Over the last year, more businesses have moved their work online than ever before. Whether you’ve started offering virtual services, expanded online shopping options, moved your team to remote work, or some combination of the above, your business is likely more connected than ever before.
Although there are certainly benefits to this transition, it comes with significant cybersecurity risks. Without the proper precautions, your company’s, clients’, and employees’ data could be at serious risk. RCS Professional Services presents this guide to help you identify potential security issues and fix them before they cause a serious problem:
Having Insufficient IT Infrastructure
The way your IT system is set up can make or break your cybersecurity. For example, if you’re using out-of-date hardware, odds are your system has some serious vulnerabilities. Even something as simple as leaving your server room unlocked can put you at risk for a massive data breach. Your best bet is to team up with a trustworthy IT agency like RCS Professional Services to make sure your business is safe. They offer full-service IT management solutions throughout the New York TriState area.
Overlooking Remote Security
The transition to remote work is a massive undertaking and one that few businesses were prepared for at the start of last year. However, the pandemic has forced companies all over the country to expand their remote options and find ways to collaborate virtually.
It’s important to remember, however, that your employees’ home networks aren’t necessarily as safe as your office’s. Without proper data protection that extends to your employees’ devices, there is ample opportunity for a breach or attack. And this can come in a variety of forms. For example, ransomware is an all-too-common threat for small businesses. This type of malware infects your system and can’t be removed until the perpetrators receive payment. To help ward off this and other malicious attacks, it’s crucial to implement a powerful security system that securely manages, stores, and monitors your data. The ideal system will also have recovery capabilities that immediately go into effect to minimize damage and restore access with limited interruption to your business.
Providing Inconsistent or Incomplete Training
On the topic of employees, it’s extremely important to provide consistent, informative training about how to maintain good cybersecurity. You can have all the right hardware and software and use the best cybersecurity systems in the world, and it can all be undone by one unsavvy download or “Password” password.
Update training periodically to reflect any new upgrades in technology or trending cyberattacks. Two to three training sessions a year is usually sufficient to keep employees’ up-to-date, though you may need to add additional training if there are any major attacks going around. You can also include parameters such as password security minimums in order to prevent some absent-minded security issues.
Neglecting to Remove Former Employees
It might surprise you to learn that former employees are one of the most common sources of cybersecurity problems for companies. When someone leaves — even if it’s on great terms — it’s absolutely vital that you delete their login information and change passwords or keycodes for all shared accounts they used. Even if the employees themselves never try to take advantage of continued access, having open unused accounts leaves you vulnerable to all kinds of attacks.
Assuming You’ll Never Be Attacked
Small business owners tend to assume that only large companies are worth cybercriminals’ time. However, the opposite tends to be true. 71 percent of data breach attacks happen to businesses with fewer than 100 employees. Cybercriminals know that these companies are less likely to have the time and budget to commit to a secure IT infrastructure and, as a result, see them as easier targets.
Investing in cybersecurity is well worth it. Small businesses that end up experiencing these sorts of attacks often can’t recover financially. Taking steps to protect yourself can truly make all the difference for your company. We hope this article helps you to get a sense of some of the major mistakes small businesses make so that you can protect your company with confidence! Need an IT ally? Contact RCS Professional Services today!
By: Patrick Young
