If you could predict the future, you’d know which employee to hire to fill a vacancy, how much to invest into your latest product, and what to focus on with your business. Well, in one aspect you can predict the future. Your business is more likely than not to be victim of a cyber-attack. According to the latest numbers available, six in ten businesses in the US experience a cyber-attack every year, with small businesses being more at risk than large ones. If you’ve not seen the future and protected your data, secured your network and trained your employees, you’re vulnerable.
Protecting Your Data
Passwords alone aren’t enough to protect your data. You need secure backups for total network restoration in the case of a catastrophic event. According to data compiled in August 2018, the average ransomware request was $2,500 including individuals and businesses. Some larger businesses’ data was held for more than $50,000. What would happen if you lost your data and had to pay even $10,000? Would your business survive or would you end up out of business? Protecting your data also means protecting your customer’s information, if you don’t have an IT professional on staff, call a mobile IT company.
Secure Your Network
A secure network doesn’t stop every virus or hack. This is evident in the fact that ransomware attacks alone increased 350% in 2017 over 2016 (data for 2018 isn’t yet available). A secure network makes it less likely that that a breach will come through from a hack, but doesn’t stop phishing or spear-fishing attacks. Here are a few preventative measures you can take to secure your network:
- Malware protection – There are many great options out there, beware of the free ones as they don’t include comprehensive security.
- Segment your network – A segmented or partitioned network can keep a virus or malware contained to one portion protecting the rest.
- Secure your email – That means using a secure program, and if your staff has their email on their phone, they need to be required to have a lock on their phone.
- Consider a VPN – If a large portion of your staff is mobile and logs into the network, consider a VPN for better network security.
If you aren’t sure about your network security and don’t have an on-site IT professional, consider using a mobile IT company or outsourcing your IT needs to a local and trusted company.
Train Your Staff
We’re not referring to providing them with the information to do their jobs well, we’re talking about training them in best practices regarding computer use. Make sure every staff member is aware of your social media and internet policies, network policies regarding cell phones on your network, and about visitors logging into a guest network. Teach them about spear-phishing and other tools hackers use to destroy businesses.
If you aren’t taking these steps to protect your business, your future likely contains a hack that steals data, viruses that corrupt data or a ransomware request. As a mobile IT company, Toucan Technology Group can help you with policies for your staff that will help protect your network as well as advanced network security tools and applications to make it less likely that you suffer a network infiltration or ransomware attack. Call us today at (317) 376-4874 to learn more about our many services for small and medium sized businesses throughout Indianapolis.
