Within every organization is a state library's worth of irreplaceable data that is updated and reorganized by the minute. Without it, your modern business would simply be four walls with some computers. So are you doing enough to protect your data?
Unfortunately, natural disasters and cyber attacks do occur and have the potential to destroy all your company's hard work. Time and again we've seen small to medium businesses crumble because of these incidents. In 2012 for example, a National Cyber Security Alliance study found that almost 60 percent of SMBs go out of business after a major cyber attack. But little did they know, if they had utilized proper network security or disaster recovery solutions earlier, their businesses would likely still be alive today.
It's time to face the truth, the threats of cybercrime and natural disasters are real, especially for small businesses. However this doesn't mean SMBs, like yours, are entirely defenseless. By following some of the strategies below, your business and its valuable data has a solid chance of surviving the worst.
Identify critical systems and data first
First of all, you need to identify data and systems your business cannot live without. While this can vary from company to company, the most valuable data are the ones that will incur large costs as a result of data loss. For instance, your company might want to hold on to client information, financial reports and email records, just to name a few. These critical systems should be placed in secure virtual storage spaces and isolated from less essential data. More importantly, by prioritizing mission critical systems, either you or your recovery service provider can quickly restore basic functionality for your company, allowing you to resume business as usual.
Offsite backup plans
When protecting your business data, remember: location, location, location. The basic step in any kind of data protection or disaster recovery planning is backing up your data in a remote and secure data center. Traditionally, businesses used to keep all their data on site because this was the most convenient solution available to them. However, this backup solution was risky because physical servers would be destroyed if an earthquake, hurricane, or external attack occurred.
On the other hand, virtualization and cloud storage solutions enable you to easily store your data in multiple offsite locations, while mitigating the impact of office disasters and theft. Furthermore, if onsite servers are compromised by cyber threats, cloud technology allows you to simply boot your backups into a clean device.
Use powerful endpoint security
To clarify, endpoints are devices like desktops and mobile devices that are connected to your business network. Endpoints - if mishandled - are normally entry points exploited by hackers and malware to infect your entire IT infrastructure. The best solution to fend off these external attacks is by installing multilayered endpoint security software. While there are several options for endpoint software out there like Sophos, Kaspersky, and Norton, it's important for you to look for a security provider that is able to fully encrypt your stored data. In fact, most data breaches are caused by little to no encryption technology. So if you are using a cloud storage solution, email, or basic onsite storage make sure you keep these boarded up and for your eyes only with encryption. Keep in mind that some level of data encryption is better than none at all because most low-level hackers are deterred the moment they sense that a company has security measures in place.
Of course, you should also constantly update your technologies, which can include your cloud solution, operating system, and security software. While you might find these rituals a nuisance, these updates contain security patches that you are going to need to safeguard your business and its data.
Stronger passwords and two-factor authentication
Our team at Onsite Computing cannot stress enough how important it is for your organization to set stronger authentication systems and passwords. This gets even the best of us. Surprisingly, the founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg had his Pinterest, Twitter, and Instagram account hacked because he committed one of the worst online practices - using the same password for multiple services. What's more, it was discovered that his password was "dadada" in 2012, which is an astoundingly weak password even for that year's standards. And if the CEO of Facebook was guilty of these transgressions, chances are, your employees probably already commit the same offences.
The best way to get around this is to teach employees to set passwords with a combination of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols. It's also a good idea to regularly change passwords every 6 months and refrain from using the same password with multiple accounts to keep the hackers guessing.
Another way you can strengthen your front end security is by using two-factor authentication. In simple terms, to gain access into the office network you will have to input your password and verify your identity by using either a biometric scanner or a USB security card. This method decreases the chances for a hacker to simply guess your password and gain access to all your crucial data.
Safer practices
All things considered, teaching your employees to avoid opening suspicious .EXE attachments in their emails, falling victim to dodgy pop-up ads, and regularly backing up data in an external drive as well as your hosted cloud servers, is just as important as the strategies mentioned above.
Last but not least, when you are at your wit's end deciding the perfect strategy to install and protect your data, consider a consultation with a security service provider. They will manage all your security solutions for you so that you don't have to worry. Onsite Computing will assess, monitor, and manage your data protection so you can keep your data out of harm's way. Contact us today and find out how you can reinforce your business's defenses.
