How to Stay Cybersecure: Essential Online Safety Tips for Small Businesses

In today’s digital-first world, cybersecurity is not just something for big corporations to worry about. Small businesses must take it seriously too. With entrepreneurs latching onto more and more Internet devices, their need to shield sensitive information has never been greater. Ignoring this requirement is likely to bring chaos to one’s venture: financial loss, reduced reputation, and the loss of faithful customers can all be serious outcomes. But do not worry—being safe on the cyber front does not have to be difficult. In today’s business world, a few key safety habits can help small businesspeople keep their operations secure and prosperous.

Always Use Robust Passwords

The cornerstone of being safe on the internet is good password management. It sounds easy enough, but many data breaches are due to easy-to-hack or reused passwords. Encourage staff to use complex, unique passwords for every platform. This initial step can help you create a genuinely secure environment. A good way to do this is to invest in a password manager that stores these passwords and other credential data securely. LastPass and Dashlane are tools that let your team both generate and manage strong passwords. People will wonder how they ever managed without them on their desks once you have gotten rid of all the sticky notes and memory-based errors.

Also, when at all possible, ask your team to use two-factor authentication (2FA). This scheme calls for users to verify their identity using a second method such as their mobile phone or email. It significantly reduces the chance that an unauthorized person will gain access to any system or data—even if they have stolen passwords.

Secure Your Network

Securing your network should be a top priority, along with other security defenses. Running a small business or working away from the office can mean all kinds of threats. This is why we created an article specifically on computers and data protection. Firewalls, for example, serve an important function: they are a barrier between an intranet or LAN and the open internet. Firewalls keep out possible communications from sources that we do not want to contact us (usually other sites or networks that may be trying to steal data).

Keep Your Team Educated

One of the most fundamental aspects of cybersecurity is to increase the vigilance of everyone involved in your business. Your trained crew represents the first line in preventing cyberattacks. As an example, hackers sometimes use something as common as phishing emails to make off with company data. By training the staff to think first and open emails later, this kind of classic attack can be thwarted and your overall risk profile massively improved.

It also makes sense to establish clear policies on the use of the internet. Staff should know their work and private devices have to be kept separate, so as not to provide openings for attack. If you also encourage safe browsing habits, and insist that only reputable websites are visited, then these steps taken together will go a long way in preventing cyberattacks.

Imagine, for example, that your staff frequently use your business internet to check their private email or even download files and programs to work or personal devices. That sounds fine on the surface, but it can introduce security risks, even if they’re visiting high-quality sites. If someone is looking to download the best offline iPhone games for free, you might assume there is little that could go wrong – but that’s potentially problematic because everyone has different risk tolerance and varied senses of what’s safe. It’s better to have clear-cut policies about staff only using the work internet for work, and keeping their personal activities for at-home time.

Don’t Forget to Back Up and Recover

Even with the best security mechanisms possible, things sometimes go wrong. A cyberattack, a misclick by an employee, or a hardware malfunction — any of these can cause data loss and so it is vital that you have a robust backup system set up. Important information should be backed up regularly and stored online as well as physically. Services like Google Drive or Dropbox make for wonderful places to keep your files safe and at hand.

In addition, companies need a recovery program for worst-case scenarios. In the event that things do go wrong, businesses should have procedures in place that restore systems, inform clients about what happened in an appropriate fashion, and secure themselves against new attacks.

Final Thoughts

Cybersecurity seems vast and unfamiliar at first glance but with the correct tools, knowledge, and routines, any small enterprise can properly fend off hackers and create a well-protected perimeter. Develop a strong password for every account accessible over the Internet. Secure your network and get good security software. Make your team aware of the risks and regularly update their training, limit work internet use to business-only activities, and create good backup procedures.