Small and medium businesses face many challenges during their day-to-day operations, and cybersecurity is often a unique task for a business that requires a totally different skill set than what keeps the business running. However, keeping your network secure and your information safe is absolutely pivotal to keeping your doors open because a single cyberattack can cause enough damage to shut down business operations. To help demystify some cybersecurity basics, here are three steps you can take to better secure your business and lower the risk of a data breach.
Monitoring the Security of Your Network
The first step you can take to better secure your business is to be aware of what’s going on within your network. Your firewall and other security tools should offer regular reports on the kind of traffic moving through your IT environment, and you or someone working for your business should understand what those reports mean. Sometimes waiting for a critical alert can be too late, and some irregular activity could have been caught early. Also, to ensure your security features work properly and can report accurate information, always allow for regular updates to tools such as your firewall and endpoint protection.
Staying Updated and Informed
When you have an idea of the information moving through your business’ network, it will then be even more helpful to stay informed on the new kinds of threats found by security experts. Signing up for a security report or newsletter that can keep you informed on the new threats businesses in your sector face will help you prepare for those attacks and know how to implement preventative measures. The employees at your company should also be aware of security threats and trained in key areas such as phishing awareness. When both you and your staff are aware of cybersecurity news on even a quarterly basis, then everyone will be more prepared to prevent cyberattacks.
Implementing Targeted Cybersecurity Solutions
To stay on top of cybersecurity for your business, you need the right tools while staying in budget. Perhaps you just have an antivirus software and not a robust endpoint protection service, which means it takes your IT specialist longer to respond to threats. Every security feature in your IT environment should protect your network while also providing tools that reduce the time it takes to respond to irregular activity and provide clear information about what is going on in your network. Good solutions for your needs can be affordable and having the right tools for security could even save your business money in the long run.
Summary
Cybersecurity should always be a high priority for a business, but gaining the knowledge and tools you need can be difficult. A good way to start improving security is to know what’s going on in your network and making everyone aware of what threats could be on the horizon. Once you know what hackers may do, you can have an idea of the tools you need to save time while improving security. However, the best way to secure your business is to not go it alone; our team of security experts at Robinett Consulting want to help you learn what you need to operate safely and provide you the exact tools you need for a price within your budget.