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Cybercriminals become more of a threat to individuals, businesses, organizations, and governments every year, and with more people working remotely than ever before, the complexity of the risks are even greater. This was made even more potentially dangerous as so many businesses had to adapt to remote working at speed, putting their sensitive data at risk.

Should your business fall victim to a cyberattack, you could be vulnerable from a financial, operational and reputational angle. To avoid the potentially devastating impact of a cyberattack, you need to be proactive. Here are some key steps to take in order to protect your business from cyberattacks. 

Get professional advice

Firstly, unless you have extensive knowledge of cybersecurity, your best course of action is to hire an experienced IT support company. Professional IT experts will be able to assess your current IT system and security protocols, will recommend what to do to protect your business, and implement and monitor your security on an ongoing basis. This should include a firewall to act as a protective barrier to reduce how many cyberattacks come through. 

Back up your data 

Your business’ data needs to be protected as if it falls into the wrong hands, it could be used to exploit or steal from your business. It is also possible for a business’ data to be held to ransom, i.e., the thieves will withhold your data and/or prevent your business from operating unless you pay them money. Therefore, it is recommended that you have at least one backup device for your data that is updated on a regular basis. This might include a physical backup system that is stored off the business premises, or cloud storage. 

In addition, your data (and any customer data involved in a transaction) should be encrypted when being stored or sent over the internet. This ensures that should anyone intercept the data, it would be written in illegible code. 

Carry out all updates

Your software programs and operating systems need updating regularly. New versions often include security improvements and fixes for vulnerabilities, and delaying or ignoring update notifications can leave you at risk of a cyberattack.

Have a secure password policy 

It is important that all your staff are setting unique and complex passwords or phrases (including letters, numbers, and special characters) and, ideally, multi-factor authentication. Multi-factor authentication will ask users for two different forms of verification via different devices before allowing them access. 

Train your employees 

Your employees are your key line of defence against many forms of cyberattack, including phishing emails and socially engineered attacks. They may be targeted by criminals posing as someone else, or by a legitimate customer trying to extract key information such as passwords from them. Employees should also be trained in the proper ways to store and share data, how to recognize an insecure website, and what to do if they suspect a scam. 

Take out cyber insurance

Unfortunately, even the most secure business can fall victim to a creative and persistent cyberattack. To give your business a level of financial protection against any losses that might arise from a breach, consider taking out cyber insurance. This will provide financial security for your own losses and for any legal claims from customers or others who have suffered because of an attack on your business.