7 ways to protect your business online
On account of the recent TalkTalk security breach, in which the credit card and other personal details of 4 million customers may have been compromised, more and more businesses are looking at implementing additional protection measures online.
According to research from Juniper, the cost of data breaches could reach $2.1 trillion globally by 2019, which is almost four times the estimate for this year. Therefore, it is in every organisation’s best interests to act sooner rather than later – here are seven ways of protecting a business online.
1. Host your website on a safe and secure platform
For cyber criminals, your website will be the first point of attack. Therefore, your defence against online infiltration should start here with a safe and secure platform. Take 100TB Business Web Hosting for example, which features enterprise grade hardware firewalls, physical and biometric data centre security layers as well as unlimited SSL certificates.
2. Implement a strong password policy
It is a big mistake to use the same password for business-related online accounts such as banking, email and purchasing, as cyber criminals will be able to gain access too easily. So, implement a policy that calls on employees to change their unique passwords regularly (typically 60 to 90 days) and to use different passwords for different online accounts.
3. Secure your IT infrastructure
In addition to antivirus and spyware detection software, you should also invest in a firewall when securing your IT infrastructure. After all, 50 per cent of all cyber attacks involve malware. But even when these safeguards are in place, you must ensure that your operating system and applications are updated to the latest versions, as vendors constantly introduce upgrades to protect against vulnerabilities.
4. Encrypt all of your data and documentation
The last thing you want is for sensitive or confidential customer information to fall into the hands of a cyber criminal. But encryption means that this data and documentation will be converted into unreadable code, which can only be accessed through correct authorisation. It is also crucial that you do not store important information locally unless necessary.
5. Back-up your data using physical and virtual storage solutions
Should the worst-case scenario occur and all of your valuable data is lost or stolen, you will need to have a reliable back up in place. But rather than favouring physical or virtual, consider using both. Physical storage might be expensive to buy, but you will have complete control over where external hard drives are stored. On the other hand, virtual solutions in the cloud provide additional benefits such as automation and encryption.
6. Educate your staff about online security
From telling employees not to click on email hyperlinks to coming up with a foolproof BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) policy, taking the time to educate your workforce about critical security issues is well worth the effort. Training will need to embrace each and every member of staff but also take place on a regular basis to address new security threats.
7. Prepare for every eventuality
Regardless of your organisation’s size or sector, a comprehensive online protection plan needs to be devised. Along with identifying ways to protect data and resources, this should also contain steps on what to do should things go wrong.