Five Simple Ways to Improve the Cybersecurity of Your Business

As the need for technology within the world of business grows, so does the threat of major cyber-attacks that can disrupt operations for weeks. Strong cybersecurity infrastructure can lessen the chance of your business falling victim to a cyber attack but implementing this may take several weeks as there are many steps to creating strong cybersecurity infrastructure. If you are concerned about cybersecurity but are not ready to take the full step into creating a complete cybersecurity infrastructure yet, there are several small things that you can implement today. Here are five simple ways to improve the cybersecurity of your business.

Five Simple Ways to Improve the Cybersecurity of Your Business

1. Change your passwords.
This is one of the easiest ways to quickly improve the cybersecurity of your business. The best passwords are at least twelve to fifteen characters long and contain letters, numbers, and symbols. Use different passwords for each account but especially for ones that contain sensitive information. Keep in mind that if an employee is using the same password for each account and they get hacked once, the other accounts will often get hacked as well. An easy way to keep track of all your passwords is to install and use a password manager. Password managers can also be used to generate secure passwords. Check out PC Magazine’s Best Password Managers of 2023.

2. Enable two factor or multi factor authentication.
This is a layered approach to securing your accounts and the data that they contain. When you enable MFA or 2FA the user has to provide a combination of two or more authentication methods to verify your identity before access is granted. Using MFA and 2FA is an easy way to improve the cybersecurity of your business because if the hacker cannot meet the second authentication method, they will immediately be stopped from accessing your accounts. Some common MFA and 2FA methods are fingerprint scanning, authentication applications, SMS messages, and email messages.

3. Train employees in cybersecurity awareness.
Untrained employees are often the most common cause of cyber-attacks and data breaches. Employees who fall for phishing and social engineering scams can lead to weeks of company downtime. Setting up cybersecurity awareness training is easy and covers the following things, password management, privacy, phishing security, internet security, and physical security. Some businesses engage in cybersecurity awareness training because they must comply with certain industry related regulatory requirements. Whether it is required in your industry or not, it is an easy way to improve the cybersecurity of your business because studies have shown that cybersecurity awareness training reduces the annual amount of phishing attacks by 50%.

4. Keep your software and infrastructure updated.
Make sure your employees are regularly updating their laptops, desktops, and mobile devices with the required security patches. Cybersecurity threats are ever changing and if your infrastructure is older and has vulnerabilities that are not patched then the more vulnerable your business is to a major cyber-attack. If you are having difficulty remembering to update all of your software and hardware, hiring a managed service provider like Tekscape will ensure that it is done on a regular basis for you.

5. Set up a data backup system.
One of the most common and dangerous cyber threats is ransomware. Smaller businesses are susceptible to ransomware attacks, as are larger ones such as educational facilities, hospitals, and financial institutions. The average cost of a large ransomware breach can cost over four million dollars and that does not include the actual ransom. It is a combined cost that includes business downtime, mediation, and recovery. New data has shown that even if a business pays the ransom, it is likely it will never get its data back. This is why disaster recovery and cloud backup is so important. If your business does fall victim to a ransomware attack, then the data will be backed up to a cloud server. Recovery will be easy and can take as little as fifteen minutes to get your business back up and running after a breach.

If cybersecurity has been a challenge for you in the past or is still a challenge, consider working with a managed service provider like Tekscape. We offer managed security services that include detection, response, intelligence, and remediation. When working with a managed service provider, you can protect your company’s network, applications, and devices all in one place. The tools, monitoring, and hardware that we provide will reduce the risk of cyber-attacks. 

We work with several industries including manufacturing, education, legal firms, and financial firms. We are located in New York City but serve clients all over the United States. Besides offering managed security services, we also offer managed IT services, collaboration, implementation of Microsoft 365, cybersecurity awareness training, cyber insurance, and physical security. Contact us today to learn more about the services we provide and how we can help secure your cybersecurity infrastructure.