Stay Safe Online: A Guide for Businesses

Keeping your business secure is one of those priorities that can even feel like a waste – right up until someone steals your data or holds your business hostage. It isn’t just outside threats, either. In fact, the biggest risk your business has is your own employees. Sometimes it might be malicious, other times it could be an honest accident that costs you everything. You need to improve digitally, which today means you need to follow this guide to improve your online safety: 

Keep All of Your Programs Updated 

The easiest weakness to exploit is an old, unused program. There is a reason why there are so many regular updates. Hackers will have a crack at getting through security protocols, and eventually they get through. The secret to keeping them out is to update the security system in each program or OS and change the game on them. If you don’t update, hackers could develop and use a backdoor key so to speak against you. 

Set Up All the Advanced Security Settings 

It is your mistake if you don’t take advantage of all of the security settings. This applies for programs, operating systems, and of course online tools. From encryption all the way to user restrictions. Update all of them and know where the weaknesses are so that you can work to further secure yourself. For example, an online tool can allow you to restrict user access to only what they need, but you will also want to encrypt your connection to further protect that online access. 

Use the Right Secure Programs 

When it comes to sensitive data you need to use programs that are encrypted and cover every single one of your corners. A merger or deal for example cannot be treated the same as any other piece of data. You need to be able to assign roles, add watermarks to prevent people from spreading sensitive documents, and even be able to customize an NDA to suit your individual needs. 

A virtual deal room is a powerful tool to protect yourself through tech and with legal protections. Combined approaches like these when it comes to the most sensitive parts of your data are a must, otherwise you open yourself up to attack, leaks, or even downright copyright theft. 

Train Your Employees 

Your employees are always going to be one of the biggest weaknesses you have in terms of digital security. It’s not their fault, either. If they accidentally download a virus at home, connecting that device to your network could upload the virus in your office. By training your employees to recognize and spot these threats at home you can better protect your business.

Use Unique Passwords  

Use an encrypted password manager if necessary, but try to drill home to every single one of your staff that they need to use unique passwords for everything. At the very least, make it mandatory to use long, complex, and unique passwords for their accounts associated with your business. This way, if one password is stolen, the thief cannot access other areas of your life and the damage will be isolated.