Cybersecurity has never been more important in the business world. Not only are the number of threats continuing to grow at an alarming rate, but they are also becoming more sophisticated and harder to monitor.
Furthermore, cybercriminals do not only target large organizations in the hope of collecting large sums. Businesses large and small have been victims of cyberattacks. These attacks are not necessarily limited to the loss of money and data. A business could see its reputation crumble, leading to a significant drop in customers and sales.
The good news is that a business doesn’t have to be content with being attacked by a cybercriminal. They can take a proactive approach and step up their cybersecurity efforts, stopping attacks in their tracks.
If you think your defenses aren’t up to snuff, this guide will help. Here are five ways to improve your company’s cybersecurity measures.
1. Discover the different attack methods
As we mentioned in the introduction, cybercriminals continue to expand and develop their attack methods. If you haven’t paid attention to these developments over the past few years, your business is vulnerable. You need to be fully aware of all these different cyberattack methods – otherwise it will be impossible for you to actually prepare to defend yourself against them.
To put things into perspective, here is a list of the most common methods used by cybercriminals:
- Malware
- Phishing
- Injection SQL
- Denial of service attack
- Man-in-the-middle attack
- Work email compromise
- Email Account Compromise
And if that weren’t enough, the methods used to launch the attacks vary from person to person. To learn more about these cybersecurity attacks, you can read this guide from Proofpoint. The first thing to do to improve your company’s security defense is to educate yourself on the dynamic set of cybersecurity threats that exist.
2. Use two-factor authentication
If your business isn’t yet using two-factor authentication, it’s time to change that now. This extra security measure can go a long way in preventing cyberattacks from succeeding. A hacker might be able to get sensitive information, like a password for example, but two-factor authentication means that’s not enough to gain access to an account.
This is because of how two-factor authentication works. As the name suggests, a person must use two methods to prove their identity. One of them is usually a password, as usual. The other, on the other hand, will often be an access code sent to the user’s mobile device. If a hacker doesn’t have access to that mobile device, they usually won’t be able to go any further in their attack efforts.
3. Train your employees
It’s true: your antivirus software does a lot of the work of defending against cyberattacks. However, your employees can often be the vulnerability that criminals seek to exploit. If your employees are unaware of the threats facing them, your defenses – strong as they are – can be breached quite easily.
To prevent this from happening, it is imperative to train your employees to cybersecurity. They should be fully aware of the different threats they may face during their working hours, be it a scam email or a dubious URL link. This also includes knowing the signals associated with a cyberattack, including:
- spelling mistakes
- fake domain names
- poor quality logo image
- the introduction of the generic message
- the sender’s details do not match
- Time pressure to perform an action
Also, avoid viewing training as a once-and-for-all task. It should be done at least on a semi-regular basis, to ensure that all the information acquired is still fresh in their minds.
4. Keep all software up to date
The software updates are important for many reasons. While these updates can be seen as just a way to speed up processes and add functionality, they have another essential function: protection against cyber threats.
People who develop software regularly release patches to fix discovered security issues. If you do not take action and install these patches immediately, your business is at high risk of attack.
With the increase in the use of mobile devices and remote working, keeping track of software updates is an increasingly important challenge for modern businesses. With good management of the system, however, it is possible to minimize the risk. Employees should be informed about the installation of updates as part of the above training.
5. Stick to Approved Devices and Connections
As mentioned earlier, hybrid working has become the norm in the business world. While it has many benefits for businesses and employees, it also poses an additional problem when it comes to cyberattacks.
To limit risk and maximize your company’s threat protection, it’s important that remote employees use only approved devices and connections. They may be tempted to access unsecured networks or use their own devices, but it’s imperative that they stick to those approved for work.