Cybercrime is costing businesses worldwide more and more money each year. The low-risk, high-potential nature of cybercrime makes it a popular method for criminals to steal money and valuable data from any and all organisations. It’s worth emphasising the fact that no business is safe, regardless of size, type or location.
There are numerous reasons as to why cybercrime is on the rise. One of the biggest is that many businesses continue to operate without implementing any measures to protect themselves. In reality, it’s not difficult to vastly improve the security of your data. Read on to learn about what you can do to protect your business from cybercrime.
Cybersecurity Services
Your first step should be to consider investing in an all-in-one solution that protects your business from any type of cybercrime. This includes services for phishing and malware, as well as identifying fraud and impersonation attempts. Look out for a company with a specialised team that offers cyber security services for businesses.
Employee Training
Even if you have the most sophisticated cybersecurity technology on the market, all it takes is one untrained employee to use a weak password or make a careless click on a phishing email to experience a serious data breach. This is why it’s important to ensure that your staff is educated and trained in identifying cyberattack attempts.
Teach your staff on securing both their personal and work devices. This includes understanding networks and avoiding those that are unsecured. The same applies to browsing the web and using/sharing passwords. Restricting data access to as little users as possible will help ensure that employees cannot leak information.
Encryption and Backing Up
Cybercrime isn’t only fought on the digital front. It’s important to ensure that your physical devices are also protected and that the data they contain can be rendered useless if it falls into the wrong hands. The latter can be achieved by encrypting your data. Backing it up will ensure that you still have access to it in the event of a breach.
Anti-Malware and Firewall Software
A 2017 study on cybercrime in the UAE found that malware accounted for more than half of all attacks. Ransomware is another prevalent issue that can easily cripple a business or even shut it down for good. This is why it’s important to invest in anti-malware tools that can effectively detect and isolate viruses when they strike.
An optimised firewall is key for making this happen, as it prevents malicious attempts at accessing your network. Another great way to protect your business is to move your software and storage to cloud-based alternatives. These are generally more secure than traditional, on-site solutions and require far less maintenance.
These measures will make a world of a difference in terms of protecting your business against cybercrime. That said, the rapid rate at which new ways to infiltrate businesses proliferate means that no organisation is ever truly safe.
Perhaps it’s worth considering taking out specialised cybersecurity insurance for this reason. In any case, doing what you can to keep your business safe is still a worthwhile endeavour.
