IP address via another secure connection between your internet connection at home and the website you want to view.

VPNs are beneficial when using public internet connections, such as those found in coffee shops, convenience stores, or airports, which might be susceptible to hackers. VPNs protect hackers from the data they want to steal by providing customers with a secure connection.

Back up your files regularly.

Does your business do file backups? When cyberattacks occur, data may be jeopardized or deleted. Would your firm be able to operate under such circumstances? Considering the volume of data that may be stored on laptops and mobile phones, numerous businesses would be unable to operate without having a backup.

Use a backup program that automatically transfers your files to storage to assist. In the event of an attack, you can retrieve all of your files from your archives. Select a program that enables you to automate or schedule the backup procedure, eliminating the need to remember. Store backup copies offline to prevent them from becoming encrypted or inaccessible in case of a ransomware attack on your system.

Ensure a strong password policy.

All employees should avoid using weak passwords for devices with sensitive information. A minimum of 10-15 characters, and the stronger the password, the better ones should include some mix of symbols, numerals, and upper and lower case letters. Stronger passwords increase the difficulty of a brute force attack to break into the systems.

You must also establish a policy requiring them to change their passwords regularly, preferably quarterly. Small businesses should also activate multi-factor authentication (MFA) on every device or application their employees use.

Use a firewall

Firewalls are helpful for businesses with physical servers since they secure the hardware and software. They also protect your network by preventing malicious software from entering. At the same time, antivirus software removes the software infected after it has entered the system.

With a firewall in place, your company's network traffic, whether incoming or outgoing, is protected. It also helps protect your network from hackers by preventing access to specific websites. You can also configure it to block the leakage of important emails and data from your company's network.

After installing your firewall, make sure it stays up to date. Check regularly to ensure that it has the latest software updates.

Conduct Security Audits

Even with such controls, monitoring the effectiveness of any cybersecurity program remains a need.

They also ensure that proper policies, procedures, and controls that protect the organization from cyber threats exist and that the compliance requirements are met.

The audit's goal, whether it is carried out by internal personnel or a separate company, is to promptly identify vulnerabilities in data, operational, network, system, and physical security so that they may be fixed before being exploited.

Limit access

Limit the people with access to that critical data residing within your organization to the absolute minimum. This will reduce the impact of a data breach and minimize the possibility of malicious insiders gaining authorized access to information. Develop a plan defining who can access different information levels and defining roles and responsibilities for all parties.

Incident Response Plan

One of the most important cybersecurity measures that any organization can take is equipping itself with an incident response plan in the event of a cyberattack. Events involving data loss are frequent and should be expected. However, without a plan, an organization could be plunged into chaos, resulting in more costly and prolonged commercial interruption.

A clear cyber incident response plan will include what happens before, during, and after an event, along with the responsibilities and roles of staff members, action items, and contact details for each individual. Many cyber insurance policies and regulating bodies demand due diligence in the form of an incident response plan because it enables the business to quickly contain and resolve a breach, reducing damage and expenditure.

Do not overlook mobile devices.

Mobile devices pose security challenges, especially when they contain sensitive information or when they can access the corporate network. Corporations, at times, ignore them in developing their cybersecurity policy.

Mobile devices present security challenges, especially when they contain sensitive information or access the corporate network. At times, corporations tend to ignore them in formulating cybersecurity policies.

Ask them to lock all their mobile devices and input passwords, download respective security applications, and encrypt the data. Tell them not to download the information from public networks. Ensure if their tablets or phones disappear or get stolen, they notify the system instantly.

Final Thoughts

Cybersecurity is one of the most critical factors in successfully running a small business in today's digital age. These measures will help lessen the risk of cyber incidents, secure valuable data, and build a reputation for security and trustworthiness.

Remember that cybersecurity is more of a process than a one-time action. Always review your cybersecurity practices and update yourself on the latest market threats and regulatory changes. With this proactive posture, you will protect your business, employees, and customers from cyber-related threats and enhance employee productivity in a hybrid work environment.