Whatever the size of your business, a cyberattack is an ever-present threat. Therefore, it’s essential to take adequate measures to protect your business data from this threat.
In most cases, your managed service provider (MSP) from managed IT services Charlotte would have a section on their website that provides clients with more information on cybersecurity. When you visit this site or other reliable sources, for instance, you’ll find various services an MSP offers to improve your business’s cyber security. An MSP’s services and the strategies below will help you protect your business from cyberattacks.
1. Employ The Use Of Multi-Factor Authentication And Strong Passwords
As cyber threats constantly evolve, you should ensure that your login procedures use the latest cybersecurity measures. Using multi-factor authentication (MFA) ensures the user confirms their identity to the system via another factor. One of the most common MFA practices is using a mobile device for confirmation. Alternatively, it can be through biometric verification, either a fingerprint or a retinal scan.
In addition to utilizing MFA that provides access confirmation for the user, make sure that your team uses strong passwords or passphrases. Login credentials shouldn’t be words, names of places, or pet names. Encourage the use of passphrases with a mix of special characters and numbers. Mixing uppercase and lowercase letters will improve the login credential strength as well. In fact, cybersecurity experts recommend a strong login credential to be at least 14 characters long, with a mix of special characters, numbers, uppercase, and lowercase letters.
2. Look After Your Device’s And Network’s Security
Since all cyberattacks target devices through your networks, you should ensure that you have cybersecurity policies to facilitate device and network cybersecurity.
One of the most important aspects of device security is to ensure your software is always up to date. This involves the devices’ operating systems and any other software you use in your business. Software providers consistently implement updates and upgrades on their products that counter any new cyber threats.
Hence, it’s crucial to install these updates on your end. You can set your operating system to update and install new updates automatically. For other software, you should implement any update prompts you receive.
Secondly, set up a firewall for your devices and network and install security software. While a firewall will help protect your network from malicious website traffic, the security software helps protect against viruses and malware infection. So, see to it that you install these two security features on your mobile devices.
Cybercriminals can use various deceptive ways to penetrate your security system. Phishing and spam emails can go unnoticed if you don’t have detection and protection steps against such intrusions. You can block these intrusions by taking advantage of a spam email filter. Without a spam filter, your team members may not recognize malicious emails and will end up opening them. These kinds of emails may contain viruses, malware, or spyware, and the consequences of opening one will be devastating to your business.
3. Always Train Your Staff On Cybersecurity
According to cyber security advisors, you’re only as safe as your lowest informed team member. Moreover, your team members form your first and last line of defense. They can help recognize initial threats, such as phishing emails or non-secure websites, on the front end. On the other end, they know what steps to take in case of a cyberattack. This is why regular cyber security sensitization for your staff is essential to your business’s threat awareness.
Additionally, training equips your team with cybersecurity best practices that they can consistently implement with less supervision from your information technology (IT) team. These practices can include utilizing a virtual private network (VPN) when using public networks, safe passwords, and multi-factor authentication.
4. Initiate And Implement User Level Restrictions
Not everyone in your organization needs to access all available data in the business. Identify various levels of authority in your network and group users as per these levels. After that, determine what information should be available to the different user groups. Given that some information carries higher sensitivity than others, these user levels enable you to control who gets access.
5. Have A Robust Network Monitoring System
While establishing policies on cybersecurity, ensure that there’s a standard operation procedure on how to keep tabs on users, software, and devices in your network. Most of the time, devices that don’t get used frequently may not undergo regular updates. These devices can provide easy entry points for cybercriminals because they don’t have the latest security updates and upgrades.
To prevent unauthorized access, make sure the device or software is disconnected from your network if not in use. Aside from disconnecting a device or software, disable or delete accounts of team members who have left the organization.
Conclusion
Cybercriminals are constantly devising devious ways to access data. So, you should take steps to minimize the chances of your business data falling into the wrong hands. These strategies will help you safeguard your data and enhance your cyber security measures.
