So, you’ve been able to promote your business, sell your products and keep a team of well-trained and disciplined staff motivated. Everything’s going well for you and your business, right?
The grass may seem pretty green right now, but thanks to the tools that the internet provides, you’re always a step away from catastrophe if you don’t employ the correct protection and safeguard your business’s network.
Cyber-crime stands right now as the biggest threat to your business and the systems employed by your business. Symantec reported that 75 percent of enterprises experienced an attack on their systems regularly. These are companies like Google, bigger and smarter companies than your business and if they can fall victim, so can you.
Data is key for cyber-criminals as not only can it give them information, it can give them leads to future victims. This is the number one goal for hackers outside of financial gain. Preventing an attack on your data isn’t too hard, fortunately. One way cyber-criminals can steal data is by taking down your network and plundering your defenseless servers. To prevent this, you can sort out system-wide data security with Infrascale.
Another nefarious way of holding your company hostage is through the use of ransomware. Ransomware can encrypt your files and prevent you from accessing software needed for your daily work. Ransomware gets it’s name from that fact that like a hostage taker, it demands a ransom for the ‘release’ of your computer. There is no guarantee that paying this ransom will actually get you the access you need or that it will rid your computer of this virus.
Protecting your business is easier than it seems. Get anti-virus software like Totalav, keep it updated so it can build a log of the latest computer viruses, warn your staff about viruses and viral alerts so they can take action. Regularly change passwords to ensure that your systems can’t suffer an internal attack and you’ll be on the way to having a secure business environment.
It’s important to regularly clean your computers as they need to memory to fight potential breaches. This doesn’t mean dusting them off and cleaning the screen, but to remove unnecessary data, files and software from your work computers regularly to ensure your computer is kept in shape. If you are worried about losing files or data, encrypt them and upload to a cloud-based storage solution to keep them there until they are needed. If this data is confidential, you should ask yourself if you need to keep it, and if not – you should securely delete it. No expense should be spared in keeping data safe, especially if it is not yours or your company’s.
You shouldn’t worry about cyber-crime every single day, but you should keep an ear to the ground and research the latest developments when you can. It’s important for you to know and if you ignore it, it’s at your peril. If you do not safeguard your business, it’s not only you that will suffer, it’s your loyal customers.
It is important to train your employees on what to do to and what to look out for, as not every email they receive or page they click on may be safe. It is important to ensure everyone uses strong secure passwords, there is a firewall and virus protection. Great information, thanks for sharing!