The digital space offers a lot of potential, but it is not safe. Like the physical world, there are dangers lurking everywhere. They come in the form of hackers or cybercriminals who are never up to any good.
2018 statistics show that 62% of businesses were victims of cyber-attacks. Within that very year, the cybersecurity sector grew by 67%. Some of the major challenges for companies include a lack of proper protection of data. Many also don’t have enough cybersecurity measures.
With a rise in the number of remote workers, experts predict a surge in cloud breaches. The good news is that there are ways to protect your system and programs from digital attacks. We will share five methods you can try.
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Learn What Digital Security Challenges You Face
Think of fighting cybercriminals like a war zone. You must do some detective work to understand the ways of the enemy. You can only fight and hope to win if you come from a place of understanding.
It is critical to note that proper digital security is not only the management’s concern. One of the biggest challenges is insider threats. Employees may, without intending to, expose the organization to vulnerabilities. In other cases, it could be malicious intent from a disgruntled employee.
In the US, over 2500 internal security breaches occur every single day. There has been an increase of 47% since 2018. Between 15 to 25% of cyber incidents are due to trusted business partners. Also, read about digital business transformation.
Educate yourself and your staff on present and emerging threats. Also, teach them how to identify and react to threats. They should, for example, not click on any links whose source they cannot confirm.
If you allow employees to use their own devices like laptops, ensure they have the right security.
At the end of the workday, they must also remember to switch off their machines. Always being online makes you more visible to hackers. Further, you give them a running connection to carry out their mischief.
Consider it an investment to consult security experts for the best advice. It allows you to put in place proactive measures to combat any attacks.
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Have a Security Policy and Team in Place
A security policy is a critical document to have in any organization. It outlines every aspect of cybersecurity and how it applies to your company. The policy covers things like incident response plans and everyone’s role.
Also, assemble a security team who can be in charge of implementing the policy. You can outsource the role to security experts. But, it is also a good idea to have in-house staff as part of the team. They are the first line of defense in case of security threats.
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The Right Security Measures are not an Option
The reality is, cybercriminals are attacking in more sophisticated ways. You can no longer compromise on having the right security measures in place. They are not just an option anymore, they’re mandatory. Such include:-
- Choose the right & affordable web hosting provider. When picking, seek clarity on the type of security measures they offer on their platforms.
- Enable firewalls for your systems. You will prevent hackers from getting access to your business networks.
- If your business collects a lot of data from different websites, install a web scraping proxy. Such give you online anonymity and security. You can also collect data without raising any flags. Many websites will view repeated requests from one IP address as suspicious. They may end up banning you, making it hard to get the data you need. A web scraping proxy gives you a different IP address with every request. The remote server will have no idea that the queries are coming from one place.
- Install antivirus, anti-malware, and anti-spyware. Such help with fighting malware, or viruses. You also stop hackers from monitoring and collecting any information from your systems.
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Consider How People Gain Access to your Systems
How easy is it for people to gain access to your systems? Here are some ways to seal any loopholes you may have.
Focus on raising the complexity of your passwords. The harder they are, the more challenging it will be for hackers to find a way in. Use a combination of numbers, letters, and symbols.
Avoid opting for the usual birthdays or name combinations. Also, do not use the same password for many accounts.
Put in place multi-factor authentication in your systems. It requires the use of information that only you would be privy to. You get a selection of questions that you must provide answers to.
Such could include your mother’s maiden name. Others are your first teacher’s name and so on. If you combine these with a strong password, you make it more challenging for hackers to get access.
Assign access levels to those who will be using the system. They only get to see what is important for the completion of their roles.
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Update and Backup Your Systems
Have you ever asked yourself why developers are always working on updates?
First, they get to improve upon their product offering. Second, they fix any bugs or glitches that may present. Finally, they install the latest security updates to keep you safe from hackers.
Ensure everyone within the organization makes system updates part of the schedule. One employee avoiding this critical component can expose the organization to vulnerabilities.
Another necessary process is to back up your systems. If you suffer any breach or data loss, you can get everything up and running using the backups. Store such data in a separate location such as the cloud or an external hard drive.
Final Thoughts
It is possible to protect your systems and programs from hackers. We have shared five ways to do it. You should know why ethical hacking is good and it works well in your favor. It is important that everyone understands the threats. They must also play a role in combating them.
Come up with a solid security strategy. Ensure everyone within the organization understands it. It also helps to have suitable security measures in place. Such include the use of proxies, anti-malware, antivirus, firewalls, and anti-spyware.
Make it more challenging for hackers to access your systems. You do it with the use of complex passwords and multi-factor authentication. You will also boost your security further by assigning access levels.
Remember, hackers never rest when looking for areas of vulnerability. Neither should you, in taking steps to ensure they never get any.
