Cyber security is an ever important piece to protecting your company and its clients’ data from being compromised. These tips will help prevent data breaches.
1,300 complaints per day. That’s the number of hacking complaints recorded per day by the FBI in 2019. If you think you aren’t at risk of a cybercrime, you’re going to put you and your business at risk.
You always have to be wary of a data breach when you run your business online. Below are seven network security tips that will help keep your data safe.
- Enforce Strong Password Policies
The most effective way of protecting your data is sometimes the most simple. If you want to maximize the security of your online accounts, strong passwords are essential to the process.
Many hackers try to crack passwords by learning private information about company employees. If they use things like birthdays, names, and other information to make memorable passwords, it makes passwords easier to guess.
Your passwords should contain at least one uppercase letter, one lowercase letter, unique character, and number. If possible, encourage your team to make passwords random and not to use personal information.
If you don’t want to burden your employees with remembering complex passwords, buy a password manager for your company. This software will generate and store all your passwords for you. Nobody will need to remember their passwords to log into their accounts.
- Implement Multi-Factor Authentication
Having strong passwords is only the first step in securing your accounts. Even if an attacker can’t guess your passwords, there are still other ways to access your accounts. If you don’t have added security in place, you’ll fall victim to these attacks.
Multi-factor authentication is the process of adding secondary authentication to your accounts. Instead of logging in after you use your password, a code is sent to one of your devices. You can get this code by text message, email, or an authentication application.
If an attacker doesn’t have access to the device your code is sent to, it doesn’t matter if they have your password. They’ll be locked out of your account without your authentication code.
- Secure Remote Workers
Remote work isn’t a trend that you can ignore anymore. Businesses everywhere are beginning to allow more of their employees to work from home. If you don’t provide this benefit to your team, you run the risk of losing them to companies that do.
Unfortunately, this also creates a new cybersecurity risk for your company. You don’t only have to worry about your company network in this case. You have to ensure your employees have a secure home connection.
You can provide this security by requiring your team to use a VPN when working from home. You can set one up in-house, or use a third-party provider.
When connected to a VPN, all internet traffic is encrypted. Even if a hacker is monitoring the network traffic of your employees, they won’t be able to see the encrypted network traffic.
- Create a Mobile Device Policy
Company computers aren’t the only thing you need to worry about on your network. Your employees and guests are going to bring their own devices to the office. They’re going to want to connect these devices to your WiFi network.
The problem is that you don’t have control over these devices. If people aren’t securing them, they can introduce malware to your company computers.
A mobile device policy will inform people about the requirements to connect to your network. Make sure that people keep their devices updated and don’t have shady software installed.
It’s also smart to create separate WiFi networks for these devices. Make sure that external devices don’t have access to the same network as the devices that store sensitive information about your company.
- Minimize File Access
If you have a file server for all your employees to access files for your company, you’re doing things the wrong way. While it is convenient to provide access for everyone, it also means that one breach can compromise your entire business.
Make sure that you only provide file access only to the people who need it. You can do this by using server software or cloud hosting. Once your system is set up, you can assign access to folders and files as needed.
Doing this means that your exposure is limited when a hacker compromises an employee. They can only see the data that one employee has access to.
- Give Your Team Training
It doesn’t matter if you have top-notch network security if people in your company don’t know how to use it. Unfortunately, this is more common than you think.
Your employees will download malicious files and give away sensitive information to phishers if you aren’t careful. You need to put together a training program to teach your team how to avoid these problems.
You don’t have to hire an expensive coach to train people for you. There are several training programs available online that you can use. Require that every person you hire goes through this training before going online.
- Get an Expert Audit
Even if you spend a lot of time securing your company network, there’s no guarantee that you took care of every vulnerability. Even one small hole in your security can lead to a breach that impacts your customer data.
You can call for help to make sure that your security is up to code. Get in touch with a cybersecurity company to run a full audit for your company. Your security company will test your network to find and fix any problems they discover.
While a security audit can be expensive, it can also help reduce your costs. If you have cyber liability insurance, your provider can cut you a break if you have a professional vouch for your network security.
Don’t Underestimate Your Vulnerability to a Data Breach
Online security isn’t something you can overlook in business today. There are more chances than ever for you to become a victim of a cyberattack. Use the tips above to stop a data breach from happening to your company.
Of course, knowing what tech to use for your business is essential if you want to set things up correctly. Read more of our blog to discover the tech you need to know.