Top 5 Things A Business Can Do To Protect Itself

As a reputable business, you want to ensure you’re fully protected. After all, the current onslaught of cyberattacks continues to rise without signs of slowing. It can understandably be confusing as to where to start, however, and protecting yourself requires some time and effort on your part.

While the topic of cybersecurity and protection from cybercriminals can be a vast subject, some foundational practices can bolster your defences quickly and easily. As an IT support company in London, we help businesses like yours bulletproof their business. Armed with years of experience and expertise, we’ve seen and know what works and what doesn’t, and that’s why we’re able to help you protect your business.

In this article, we’re going to cover the top 5 things a business, including yours, can do to protect itself. We’ll delve deep and discuss why it’s important to protect your business, the potential consequences of not and provide some actionable steps you and your business can take today to fortify your defences.

Why it’s important to protect your business.

It might sound like a question with an obvious answer, but do you know the major reasons why it’s extra important for businesses to protect themselves today?

Let’s start right off the bat: cyberattacks on businesses are at an all-time high, and they’re increasing year on year. But what can cyberattacks do to a business? Well, a lot. 

It’s essential to protect your business from external threats because the attacks can cost a lot of money, put your confidential information at risk and, in a worst-case scenario, cause irreparable damage. 

Businesses must do everything they can to protect themselves as attacks become increasingly sophisticated. Their employees, clients and customers deserve to be protected, and every business’s bottom line is, well, on the line. Mitigating and preventing the unauthorised presence and malicious attacks can make all the difference.

What are the consequences of a business not protecting itself?

As we eluded to in the previous section, a business that doesn’t do enough to protect itself puts the entire business, its employees, clients and customers at risk. But in what way does it do this? 

First, a business that isn’t properly protected puts data at risk of being stolen. A malicious actor who takes advantage of a security flaw can break in and steal confidential information. Ransomware attacks, which have been on the rise in recent years, are a common form of sensitive information theft which can hold businesses to ransom for sometimes millions. 

Also in recent years has been the adoption of many western jurisdictions to impose massive penalties on businesses that don’t protect sensitive information. Big players such as Google have already been fined huge amounts of money for not fully safeguarding customer information.

And then there’s the damage done through losses in earnings during an attack and reputation in the long run. Businesses that aren’t fully protected risk downtime from hours to days to weeks during a particularly devastating attack. And the loss of trust through a damaged reputation can be especially devastating in the long run, resulting in loss of custom and profits.

What are the top 5 things a business can do to protect itself?

Thankfully, some of the best things any business can do to bolster its defences and protect itself are easy, inexpensive and can be implemented today.

Here are some of the best practices you can do right now to begin to protect your business.

1. Change passwords regularly and install 2FA (two-factor authentication).

This might seem too simple, but a surprising amount of attacks and hacks occur because of weak passwords that aren’t changed regularly. You and your team would do well to set up a regular password change. Installing 2FA on all your employee’s systems and accounts is also an easy, inexpensive way to help tighten your passwords. This’ll reduce the chances of any malicious actor gaining unauthorised access by a large margin.

2. Update the latest software updates and security patches on networks, systems and devices.

Many businesses feel they’re just too busy to make sure everything’s kept up-to-date. What’s more, many assume updates are installed automatically. But this isn’t always the case.

Ensuring your networks, systems and devices are fully up-to-date is one of the most important, easiest and best things you can do to protect yourself. In many of these updates often come security patches and fixes for security vulnerabilities. These can make all the difference as smart cybercriminals will look to exploit these flaws month by month.

3. Increase your privacy.

Depending on the size of your business, you may have anywhere from one or two people to multiple teams working for you. You probably have social media accounts for your business and use email. Every system, every account, increases the likelihood that some piece of information could be leaked or an account could be compromised. 

You should take small steps to reinstate stronger privacy across the board and therefore heighten your security posture. Go through each account one by one and make sure all the passwords are strong. Check each social media account and ensure no more information than necessary is given out. Ask your employees to drop all email and social media conversations with people and accounts they don’t know. 

4. Hire professionals for cybersecurity staff awareness training.

Following on from the last section, you should know that human error is the most common cause of cybersecurity compromises. A simple email link that looks authentic turns out to be a scam, or someone visits an unrecognised website and downloads something they thought was needed but turns out to be malicious code masked as an application. There are many avenues for accidents to happen.

Consider hiring a professional team of IT experts to help raise awareness of current cyber threats and how to avoid them. It could be the best investment you make.

5. Install a high-quality antimalware security suite.

Many businesses think just having a firewall is enough. Others believe Macs don’t get viruses. Newsflash: a firewall isn’t enough and Mac OS can be infiltrated by malware.

Find a reputable, high-quality antimalware security suite suited for business. You’ll be able to install it on all the computers and devices on your network. This is one of the best things you can do to help prevent attacks. What’s more, good antimalware will alert you to better privacy and network settings so everyone in your business helps to mitigate threats.

Conclusion

Use these top five things a business can do to protect itself. They’re practical steps that are inexpensive and can serve as a strong foundation to fortify your entire business now and in the future.