Starting a website can only take a few minutes, depending on your platform, software, and your knowledge about website creation. But, to protect your small business from hackers and attacks, you need to take the necessary precautions and understand the basics of security settings.
Even today, with all the information and online resources, to warn small business owners and help them to avoid many mistakes. They still repeat what they should never do again, small business is really fragile.
If you can’t protect your project, you can easily fail the project, and that’s what I don’t wish for you. This post will show you how to protect a small business network and keep it safe from hackers and non-wanted access.
Antivirus and Firewall before everything
The first and the only way to protect your network is by installing strong antivirus, and firewall software. Don’t be confident about your laptops, and keep what comes installed on them as security programs. You are a business owner, and you should have a business version of any antivirus. That’s more powerful, more secure, and it’s programmed especially for multiple connections.
Don’t let websites play with your security and offer you one of their low-quality software. If you do a simple search on Google for “small business antivirus”, you will find many ads, and those are what you really should avoid.
These companies target their ads to searches and terms that attract thousands of searches. Most of these companies who advertise their services are new brands, and can’t really protect your business from hackers. What you should do is use the real natural Google results and no ads. This is not a rule, because many legit and popular companies can appear in the advertisement areas.
Please don’t be amazed by many of the popular companies that are known for security. The best is not the biggest or the one who spends millions on advertisements. So, be careful about what you choose, and never use news software that no one used or reviewed. This software can be used by hackers to access big data on the web.
My recommendation about a powerful and trusted antivirus for business is Bitdefender, I recommend their software because I’ve used it many times for myself, or some small business owners in my area. It works like never before and is better than any other software. Cybersecurity for small businesses should be professional and powerful.
Make everything updated
Every day, thousands of threats and attacks are reported to Microsoft, Apple, Google, Samsung, and all the popular companies in relation to operating systems, or the computer industry. Those companies update their user’s database security with the latest protection and precautions, and neglecting your system update is a big mistake
Hackers are not only people like you imagine. They can be sophisticated programs running on big servers. It’s an industry, and you should understand that if you have 100% protection. That never means zero attacks, you should also expect dangerous problems. Tell your security team how to interact with problems when they happen.
Encrypt all connections
Even if you’ve just installed the best antivirus in the world, your network still has many open doors. Your connections between employees, and the web, or, between your company and its environments, should be secured and locked for unwanted access. If your company has a Wi-Fi connection, you should make it protected by a strong password, and change that password at least once a month.
Your data should be safe all the time. No one from the exterior should access it in any way. You can expect the danger’s sources, but you can’t search for the majority of them. Remember that there are people who use WiFi scanners to find the next fish.
Those with open data will be accessed easily, and all their credit card and customer information can be copied in a matter of seconds, from a mobile phone located in the neighbor’s house.
Just keep things as protected as you can. All your machines should be protected, even those without internet access should be protected.
There are many popular strong companies that can encrypt your network connections. Please never use a personal encryption service. The majority of modern web browsers never recognize them.
A message with an alert will appear on your web pages, and this is what makes your clients want to leave, and never stay surfing your website. The professional encryption service should be paid, it’s the truth, simply, because no one will develop software, and spend a big budget for free.
Separate Internet access
This is a very useful method for companies with a large number of employees who need to access the internet from time to time, during their work or break. The biggest mistake you can make is remove the internet access option just to keep your employees working, without offering them other ways. You will force them to find smart ideas to hack your system and send their urgent emails.
The ideal solution should be an isolated internet access room like many small business owners have. Make that connection separate from the company’s one. This can be done with two different internet providers, and this is the ideal solution. You will get twice the original security level for your business. Make sure to lock your mean servers and keep them separate in their rooms, there are many companies and data centers that can do it for you.
DDOS protection
DDOS (distributed denial-of-service attack) is an easy method to block your server and make it offline, with thousands of requests at the same time. These requests can be generated by a distant server, your network can be fully stopped, and this is what you don’t need.
Also, you can’t expect who will try to attack your successful business and profit from your problems. Yes, there are many people who think that way, and you should protect your server from those attacks.
Invest in your employee knowledge
This is not necessarily a financial investment, it can be good if you have the resources. But, you can also teach your team, or employees in general, how to protect your wireless network and keep the company safe. Teach them how to use their USB the right way with zero risks, even in their homes. The person behind your security system can play a good role in this step.
Prepare security tips and tutorials for your employees. Give them a book about that, if you really care about your small business security and network safety. Ask your team to take a test and win something good if they pass some level. They will be motivated to care about your company, and not just do it, forced.
You can also teach yourself and invite your team to learn great tips from Google Safety Center, it’s a free service for everyone, and you will find helpful information there.
Bonus tip: Simulate attacks (if you can)
This is an optional step, but you will really expect problems and see hidden things that you can’t see unless an attack is there. Ask your security team to make as many scenarios as possible, and simulate them on your computer, or directly in the company on weekends, for example.
Thus, no one will use the system, and you can control everything in real time. Win the security war by stimulating some of the biggest problems like non-controlled servers, DDOS attacks, or whatever. Just make things go for your security and work hard on that.
