Small Business Cybersecurity: 6 Ways to Protect Your Data from Hackers

Regardless of the type of business you run, data security should be a high priority. While advancements in technology have made collecting and saving information quicker and easier for businesses of all types, unfortunately, it’s also made it easier than ever for hackers to take advantage. 

Securing your company’s data doesn’t have to be difficult, as there are lots of ways to keep the information safe. If you keep reading below, you’ll discover several practical ways to protect your business data from hackers. 

1. Backup Your Data Regularly

Regardless of the cybersecurity measures you have in place, you should back up your company’s data regularly. Whether that’s to an on-site server or cloud-based storage, backing up sensitive information must be a priority. 

Despite the latest and greatest cybersecurity measures, hackers sometimes still find a way in. Should data loss occur for any reason, you’ll be able to perform cloud disaster recovery from your backups and return to normal operations quickly. 

2. Train Your Team

Hackers like to target unsuspecting workers using phishing scams to gather sensitive information. Talking to and training your team regularly on how to spot a phishing attempt will help keep your company’s data safe and secure. The more your employees know about cybersecurity, the less likely they are to fall for a targeted attack. 

3. Change Passwords Periodically

Set a schedule for your staff to change their passwords periodically for company access. Many companies make this a quarterly event, with all staff members changing their passwords at the same time. While this isn’t foolproof, hackers will have a harder time accessing your sensitive data if the passwords change regularly. 

4. Keep Your Software Up to Date

Many business owners neglect this important step in cybersecurity. Software manufacturers often make updates and upgrades to their products to protect against new cyber threats online. Staying on top of updates for whatever cybersecurity measures you use will increase your company’s data security. 

If you aren’t particularly tech-savvy, you may want to set your software to auto-update. This ensures you’ve always got the latest and safest version available. If you’re technologically inclined, you can also do manual updates to have more control over your company’s sensitive information. 

5. Use Different Passwords for Different Accounts

It’s almost impossible to prevent all cyberattacks, but you can make it harder for hackers to get your information by using different passwords for different accounts. Encourage your staff to choose a different password for each of their logins. This way, if a hacker does happen to get hold of one password, they won’t be able to access all of that employee’s accounts because each one will have a different password. Lastly, use a password encryption tool to store and encrypt passwords. This makes it even harder for hackers to access your data. 

6. Use Multi-Factor Authentication

Multi-factor authentication adds a second layer of protection to a login portal. For example, in addition to requiring a username and password to log in, a person will also need an email, authorized smartphone, or verification code to gain access to the portal. This method basically stops hackers in their tracks as they usually don’t have access to the second piece of required authentication to access the data. 

While it’s nearly impossible to stop all cyberattacks, putting these simple and effective methods into play can drastically reduce the chances a hacker will be able to gain access to your company’s sensitive data.