What can small businesses do to improve their cybersecurity strategy? As a small business owner, you may be asking yourself: How can I prevent cyber threats from attacking my business, and where do I get started? This page is dedicated to the small businesses who want to take their cybersecurity more seriously!
Cybersecurity has been such a hot topic for businesses of all shapes and sizes during 2018. Cyber threats like ransomware are continuing to grow and create more complex and frustrating issues across the intersections of business and technology. As a small business owner, you must determine: Is my business at risk? And what kinds of attacks might we face in the future? Unfortunately, there are no definitive answers or solutions to this question.
The reality is, all businesses should be concerned from the growing trends of cyber crime because it is constantly evolving and expanding as more operations use Information Technology and systems to store their data and information. A large majority of small businesses are currently at risk because they do not have the proper resources and have not invested in cybersecurity products and services to prevent such attacks from occurring. As a result, businesses are having to face the very high costs of recovering from ransomware.
Ways for small businesses to improve their cybersecurity
What can you do as a small business owner to minimize these risks and improve your company’s culture when it comes to cybersecurity? Check out these guidelines from Proven Data!What can you do as a small business owner to minimize these risks and improve your company’s culture when it comes to cybersecurity?
Check out these guidelines from Proven Data!
Follow the news
Cybersecurity is such a significant facet amongst businesses that it’s critical to stay updated and read the news on what’s happening in the world. Each day, there are new developments on what threats are attacking which businesses, and you as a business owner can get a better idea of where to take action and spend your resources. Although you might not be able to follow or understand all of the elements in technology, as a leader of the business you should still be familiar and communicate these points!
It’s recommended that you keep refreshed on all things happening in the cybersecurity industry and use this knowledge to steer your business in the direction that will suit the needs of the organization. We recommend following technology blogs, news websites, and leaders of industry for your particular business model. There are so many great resources out there, you just have to find the time to look and research!
Motivate your employees to get serious about cybersecurity
A popular old proverb reads “a tree is only as strong as its roots” which can be directly applied to your company and it’s preparedness against a digital threat. You can only assume risks will be mitigated at each stage of the business operation, meaning your employees are your biggest asset in threat prevention. They are the group of individuals who will be on the front lines and utilizing the technologies and strategies implemented by the leader of the company. Some of the biggest hazards of cyberthreats can be directly traced to employee behavior online, such as Business Email Compromise.
Your employees must take cyber threats as serious as they would any other malicious activity that hurts your business. If you want to strengthen your digital defense from the foundation of the company, this will be an integral part of your cybersecurity strategy. As the leader of a small business in the digital age, you must invest time motivating employees to become an integral part of your cyber threat defense. You are all on the same team!
Invest in cybersecurity educational resources
According to a study conducted by the Better Business Bureau, the top reasons small businesses don’t approach Cybersecurity properly is because they feel they have insufficient resources and lack of expertise/knowledge in the subject manner [2]. However, there are plenty of great and affordable educational resources you can acquire which will immediately affect the awareness of Cybersecurity for your employees. Employees need to have the training and skill set to protect your businesses’ information and data that is critical to operations and success.
We recommend taking the plentiful and free online webinar classes offered by some of the top industry pioneers. These videos provided by CISCO [3] offer great insight and proven research that you can get started with. Also, do some research and see where the next cybersecurity event or conference is happening in your area. There are lots of great (and usually free!) events held at the local and national levels that help promote awareness and provide resources to small business owners.
Take appropriate cybersecurity action for your small business!
It is becoming increasingly evident that cyber crime is a globally occurring phenomenon and it can definitely seem overwhelming at times. As a small business owner, it can become discouraging and mind-boggling to even get started with these tips and prevent a cyber attack from occurring. Taking action early on and creating a strong foundation in cybersecurity awareness will keep your business safe in the future!
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RESOURCES
[1] https://www.hiscox.com/documents/brokers/cyber-readiness-report.pdf
[3] https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/training-events/events-webinars/webinars.html
