How to Protect Your Small Business Against Cybercrime
Cybercrime is, unsurprisingly, on the rise and it’s small businesses – who don’t have the same highly sophisticated systems in place to prevent fraud like larger firms – who are the most vulnerable and easy targets for cyber criminals.
A report released by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) in 2016, showed that 41pc of its members have been a victim of cybercrime. Putting the average cost at around £3,000 per business in the last 12 months.
Of the same members, almost 20pc have also not taken steps to protect themselves from cybercrime in the future. However, 36pc do install security patches to protect themselves from fraud.
So with that being said, how do you protect yourself against the fraudsters? Here are our top tips for businesses who wish to stay safe online:
- Security protection solutions – implement a combination of anti-virus, anti-spam, and firewalls
- Regular security updates – carry out regular security updates to make sure the programs are working to their full potential
- Resilient password – change passwords regularly, use a secure password generator and of course store all passwords in a safe place
- Secure wireless network – enable the highest possible level of encryption to secure all traffic on your wireless connection and make sure guest networks are monitored and secured where appropriate
- Safe online procedures – create and implement clear and safe procedures everyone use when emailing or using the internet
- Train staff – offer good security training practises and consider employee background checks
- Backups – implement and test backup plans, information disposal and disaster recovery procedures in the case of a breach
- Regular testing on website – carry out regular testing on the business website
- Check credentials – when using cloud services or other providers check contracts/terms and credentials, and;
- Avoid scams – sign up to sites like Action Fraud and Get Safe Online – they are good source for the latest online scams in circulation