If any part of your business functions on the Internet, chances are you’re already employing some type of online security measures. And if you’re like most businesses running today, a lot more than part of your business relies on cybersecurity. From customer records to project management and financial statements, the health and trust of your business depends on your ability to keep information confidential and secure while being stored online. However, this seemingly simple task is becoming increasingly difficult as the Internet ages.
With the ever-present threat of security breaches and stolen information looming over each and every business, it’s important to know how you can increase your business’s online security without having to drive yourself crazy over it. To start you on the path to online safety, here are three tips for improving your company’s online security.
Look Into Cyber-Insurance
While other types of insurance protect your company against theft or accident on a physical basis, cyber-insurance protects your business against attacks that can come at your information and property stored online. Nicole Fallon of Business News Daily reports that cyber-insurance can be especially beneficial for small businesses that house a lot of customer information online, like names, addresses and credit card information. While this option isn’t for every business out there, it is available to companies who’d like an extra layer of protection in case something does go wrong with their online security.
Protect Your Social Accounts Just As Much As Others
Many businesses understand that their basic infrastructures need to be protected from outside forces, but just as many overlook the necessity of protecting access to social accounts that are related to your business. While getting a social account hacked threatens the security of your online business, it can also wreak havoc on your brand and public image if inappropriate things are shared on your social channels via your business name.
To combat against this, Cisco recommends for businesses to take certain precautions when securing social accounts, especially Facebook. Some of these precautionary measures include enforcing your company’s usage and privacy policies on your page, using your account administrators to monitor posts, employing Internet firewalls, and changing your passwords regularly.
Maintain A Vigilant Staff
One of the best ways you can ensure the safety of your online business information is to train your staff in the appropriate ways to secure their information. By letting your staff know how and why they should be protecting sensitive information, you can worry less about them being a vulnerability.
According to Brian Honigman, a contributor to Entrepreneur.com, you can train your employees to be knowledgeable and vigilant against cyber attacks by helping them manage their email security, enforcing rules about using strong passwords for programs associated with company information, provide warning signs for potential threats, and using all malware, spyware and firewall software you have available. These simple tasks will help your employees feel more confident about keeping unwanted intruders out and the secure information in.
Online security is one of the most important aspects of your business that you can focus on in today’s society. A security breach can cost your company thousand and thousands of dollars and an untold amount of customer trust and loyalty. To protect your company and your customers from cyber attacks, use the tips mentioned above to increase your online security today.
Originally posted on September 15, 2015 @ 5:55 am