Cybersecurity is an ever-increasing concern for businesses. In 2018, there were 10.52 billion malware attacks globally. With statistics like these, it’s clear that it’s not a matter of if your business will be attacked, but rather when it will be attacked.
With that in mind, we’ll go over five upgrades that you can make to improve your business’s cybersecurity.
Email Scanning Software
You use a top-notch anti-virus program. That’s great. Now bolster your security even more by using a cloud-based email scanning software.
Why is This Upgrade Important?
For starters, this specialized software is able to detect patterns in emails that could indicate that they’re malicious. The software will quarantine items that are suspect. Using cloud-based software means that these items never get as far as your servers.
Someone can go in and check the quarantined emails to ensure that nothing legitimate was flagged.
Secondly, it’s good security and productivity tool. It’s great for security because it highlights emails that seem suspicious, preventing employees from clicking on them. It’ll help your organization improve productivity because it flags spam messages.
Upgrading Your Router’s and Wi-Fi’s Security
Many businesses focus on protecting the computers that they use. They don’t realize that the routers that they use are also vulnerable. Here are three ways to improve your router’s and Wi-Fi’s security.
- Start by changing the name of the router and setting a strong password. Change the name so that there’s no indication of the make or model of the router. If you don’t, a cybercriminal could use that information to find common exploits. Change the password to a strong one so that no one at your service provider knows what it is.
- Upgrade to WPA2 or a similar encryption protocol to secure the signal.
- Do you share the Wi-Fi password with clients or third-party contractors? Set up a guest network for third party users. Ensure that it’s not connected to any other devices on the network.
Check the IoT Devices that You Use
Do you use IoT devices like security cameras, printers, and so on? Those devices tend to have lower levels of security. A hacker might hack internal security cameras to spy on the business. They could upload malware to the camera so that it spreads to your network.
To improve your security, you can create a separate username for them on your Wi-Fi network as well. Then link in only those computers that need direct access. Also, check the settings for each device and set them to the highest security level that’s practical for you.
Finally, disable any non-essential features and make sure that the software is updated regularly. That way, if there are any newly released security patches, you won’t miss them.
Make Sure All of Your Software is Up to Date
Is your security software set to automatically update daily? If you’ve read any sort of article on cybersecurity recently, it probably is.
Now, what about all the other software that you use? What about those pesky Windows updates? When last did you make sure that Adobe Acrobat Reader was up to date?
Updating all your office software regularly helps bolster your cybersecurity defences. Most of us think that we’re most at risk through emails and the internet. The truth is that there are many ways to infect your system. By keeping all your software up to date, you won’t miss any essential security patches.
Enable Multi-Factor Authentication
There are ways to get around some multi-factor authentication systems. Your most secure form of this protection is to use a specialized piece of hardware that generates a random code to use in conjunction with your password.
You do get apps like Google Authenticator that perform the same function. The downside, though, is that a hacker could perform a sim swap on your mobile phone. If they do so, they’ll be able to access be able to override the multi-factor authentication (MFA).
For that reason, it’s important to pair your MFA with strong passwords.
Be Wary of Public Networks
If your staff use their own devices, or if you’re a business-person that travels a lot, avoiding a public network isn’t always easy. It’s safer to do so, though because these are usually less secure than private networks. Hackers often use public networks as a way to plant malware on other user’s computers.
If there’s no other choice, sign up with a reputable VPN provider. This provides some protection on a public network.
Final Notes
If you want to beat cybercriminals, basic security measures won’t take you far. With these upgrades, though, you’ll be one step ahead of the curve.
