You might think, because you don’t have a huge budget for cybersecurity, that you shouldn’t even look into it. However, there are many companies that offer sliding services that can be adjusted right to your business needs and budget. The fact is that cybersecurity is one of the most important factors in a business. It can cost your firm thousands of dollars to fix the issues caused by even an inexperienced hacker’s attempt to steal information. So how do you protect against such attacks without spending tons of money to protect yourself? Follow these easy tips presented by Rick Doten, vice president of cybersecurity at DMI.
Make More Secure Passwords
This is an incredibly cheap and easy way to save your firm tons of hassle. Creating complicated passwords can discourage hackers because of the time it takes to decrypt them. "I've spent 10 years running ethical hacking groups, and most of the ways we got in [to networks] was because of weak passwords," Doten says. A weak password can make an easy target out of any firm.
A good password won’t be simple, and it’ll even be hard for you to remember. A combination of letters, numbers, and special characters can make a password hard to guess. "The longer the better," Doten says when asked about ideal passwords. "Mnemonics help, too. Take the first letter of each word in a sentence such as, 'Don't forget to feed your dog.' 15 characters, with mixed upper case, lower case and numerical symbols will be much harder for a would-be hacker to crack."
Have a Good Basic Defense against Viruses and Malware
Symantec, a large security software manufacturer, found that even though the number of malicious attacks grew in 2011, the number of vulnerabilities fell by over 20%. Though there isn’t a lot a company can do about the number of attacks they receive, the sharp fall in vulnerabilities is mostly thanks to basic virus protection installations. Small businesses need a strong program that protects from both malware and viruses. The program should also teach safety while browsing websites, and should have the new reputation-based technology in use.
Educate Your Employees
Take a few hours and have a discussion with your employees about basic safety when it comes to browsing the internet. For example, employees should know that accessing vital information on their personal smartphones can be detrimental if that phone were to be lost. "Small businesses can implement [device management] much easier than larger firms," Denton says. "Understand that people make mistakes, but people can do risky things that can cause an impact on the business."
Simply letting your employees know that watching their actions is important can mean the difference between a data breach and the prevention of one.
