For those of us who have started a new business, unless it is in tech or cyber-security, you would be forgiven for having more things on your mind than potential internet hackings. There is plenty to do when ‘setting up shop’, but it is important not to fall behind on the very things that can keep your hard work safe. This is where cyber-security comes in.
If you are new to the whole concept of cyber-security, let this piece serve as a guide to help you get the basics in place and protect yourself from any attacks or repercussions of attacks.
Create Back Ups
While creating backups will not prevent a cyber-attack from happening, it will help you mitigate the consequences in terms of losing all of your data. This could be anything from customer files to software, to images and losing them permanently could have devastating effects on your business. If you have been hacked and believe the data has been breached, this is another issue, but the backups will mean you have a copy of everything for yourself to get up and running again as fast as possible.
Create Strong Passwords
It is important that we all recognize that ‘Password123’ was never a suitable choice for a safe password, but as time goes on and technology advances, so does the ability to breach passwords like never before. Because of this, it is vital that we up our game with making our passwords as secure as possible. Either use a mixture of capital letters, numbers, and symbols or use a program that can generate a secure password for you, which is a much better option than using your mom’s birthday.
Protect Against Malware
Unfortunately, because of the amount of available malware, there is no one size fits all. This means you need to be on the ball for any potential threats. An anti-virus will help prevent viruses from infecting your files and spreading like wildfire. In contrast, a company such as Veracode can help you spot a SQL injection infection coming from a mile away, ready to interact with your database as an imposter. Be sure to do your research into these different computer threats and get all bases covered to prevent any potential cyber destruction.
Be Vigilant of Phishing Attacks
Phishing attacks are everywhere. You are also extremely likely to experience several attempts a day to your personal email and phone number, too, depending on how many times you might have entered a competition, signed up for something, or willingly given any of your details away. Some of them are exceptionally clever and can look legitimate, so always check the little things.
Spelling mistakes, the actual email address that the email has been sent from, and other finer details can all be big indicators that something is not genuine. Do not open any links that you are not certain to have come from someone you trust with a trusted email address, and make sure to have a malware scanner that can scan attachments to make sure they are safe before they are downloaded onto your computer.
