This is the fourth segment of a four part series devoted to helping small businesses understand cybersecurity and some of the steps that they can take to protect themselves. Small businesses are more susceptible to cybercrime simply due to the nature of the beast. Owners are embedded in the operations and success of the business and typically don’t have the additional staff to monitor and control potential breaches. It is this very reason that cybercriminals want to focus their devious activities and by knowing the methods and what to look out for, you can participate in your own security protection.
The 2016 PwC Global Economic Crime Survey indicated that the second most reported economic crime in South Africa is cybercrime. In the last two years, thirty two percent of local companies reported some form of online security breach. Astoundingly, sixty one percent of the CEO’s that participated in the survey stated they had concerns about this form of crime but only thirty seven percent of the businesses had any form of response program. It is clear that most companies are not prepared for an attack and could suffer losses in both reputation and finances.
Multi-factor Authentication
Most cybercriminals have made a profession out of cracking the standard log-ins and passwords. They not only have software programs that will continue to make attempts, but study businesses to get personal information that may be associated with the login/password success. This means that you first layer of protection should be login/passwords that involve alpha/numeric/special characters.
Your second layer is a multi-factor authentication process. It is a more sophisticated aspect that requires additional identification as proof. Each authentication can be unique per user, so if a password is compromised, the additional level will protect your customer and business data.
Multiple Cloud Backups
The cost for cloud backup has been reduced so that it is incredibly affordable. Professionals in the industry are now recommending that you not only have one cloud backup, but establish a separate date/time for a secondary backup on a different cloud server. This will be of benefit if your system is compromised and the first backup is infected. You will have a secondary source to retrieve and restore.
Smart Business Data Storage
It’s easy to make use of your computer or network to simply keep all of your information, however, both your company and customer data is valuable and that is the core of what cybercriminals are seeking. Ensure that the most important information is stored in files that are not accessible by current (or former) employees as well as maintain them in more secure locations and monitor their status.
Security Software Attention
While it goes without saying that you should have a high level security software on all of your systems, there are many that forget about getting updates. You should have the patch/update process set to automatic so that you have the most recent copies. Cybercriminals are specialists in knowing that small businesses are often too busy to maintain security and will seek out levels that are not designed to include the recent Trojans.
In today’s technology-driven world, security is considered to be part of doing business and should be viewed as an integral level to assure that your reputation is maintained and that you don’t experience financial losses due to system breaches.
Da Vinci Forensics brings a wealth of information for the small business owner to maintain the integrity of their data. We work diligently to offer guidance and risk assessment, as well as assuring that your business has the most up-to-date requirements to help in your company and customer data protection. Our team is trained to know and understand small businesses and the unique requirements that you have and create a strategy that maintains the security that you need.
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