Cyber crime is one of the main problems for businesses around world. Business owners should take this matter into their own hands when it comes to preventing a cyber attack on their business. Taking the wrong steps or completely avoiding the issue may result in major consequences that may become irreparable.
Cyber crime can take many forms, and so multiple levels of protection are essential. Especially when handling sensitive data like credit card or social security numbers. Cyber criminals target small and mid-sized businesses because the larger businesses are beginning to fund major security operations to protect themselves. These smaller, vulnerable businesses are still subject to the same laws and regulations, but sometimes can’t afford to suffer an intrusion.
The first step in preventing a cyber crime is having a computer that is specifically for funds and deals with your business’ internet merchant account. This reduces the amount of sites visited on the computer, preventing harmful viruses to enter. As well as using firewalls that will block viruses if a harmful website is entered.
You should also practice a policy of least access, says Pierre Zarokian CEO of a digital marketing company, where you limit the number of employees who can access terminals that hold special sensitive user data. Limiting access is a lot easier than granting permissions, because it means a smaller whitelist to deal with. A whitelist is a list of allowed access, and it’s useful in determining who can do what in an organization.
Second Step is making sure employees are creating new passwords for their business accounts every couple of months. Keeping track of password changes and who has access to your accounts is important. Not changing a password often results in a cyber hack.
Third Step is making sure your site is completely safe. Not having HTTPS protocol on your site can be a big problem. Without these protocols your business website will look unreliable to your customers, stopping them from continuing on your site. With The HTTP protocols your website is safer by keeping money transfer unidentifiable; customers will know your website is trustworthy.
Lastly, keeping an IT consultant will extremely help, because they will be able to keep an eye out for any suspicious activity. IT consultants work hard to implement security at every level, so that users remain educated, and can act as the front line of defense for your business. IT is essential to any growing organization.