Protecting your business, your sensitive data, and your income is one of the most important things in this day and age. Becoming a target of cyberterrorists is never fun, no matter what you do, how big your company is, and where you’re located, which is why avoiding this scenario is simply a must. Doing that might not always be easy, but if you know what to do, how to act, and what to focus on – protecting your business will turn out to be easier than you’ve anticipated. However, once you set up a defense system against cyberattacks, maintaining it and making sure it’s working is another issue you’ll have to take care of, so if that’s something you need to do as well, here are a few reasons why investing time and energy into this process is a great idea.

Protecting sensitive data

This is probably the most important thing you have to take into consideration when dealing with cybersecurity in your business. The amount of sensitive and private data you’re possessing is massive, and keep in mind that every member of your staff needs to be protected at all costs. This is why investing in security makes a lot of sense, especially if you wish to boost your staff’s enthusiasm and make them more motivated and productive than they’ve ever been.

The same goes for your clients’ and customers’ data as well. This is particularly the case with companies that deal with selling different products and services because these are the companies that hold lots of valuable information from lots of different people. From their names and addresses to their birth dates and credit card numbers, these are all the things that could become dangerous in the hands of cyberterrorists. That’s why protecting data is so important, and it goes hand in hand with cybersecurity, so start checking out these things before it’s too late.

Protecting your money

Another thing that might worry you when it comes to cybersecurity is the amount of money you hold in your possession. From your investments to your income, this is the money that might be stolen before you know it, and that might ruin your entire financial future, which is why protecting this money is so vital. 

Unfortunately, with the development of cyber technology and the rise of people who are trying to steal your money this way, protecting your finances against cyberattacks is getting more important than ever. This is something you need to be doing 24/7, every single day of the year, whether your company is open or not – in short, all day every day! In addition to that, you need to update your cyber protection from time to time, particularly if you notice that your money might be under threat.

Protecting your cloud

Lots of companies all over the world are moving to cloud-based services and using them to make their everyday functioning easier, simpler, and more efficient than before. However, using these cloud services also means being under more threat than ever, especially if you’re not using proper protection protocols that are meant to help you remain safe and secure no matter what’s going on.

The best way to do that is by checking out professional security companies and experts who can help you get more protected in a matter of minutes. These people know how to keep you safe and encrypt all the data you’ve uploaded to your cloud account, so looking into their comprehensive IT security services is always a great idea. From the protection of your physical network and your Internet security to your cloud security and data protection mentioned before, these all-around protection solutions will keep you safe and you won’t have a problem with cyberterrorists ever again.

Protecting your reputation

When you’re attacked by these terrorists, you don’t just lose your money and your sensitive data, but your reputation as well. Becoming a victim of cyberattacks will tell the world that you’re vulnerable and sensitive, and, even worse, that you’re not to be trusted. All your employees, your investors, your business partners, and your collaborators will be disappointed, while your clients, users, and customers will start doubting you and your ability to run a company without interruptions. 

Therefore, protecting your data also means protecting your reputation and your position in the business world. This might not seem like the most important thing in the world at first, but once you think about this issue and understand the connection between the loss of data and money with the loss of reputation, you’ll realize that this is something worth protecting. So, no matter how many years or decades you’ve invested in building your reputation and how much time and energy you’ve spent protecting it, doing this is a smart move, so start checking out security ideas that might work for you the most.

As you can see, cybersecurity and the protection of your data in today’s world are crucial, so don’t be afraid to check these things out as soon as you can. Investing energy in this process right now means your company will be safe, and that’s something all entrepreneurs love to hear!

Source: Freepik

It is becoming increasingly difficult to ensure data safety and protect your personal and professional data in the online realm, whether you’re operating as a one-man show or if you’re running your very own business. The risks of someone trying to breach your data center and steal sensitive business information from under your nose is becoming increasingly prevalent in this digital age, simply because hackers and scammers stand to gain a lot by throwing malware at your firewall and trying to coerce your employees into relinquishing valuable information. 

Needless to say, you can’t allow this to happen if you want to preserve your brand’s reputation and keep your company from going under quickly. And remember, recovering from a data breach can be next to impossible in this competitive modern business world. This is why you need to focus on elevating your cybersecurity in 2020, and you can achieve this by integrating the right tools into your system. Here are the solutions you need. 

Start by optimizing your antivirus software

First things first, you can start by optimizing your antivirus software to fit the exact requirements of your company, and every device in your network. Keep in mind that you can’t just run an antivirus straight out of the box and hope that it will satisfy all of your needs, which is why you need to analyze its features and functionalities, and spend some time optimizing the settings. If you have a cloud-based firewall, your provider needs to scale it to fit your needs and maximize network security on all fronts.

Why go through all this trouble? Simply put, hackers have become very skilled at what they do, and they are nowadays able to create sophisticated malware that can pass through most firewalls without a hitch, which is why you need a powerful solution and why you should combine a software firewall with a hardware firewall as well – more on the latter in a bit.

Stay in control of your entire network

Nowadays, you have to stay in control of your network and monitor all inbound traffic in order to minimize and spot potential threats, maximize bandwidth availability, and simply keep your data and your employees safe. After all, you need to know exactly what your employees are doing in the online world in order to prevent them from installing malicious software or go to any shady websites where they might pick up a piece of malware.

To do this, you can integrate a web monitoring tool, also known as a secure web gateway, to retain full control of your entire network. This tool is excellent for real-time deep traffic inspection, and it will allow you to prevent access to suspicious websites. You can also use it for early risk detection so that you can stop a potential cyber-attack before it even gets a chance to strike. 

Add a hardware firewall to your system

One of the most powerful cybersecurity solutions you can implement nowadays is the hardware firewall. This is a piece of equipment that can keep your entire network safe, and it acts as a barrier between you and the outside world. The tool will provide you with complete visibility of your network, as modern firewall hardware features real-time detection and rapid response functionalities, along with layered security and granular traffic inspection that allows you to identify every user in your network.

Maintenance and upkeep for hardware firewalls is minimal, and you can even set it up quickly as it usually boasts a simplified deployment system that you can use to integrate it quickly even if you don’t have a dedicated IT staff. These and many other benefits make the hardware firewall one of the top solutions for companies of every size. 

Educate your employees on cybersecurity

Of course, you can’t hope to keep your company safe if your employees don’t know the first thing about data security. More often than not, it won’t be the firewall that fails you, but an unwitting employee who gave away a valuable piece of information to the wrong person. This is why you need to focus on employee education and training.

You can do this the old-fashioned way and bring in cybersecurity experts to conduct workshops, or you can use a dedicated training tool. In the case of the latter, there are many specialized training platforms that utilize videos and online testing to educate employees on data protection and then test their knowledge using a realistic scenario.

Implement penetration testing tools

Last but not least, it’s important to run regular security audits and put your security measures to the test. Your IT experts should use the same tools and methods the hackers use to try to uncover any weak points in your system and use them to gain entry into your data center. Running these tests regularly will ensure you’re always pathing up security holes and staying one step ahead of the cyber criminals.

Wrapping up

Data security is becoming an increasing concern for companies around the world as hackers and scammers become more proficient in their trade. To prevent cyber-attacks, be sure to use these tools that will elevate the safety of your data and your employees.

When running a business, there are hundreds of threats that could put your business at risk. There are physical threats such as natural disasters, there are employee threats such as toxic behavior, and there are also digital threats such as cybercriminals.

Most of the threats to our business are well-documented, but cybercriminals constantly change their tactics which means it’s incredibly hard to be well-prepared against them or predict their next move.

This is why it’s so important to secure your business digitally.

Vulnerabilities

We all rely on different types of software to make our lives easier, but did you know that software typically has vulnerabilities, hence why we constantly need to update them? These vulnerabilities can easily be exploited by smart cybercriminals and your data will quickly be compromised.

Attackers

If you’ve got a popular brand with a good reputation, then you’re going to be under attack from hackers. Whether they’re trying to hold your data for ransom or steal private information, they’re going to use all the tools at their disposal to break into your network.

Employee Faults

People can easily be tricked into opening viruses on their computer or infected emails if they’re not trained to detect them. Luckily, there’s plenty of software available to help counteract those threats, lowering the chances of an employee fault bringing down your entire business.

Take a look at the infographic below for more information on the importance of cybersecurity and how it affects your business as a whole.

Infographic By:  EPC Group