No matter what kind of business you own, the niche and other factors, cybersecurity needs immediate attention. Unfortunately, no business is immune to hackers, and considering available data, almost every other industry has faced cyberattack blows. Businesses need to be a step ahead of these cybercriminals, for which every single step, including security ban and use of firewalls, matters. In this simple post, we are sharing a few cybersecurity guidelines that every business must follow. 

  1. Focus on password protection. Recommend a password manager to your employees, and make sure that all default passwords are changed immediately for every networked device. Strong passwords are a must – At least 12 characters, special characters, uppercase and lowercase letters, and numbers must be used. Ask employees not to use any personal or business information in passwords. 
  2. Protect your devices. From computers and laptops, to IP cameras, all networked devices must be placed behind firewalls. If your company doesn’t have an antimalware suite as yet, consider that right away and ensure that you do recommend VPNs to employees, when they are working from home. Having a clear set of guidelines for using personal devices is also necessary. 
  3. Take backups. You never really know when a hacker strikes, and the last thing you would want is to lose all your data. Make sure that backups are scheduled on a regular basis, and you make the most of options like network segmentation. Network segmentation basically creates subnetworks, and resources are divided. Even if there is a breach on one subnetwork, it will not affect others. 
  4. Figure out ways to avoid phishing attacks. Most small businesses have suffered considerably because of phishing attacks, and these are not hard to find, detect and report. Employees may need training on basic aspects of cybersecurity, such as safe browsing, reporting an incident and how to handle suspicious emails, attachments and links. Malware attacks also need attention, especially ransomware and trojans. 
  5. Seek help on cybersecurity. Just because cybersecurity matters, it doesn’t mean you need an in-house team right away. Ensure that you hire experts and get their opinion on cybersecurity, where necessary. Many companies are also relying on the security community and have bug bounty programs, so that the work of ethical hackers can be used to find and fix security issues and vulnerabilities. 

While cybersecurity may not mean the same for every industry, the principles are quite similar. Take a proactive and preventive approach.