Has your business been neglecting its cybersecurity policies? If so, it’s time to start thinking about this critical, yet oft-neglected, best practice. After all, your business could already be under attack from cyber espionage without even knowing it.
Most of the time, business leaders neglect enforcing cybersecurity strategies because they don’t want to spend extra money or time. But keeping your business secure doesn’t have to be so challenging. Here are five easy and affordable tips that you can use to keep your organization safe from hackers and malware:
- Encrypt everything that moves: Think about the sheer volume of sensitive data that your business sends and receives on a daily basis. Even if your network is protected, chances are likely that a vast majority of networks you interact with over the open Web are not. Fortunately, many Web conferencing and email platforms come with free data encryption services so that you can ensure your company’s information will be rendered useless if it falls into the wrong hands.
- Put trust in the cloud: Keeping a network up-to-date with the latest security patches and updates is an around-the-clock job. It’s also expensive, too. Rather than taxing your already maxed-out IT team, or further straining your budget, invest in the services of a secure, offsite cloud provider to manage your data on a daily basis.
- Invest in strong authentication: This is particularly important if you employ telecommuters, who will be likely to log in to unsecure networks in locations like coffee shops and libraries. If your workforce is largely mobile, look into identity verification solutions—like biometrics—to ensure that your end users are in fact who they claim to be when accessing sensitive information.
- Watch your mobile endpoints: Make sure your employees are current with the latest information about mobile security. Right now, for instance, there is a new Heartbleed-style bug to worry about in circulation called “Stagefright.” It basically lets hackers send a targeted message via SMS, which allows easy backdoor entry into a phone’s operating system.
- Beware of rogue employees: Sometimes, the biggest cyber threats can come from within your own organization. To combat this, set up strong access controls so that you can protect against disgruntled employees, or former ones, who may be looking to inflict harm on your company or steal information for personal gain.
