It is a necessity to keep your data secure in today’s digital world. As a small business or entrepreneur, you need to protect all of your private information and intellectual property from unauthorised access. There are many ways for businesses to be hacked, so it is important to get to know what steps can be taken now and in the future to reduce the risk of data loss.
This blog post will give you some practical tips you can implement right away without spending too much money or time!
Store physical confidential information safely
We find that most business documents are in digital format these days, but you may receive a paper copy. Store your confidential information and intellectual property securely away from unauthorised staff or public; be sure to lock it with the key if necessary!
Computer Access
The best way to protect your computer is by making sure you’re never left logged in. Log off whenever possible and don’t leave any kind of screen open that could be accessed without permission, such as social media or email accounts for work-related stuff like invoices.
It sounds trivial when not using them but those little things can lead to consequences! Don’t let anyone glance over at what’s going on; worst case scenario they might try accessing an account – which will give them access to everything else stored there.
Update all software as soon as security patches are available – this includes virus protection, operating systems, browsers, etc. Hackers look for security vulnerabilities in the network and use automated tools to scan regularly. You want to close those loopholes before they find them.
Use strong passwords for each login account you have and change them often.
Create unique passwords for each account using a combination of letters, numbers, and symbols.
Install antivirus software on every device in the office – if one gets infected with malware, it won’t affect the others.
Be careful what you download from unknown websites or emails – never open attachments or click on links unless you know where they’re from.
You can report to The Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) if you or your business have been a victim of cybercrime. They could provide further advice and information for what is going on with the situation as well as how they might be able help out!
Backup your data – Use a file hosting service
Backup!
Investing in a data review is important if you want to avoid paying the price. It may seem like an unnecessary task, but when and if your business goes down without proper backup for its information-it’s going to be difficult enough on everyone involved!
Don’t put it off any longer; we all know how expensive this could get!
The big three online storages are Dropbox, Google Drive and OneDrive.
We’ll discuss OneDrive as it’s integrated into Windows 10 on the computer through File Explorer. You can easily set up to backup, sync, or share your files stored on the cloud service through your Microsoft account. The files then can be accessed with an online device.
You get free access to OneDrive for 5GB or 1TB of space if you’ve Microsoft 365 subscription.
Microsoft Onedrive is a well-known and secure cloud storage service. The likelihood of getting hacked from the onedrive’s end is very small, so it’s more important to keep your own access accounts safe in order to prevent compromise!
Extra Security Measure
One of the best ways to protect your data is by using an offline backup and encryption.
The only thing you need now, are passwords for each file type that contains sensitive information like bank accounts numbers or personal emails! Store them in 7zip files with password protection.
7-zip is a free file compression software that can be downloaded from the official website. It’s easy to use and comes equipped with password protection, allowing you to share files without worrying about them being accessed by others.
For example, sending files through email could potentially get hacked in transit! The solution is to email the 7Zip file with password protection. And send the password to the recipient on a different messaging platform. This method is used by the banks.
Accounting system security
Growing in popularity, Xero is a cloud-based software that many small businesses use to store their documents and data. They have Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) for their user base where in addition to using a normal username and password, the user must use an authenticator app or Xero’s own app (Xero Verify) on their phone before logging into the system.
MFA is mandatory in Australia and will be mandatory in other countries moving forward.
Data is everything to a business. Whether it’s customer information, financial records, or proprietary intellectual property – if any of this sensitive information gets into the wrong hands, you could be facing a serious problem.
You can be interrupted, held for ransom or shut down as a result of the attack.
Cyberattacks have been on the rise in recent years so businesses should review their operations for any weaknesses and seek advice from experts if needed.
What methods do you use?
