Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

Tech

6 Ways that Businesses Can Improve their Cybersecurity Measures

Regardless of the size of an organization, seasoned and start-up businesses can be subjected to a range of problems throughout their lifespan. Companies need to implement relevant security measures or protocols to protect their staff body, customers, reputation, and other assets from events that business owners can attempt to prepare for and ones they cannot.

One of the most prevalent security risks for businesses of any size is virtual in nature and carried out by cybercriminals or hackers. Especially for smaller enterprises, cybercrime is rapidly growing in both frequency and severity as cybercriminals develop newer and improved ways of scamming sensitive information out of unexpecting businesses.

Last year 47% of small businesses experienced a cyber-attack, with 44% of that number experiencing more than one. Considering this statistic, it’s even more evident that companies need to be more knowledgeable about the threats of cybersecurity, safe online practices, and cybercrime prevention.  Nowadays, there are various options for businesses looking to improve their cybersecurity measures, from limiting access to strong passwords, encryption, and relevant software.

Implementing more robust cybersecurity measures shouldn’t be challenging; here are some of our suggestions for improving the cybersecurity measures at your business to minimize the chance of cyber-attacks and the dangers associated with them.

Automate Application Security Testing

Suppose your business operates within the development sector. In that case, you’ll primarily understand the amount of stress put upon developers and cybersecurity professionals to stay one step ahead of cybercriminals and implement or create newer, improved security measures.

To perform to this standard, fundamentals need to be put into place so that this level of security can be maintained effectively and securely. Application security is one fundamental that needs to be addressed. Failure to address these issues early on can lead to vulnerabilities and insecure codes, creating more significant problems such as data breaches if left untreated.

Therefore, to maintain this dynamic and make improvements to your cybersecurity, your business may want to consider automating its application security testing to make the process more streamlined and secure. Many security tests can be automated, from static application security testing to fuzz testing to promise faster bug fixes and upgrades.

For more insight, consider contacting companies such as ForAllSecure and speak to a member of their team to see how their services could benefit your business’s cybersecurity. Peruse their website or follow their blog today for more topics relating to static application security testing and much more.

Perform Computer Updates Regularly

Another way that businesses can hope to bolster their existing cybersecurity measures is by installing and keeping the latest software up to date. Performing regular computer updates helps minimize the risk of cybercriminals accessing your sensitive information, as running older versions of programs can make your company more susceptible to scammers.

Cybercriminals can use updated, old versions of programs against your business as a means of exploitation by gaining access to your company’s network to steal data or cause damage. Prevent cybercriminals from gaining entry by striving to install any updates as soon as they become available and double-checking that it has been applied on all devices.

Not to mention, ensuring that all your company laptops, tablets, desktops, and mobile phones are kept up to date ensures that your business receives the most up-to-date security protection against any threats, which further protects your firm against cybercriminals.

Limit Access

Surprisingly, 95% of cyber-attacks occur due to human error without any outside interference. One of the ways that your business can prevent this from happening is by limiting access to sensitive business information. Apart from a few selected employees, no one outside the company should access your computer or accounts, and even the amount of people who have access in-house should be limited.

To minimize the chance of data breaches, strive only to give employees the information necessary to do their role. This may appear evident, but the more access your business grants employees, the more vulnerable your business is to an attack.

Offer Training For Employees

One of the best ways to increase the cybersecurity measures at your business is by providing staff with relevant training on the importance of safe online practices to minimize cybersecurity risks. Since cybercriminals will likely target your staff body as a means of gaining access to or damaging company data using malware or phishing.

Providing your staff with relevant cybersecurity training will help them identify these scams, how to deal with them, and encourage them to ask for help if they’re unsure whether it’s legitimate or not. Ensuring that staff understands how to recognize a phony email or a counterfeit phone call will give your team and management more confidence that company information will be protected and that an active effort is being made to prevent internal security breaches.

Use Strong Passwords And Don’t Write Them Down  

Another way for your business to improve cybersecurity measures is by using strong passwords and refraining from writing them down. When you sign-up for any internet-based platform nowadays, you’ll notice that passwords must be in a specific format to be used. Typically consisting of uppercase letters, lowercase numbers, numbers, and special characters, with a gauge to determine how strong your password is.

Many users see this as a nuisance, but there is a valid reason for this. Having too short, easily guessable passwords or ones that contain readily known company information can make you more susceptible to a cyber-attack. Therefore, ensure that you create long passwords with varying characters throughout, so cybercriminals have a more challenging time gaining access.

You can even use password generators on the internet to generate a random, different password each time you use it. Or, if you find that you’re the type of person who has difficulty committing passwords to memory, you could utilize free-to-use websites or password managers to remember your passwords so that you don’t have to.

Use A Secure Internet Connection

One of the easiest ways for cybercriminals to cause damage or steal data is through your internet connection. Ensure that your business is protected by installing two domains when you first set up, one for the public to use and the other for staff members only.

Try and keep the private domain as protected as possible by encouraging staff members only to use the internet connection made for employees, even while using their personal devices such as mobile phones, laptops, etc.

Written By

Thanks for reading this article. If you're new here, why don't you subscribe for regular updates via RSS feed or via email. You can also subscribe by following @techsling on Twitter or becoming our fan on Facebook. Thanks for visiting!

Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

You May Also Like

Tech

Cybercrime is a serious and growing threat in 2024. Ever since the pandemic, cyber-attacks have been on the rise, and criminals have been using...

Web

In today’s data-driven world, the potential benefits of artificial intelligence (AI) are vast and varied. However, as AI becomes more prevalent, so does the...

Blogging

Telework has been a popular trend in business for a while. However, it has seen unprecedented growth since the Coronavirus crisis.

Featured

Companies do a lot to grow their businesses. Preventing cyberattacks and data theft is one of those things. Irrespective of the size of a...