5 Crucial Ways to Save Your Startup from Cyber Attacks
Being a business can be challenging, and that fact is no different for statups in the digital age. Communication and eCommerce have revolutionized the way we conduct business, however, the very thing that benefits us also puts us at risk. The internet is one of the most powerful tools in a startup’s arsenal, but also poses a greater threat than many realize, primarily due to the potential for cyber attacks.
Even if you’re not convinced that your company would be a suitable target, that’s not up to you to decide. What you can decide is how you protect yourself and your employees from becoming cyber theft victims, and here’s 5 ways how.
1. Maintain Your Spam Filters to Ward off Malicious Phishing Attempts
If you think you get a lot of spam then you’re not alone. Kapersky revealed that according to their data 56% of all email sent in 2017 was junk mail spam. That definitely explains why our inboxes seem inundated with useless messages. However, at the business level this goes beyond annoying and can be very threatening.
Spearphishing attempts take casual information picked up regarding your business and use it to seem relevant to your company. They might piece together an article mentioning you, details of an employee, or a project you’re working on. It could seem wholly credible, but only exists to send malware or steal company data. To prevent this, you should ensure your spam filters are setup correctly to weed the majority of this out.
2. Keep All of Your Software and Tools Updated
When you have numerous workstations in an office and are constantly relying on your machines to get tasks done, crucial updates can go ignored. Cyber attacks can be started by simply one machine on your network being left without updates. This includes your operating system, software used for work, and of course your anti-virus suite. Don’t leave yourself open to an attack, keep everything updated.
3. Maximize Security with Two-Factor Authentication
Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) requires both your password and mobile phone to login to your account. By using this on important websites, you’ll avoid becoming easy prey if your password or other information does get stolen somehow. When using 2FA, you’ll either use a mobile app or a text message to login, that way a cyber thief will need to have two forms of identification.
4. Maintain Company Safety with an Online Policy for Employees
Frivolous details on social media about your company from your employees can actually jeopardize your startup. While we’re all more social than ever before thanks to the internet, keeping company details to a minimum provides more safety.
It’s estimated that by 2021 cybercrimes will cost a massive $6 trillion in damages per year. By setting up a proper online conduct policy for your employees, you can minimize the risk of your startup contributing to that.
5. Use SSL Certificates to Protect User Data
You can minimize the potential theft of information from yours and your users browsers to servers by adding an SSL certificate to your website. By encrypting the data flow, you mitigate the risk of having important details becoming stolen on your website. This includes personal details such as address, credit card and other sensitive information.