Cyber threats are growing; they don’t have to shrink your business

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We wrote a couple of weeks ago about leveraging technology to boost productivity, and today we’re writing about the other side of the technology coin: safeguarding your business and it’s data.

As we’ve seen over the last couple of years, cybersecurity incidents have made safeguarding your company — and your data — an indispensable part of running a business, regardless of how ‘big’ or ‘small’ you might be. In fact, smaller companies, in particular, are increasingly becoming targets for cyberattacks due to their perceived vulnerability and assumed lack of sophistication when it comes to protecting their data. While that may not be true in reality, as a small business owner, protecting your company’s sensitive data and ensuring the security of your digital assets has to be a top priority.

Understand your Risk

First and foremost, it’s essential to understand the risks associated with cyberattacks. Attackers use phishing scams (trying to fool you into giving up personal information), malware (viruses, malicious apps, etc.), ransomware (hackers taking over your computer until you pay them), and data breaches to infiltrate systems and steal valuable information (we can think of at least three incidents in the week leading up to this article). It goes without saying that a successful attack can devastate your business, ruin your reputation, cause enormous financial and reputational damage, and even make your business legally liable.

Invest in Cybersecurity Measures (seriously, do this)

Prevention is key here. Investing in cybersecurity can significantly reduce the likelihood of a successful attack. The bare minimum is installing reliable antivirus software, firewalls to safeguard your network, and multi-factor authentication from malicious threats. Regularly update your software and operating systems to patch security vulnerabilities and stay ahead of emerging threats. We use multifactor authentication just to get in an write a blog post, to say nothing about gaining access to our operating systems.

In addition to basic security tools, consider implementing more advanced cybersecurity solutions such as intrusion detection systems (IDS), encryption, and endpoint security solutions. No business owner likes talking about headcount without measurable sales growth to go with it, but in this case it may be worth going so far as to consider a dedicated employee or service provider specifically for cybersecurity.

Educate Your Employees

All of us who started out in corporate America know (probably through repetitive trainings) that a company’s employees are the first line of defense against cyberattacks. From recognizing suspicious activity to taking a defensive posture with their own data, security, and passwords, educating your team is crucial — the overwhelming majority (like almost 90%) of successful attacks have an employee to blame. Conduct regular training sessions to raise awareness about common threats like phishing emails, social engineering scams, and malware downloads — there are online and in-person training options from a myriad of providers that can help. The important part is teaching (and frequently reinforcing with) your employees how to recognize suspicious activities and report potential security incidents promptly.

Additionally, establish clear security policies and procedures to govern data handling, password management, and device usage. Encourage (and require, if feasible) the use of strong, unique passwords plus enable multi-factor authentication wherever possible to enhance account security. For MFA, use authenticator apps like Google Authenticator and Microsoft Authenticator instead of text messages as your phone number could be emulated by hackers, thus giving them access to your second line of defense.

Secure Your Data

Data is one of your most valuable assets, and protecting it is a top priority — if it hasn’t been before now, then hopefully this has inspired you to take a closer look at the risk data security presents for your business. To protect what you have worked so hard to build, you have to implement robust data protection measures to safeguard sensitive information from unauthorized access and data breaches, plus use encryption techniques to secure data during transmission and receipt.

Regularly back up your data to mitigate the impact of potential ransomware attacks or hardware failures (we’ve all had a computer die in the middle of working on something critical that resulted in a huge amount of lost time and effort). Test your backup and recovery procedures periodically. In the event of a data breach, those backups can enable you to restore operations swiftly and minimize downtime.

Consider cyber insurance

We know: there’s insurance for everything. Even cybersecurity. If your company is an insurance brokerage, we tip our hats to you for your brilliance. For the rest of us, though, it’s important to know that your Commercial General Liability probably doesn’t cover cyber incidents (in fact, our policy specifically disclaims it). That’s where Cyber Liability comes in.

As with all insurance, work with your broker to determine how much coverage you need. The added benefit here is that, if your customers use contracts, many (if not most) likely have some sort of cyber liability language and/or insurance coverage requirements in their contracts — this helps you be ahead of the game when it comes time to sign up a new customer and can show them that you understand how to mitigate risk.

Stay Vigilant

Cyber threats are constantly evolving — for the worse, unfortunately — making it imperative for you to stay vigilant and proactive in your approach to your company’s cybersecurity. If you don’t have an employee or vendor to assist, then it’s up to you to stay informed about the latest cybersecurity trends, emerging threats, and best practices through reputable sources like industry publications and organizations.

Finally, establish incident response plans to guide your actions in the event of a security breach. Define roles and responsibilities, establish communication channels, and outline steps for containing the incident, mitigating damages, and restoring normal operations. Consider practicing to ensure your team is well-prepared to handle real-world security incidents effectively — such practices would pair nicely with the cybersecurity awareness training we talked about above.

Not sure where to start? We can help.