Can you conjure up an image of a thief in your head? Black-and-white striped jumper, black sack, mask and hat? Not so. These days, thieves – who look like you and me – are just as likely to be behind their computer screens, ready to steal your sensitive data through the Internet, than at your door.
After the unsettling cyber-attack on TalkTalk last month, reportedly costing the company around £35m, there has never been a time when ensuring your business’s data is protected against hackers has been so important.
“…the statistics still make for worrying reading: 81% of large organisations surveyed recorded a security breach…”
There are many reasons why protecting your business and data online should be prioritised, not least to maintain your reputation with clients and ultimately save you money and stress in the long run.
The good news is that, according to a 2014 government survey, the number of security breaches on UK businesses had decreased in comparison to 2013. Yet the statistics still make for worrying reading: 81% of large organisations surveyed recorded a security breach, and 60% of small businesses experienced a security breach.
With these figures in mind, here are Majenta’s tips for protecting your company online:
Protecting your employees:
- Firstly, you need to identify the potential security risks before you can minimise their occurrence. Perhaps it is the level of access employees have to certain parts of the business.
- Lock down user privileges where possible and disable the use of removable media, such as USB memory sticks or external hard drives, to users who do not need to add/remove data as part of their work.
- Also, ensure your employees are using strong, hard-to-guess passwords -minimum of 10 characters, with a combination of numbers, letters (uppercase and lowercase) and symbols.
- Keep on top of software updates too - they will provide increased protection against the latest threats and vulnerabilities targeted at their software.
Protecting your customers:
- Protecting your network will benefit you and your customers. The aim is to reduce the threat of any disruption to your business. Ensure all aspects of your network security set-up are maintained.
- Consider adding components to enhance your security – have a Firewall in place to stop unauthorised access to your business’s network and keep your antivirus software up-to-date.
- If you take card payments through your website, make sure you are PCI DSS compliant, so your customers can have confidence in doing business securely with your company.
Protecting your data:
- Keep your data backed-up in a separate location. In case of a cyberattack, or even just hard drive failure, you will at least have a copy of your data to work from.
- Transfer your data securely. While there are many methods for transferring your data to others across the Internet, not all can guarantee high levels of security and reliability, particularly with large file types.
- Our data exchange tool, MX, provides a fast, easy-to-use interface and a highly secure network to send files to other areas of your business, or to other suppliers. MX employs the basis of the tips shared above in order to minimise your business’s security risks, from encrypting your connection to allowing you to manage individual users’ accessibility.
Fundamentally, 100% security of your business online is unachievable. But investing now and using the right solutions for data protection and exchange means that your customers can be confident that your business puts their security first. After all, you don’t want to spend later repairing your security systems and, more importantly, your business’s reputation.
For more information about MX and to start a free 30 day trial please visit us at: www.mymxdata.com