10 Cybersecurity Essentials for Your Business.
Over the past few decades, technology has become an integral part of
running businesses. It is used in email communication, financial transactions,
collaborating work documents and professional networking. Companies rely on
technology for the successful execution of their activities. While businesses
have embraced the incorporation of technology in their operations, they also
invite the challenges that come with technology. Organizations are under
constant cybersecurity threats associated with the use of technology. When
cybercriminals get unauthorized access to business information, they can use
the acquired data to commit a crime or sell such information to another
business competitor. Therefore, there is a need for a business to employ
mechanisms that help them stay ahead of the different cyber threats. In this
article, we will look at 10 Cybersecurity Essentials for Your Business.
Multi-factor authentication
This is a security mechanism that requires more than one method of
authentication from different categories of credentials to verify the identity
of a user to allow them to have a successful login or access to information. It
combines two or more different credentials such as what the user has, what the
user knows and what the user is. The main objective of multi-factor authentication
is to create a layered defense and to block any chances of an unauthorised user
from gaining access to a computer system. If one of the factors is broken, the
attacker has still a different one to breach for them to penetrate the system.
Software updates and patches
Many applications have security loopholes called vulnerabilities.
Attackers exploit these vulnerabilities to inject malware into a
computer. After the computer is infected, the attacker can spy your
activities or steal valuable information without your knowledge. Application
developers are continuously testing software from the moment it is deployed to
the market to identify security flaws. When a vulnerability is identified, the
developers come up with code patches to block the detected loopholes and
release them to users in the form of updates. It is, therefore, crucial to keep
all applications used in your organization updated to reduce the chances of
hackers penetrating your security system.
Backup and recovery
Regardless of the size of a business, data plays a crucial role in
running it. The loss of business data can have severe financial implications.
Cybercriminals are continually targeting business information either to take
control or to compromise it. When attackers manage to gain access to data, they
can encrypt the information and demand for ransom to release the information.
For this reason, it is imperative to have daily backups of information to
cushion yourself from ransomware or other types of malware that could crumble
business operations.
If your business is faced with an attack, you can restore the last
backed up information and resume with operations.
Educate users
The rising cases of security breaches require businesses to educate
their employees to help in protecting against cyber threats. In today’s
business setups, nearly every employee interacts with an organization's device
connected to the network. Since these are the gadgets used by attackers to
introduce malware to a computer system, workers need to be educated on how to
prevent the attacks.
Use next-generation firewalls
Firewalls are the standard security mechanisms for many businesses to
control the information going in and out of the organization's network.
However, as cybersecurity threats advance each day, traditional firewalls get
breached by hackers. Next-generation firewalls overcome this challenge to offer
increased protection. A next general firewall is a third-generation firewall
technology implemented in either software or hardware able to detect and
prevent sophisticated attacks through enforcing security policies at an
application’s port and protocol level. These firewalls offer security services
such as:
- SSH and SSL inspection
- Application awareness
- Packet filtering
- Virtual private networks
- Deep packet inspection
- URL blocking
Restrict administrative privileges
Administrative privileges ensure that only users with administrative
roles can authenticate actions like installation of software. This helps to
prevent installing an application with embed malware which could put the
business data in jeopardy. In return, your business is protected from different
forms of malware.
Application whitelisting
In application whitelisting, you specify an index of approved
applications authorized to be present or installed in a computer system. IT
administrators implement application whitelisting to protect computers from
potentially malicious apps. You can also offer more flexibility by providing an
index of approved application elements like software libraries, configuration
files and extensions.
Testing your system
A business can improve its security system by establishing policies and practices for carrying out regular vulnerability and penetration test to detect
security loopholes within and outside its network. Penetration testing helps you to determine security
weaknesses before the real attackers do. Since attackers keep on testing for
flaws, a business should continuously test its security system.
Control physical access to systems
Unauthorized people should not have physical access to your computer
system. If you outsource technical services, it is advisable to have someone
from your organization supervise the outside sources. Also, you should keep
core network components safe and only accessible by authorized employees.
Secure your Wi-Fi
If you have a wireless connection, ensure you use WPA2 or a higher
encryption standard to reduce the chances of attackers infiltrating your
network. Also, the Wi-Fi password should be strong and changed regularly.