How to Improve Your Cybersecurity

Sharon Boyd has nearly 25 years of experience between both the healthcare and marketing industries. In addition to being an RDH and content writing expert, she also holds a degree in business. Her responsibilities primarily include tackling the communication barriers between small business owners or healthcare providers and their prospective clientele.

How to Improve Your Cybersecurity

We’ve seen a huge shift in corporate America, as more people than ever have started working remotely. As if cybersecurity wasn’t already a major concern for business owners, it is now more than ever. Especially with so many Americans saying they want to continue working from home — at least on a part-time or flex basis.

Here are some important things to keep in mind:

Don’t Assume No-One will Want to Hack You

No business is immune to hackers. For a small business owner to assume that they really aren’t that appealing to cyber theft makes it all that more alluring for someone to do it.

Keep Regular Backups

The last thing you need is for your software and data to get caught up in a ransomware attack where you have to pay thousands of dollars to get any of your information back.

Do a Self-Check

Ask your team to help you identify weak points in your cyber security or business practices, to help spot potential problems before you have a breach in security. Similarly, develop a system of checks and balances between team members, so that no one person is privately managing money, deposits, etc.

Work with a Professional

A cyber security or networking firm can help you to purchase the correct firewalls, set up secure systems, and easily guide you through security processes that you may not have considered. Authentication processes, regular password changes, and malware programs are just a few examples of steps they may recommend. And speaking of passwords, use a different one for each program and team member.

Likewise, consider having a training session set up for your team to discuss how to work more securely, recognizing phishing emails, identifying secure website URLs, and how to utilize secure software or plugins for added safety measures.

Keep Work and Personal Information Separate

If possible, try to differentiate between business and personal computers, so that an employee downloading a file from their personal email account doesn’t accidentally install a virus onto your company’s property. You might even be able to have it where it’s safe to use their personal computers, so long as they’re logged in remotely to their work desktop through a secure server. There are free VPN options available to help make sure their personal connection is still secure, even if they’re connecting on their own network.

Have an IT Team or Advisor on Retainer

If and when your business is hacked, you need to act immediately. Having the right professional on hand will be key. There are plenty of cybersecurity companies available that do not have to be within your specific geographic area. If a hacker is capable of accessing your information from another country, your cybersecurity advisor can be located offsite as well.

The modest time and monetary investment you make in your business’ cyber security needs are no different than protecting your physical property. They’re more than worth the investment when it comes to preventing the leak of your most valuable information.