Cybercrime has been a major issue affecting businesses of all sizes and in all industries in recent years, but business owners need to make cybersecurity a priority in 2021 due to a spike in digital attacks said to be linked to the coronavirus pandemic. With many businesses now operating remotely, data security has become a major concern along with an increase in phishing attacks looking to exploit the current situation and take advantage of people during a stressful and confusing time. With this in mind, business owners need to be aware of a few cybersecurity tips which will hopefully allow them to stay safe and protect important data. For example, companies need to utilise dark web scanning solutions to automatically scrape the dark web and assess if any key data have been compromised and leaked on the dark web where it can then potentially get sold.
1. Use Employee Cybersecurity Training
First, you should educate your team on cybersecurity and how they can carry out their role safely (especially if working remotely). Having protection in place is obviously important, but the majority of successful cybersecurity attacks come down to staff negligence so you need to make sure that your team are well trained, that they know the latest scams and that the importance of cybersecurity is at the forefront of their mind.
Employing dark web monitoring tools can be an advantage in scrutinizing the dark web.
2. Use Complex Passwords and 2FA
It is an obvious tip, but one that needs to be listed as so many people continue to use passwords which are easy to predict and lead to cybersecurity attacks. Passwords should be random, complex and changed on a regular basis and a passwords manager can be used to keep track of all of these. Additionally, 2FA should be used to add another layer of protection and this can make a huge difference to data security.
3. Create External Backups
Another obvious tip but one which is so important and often ignored is creating regular external backups. This way, if data becomes lost, stolen or corrupted then you can minimise downtime and keep the business running. Ransomware has risen to become one of the most common types of attack and you need to have a contingency plan in place in the form of backups if an attack is ever successful.
4. Use a Cloud Access Security Broker
Using a Cloud Access Security Broker such as Proofpoint is intelligent, especially for businesses that are operating remotely, and help can be found here. A CASB can address security gaps with third-party cloud services which you do not have control over but still store your data, ensuring that your workloads, users and data are always protected while using the cloud and working remotely. Compromised cloud accounts can lead to all kinds of cybersecurity issues and even loss of intellectual property, but with a CASB this will not be an issue and you can work with confidence each day.
5. Keep Software Updated
It is easy to put off updating software, especially if you are working and do not want to be interrupted, but this can lead to security issues. This is why you should have automatic updates turned on as these updates often contain new cybersecurity upgrades which will protect you against the latest threats.
Cybersecurity must be a priority for businesses in 2021 and these tips should help you to stay safe.
