5 Tips on improving digital security for small businesses

digital security for small businesses

Running a business is hard enough as it is. The last thing you want to deal with is a hacker breaking into your business network and stealing information.

Sadly, this is a concern you can’t ignore today. Reports estimate that there were more than 4 billion records stolen in 2019. That number isn’t likely to go down in the future as more businesses come online.

Improving digital security needs to be a priority for every business. Keep reading to learn five tips that will help you step up your security game.

Purchase a Hardware Firewall

You have to have complete visibility of your business network if you want to stay safe. Putting a firewall in front of your internet traffic will accomplish that.

Your firewall will monitor all internet traffic on your network. You’ll be able to see what your employees do online and put restrictions in place to stop unwanted activity. Your firewall will also look for malicious activity and block it before damage occurs.

Limit Data Access

You can’t guarantee complete safety, even with a robust security system. There’s always a chance that an accident will happen.

You can limit the damage by limiting the data access for your employees. Not everybody needs access to all your data. When you put access controls in place, you also limit the information the attacker can see from the compromised account.

Enforce a Password Policy

Your passwords are the keys to your business. You can’t expect to keep your information safe if you have employees who create passwords that are easy to guess.

Coming up with passwords that are long and complex is a crucial part of any security policy. Your passwords should contain at least one uppercase letter, lowercase letter, number, and unique character. Doing this means an attacker can’t guess personal information about your team to gain access to your online accounts.

Keep Everything Updated

Software companies do their best to develop secure software. The problem is that new threats are discovered all the time. Developers can’t be expected to release software that is entirely free of security problems.

Performing regular software updates will help you keep your software secure. Doing this will provide you with patches that harden your software from the latest threats.

Get a Security Audit

If you don’t have a background in data security, you likely aren’t going to be able to prepare for every security threat. Unfortunately, all it takes is one security hole for a hacker to get in and compromise your whole company network.

Getting a network security assessment for your business will help you find these holes. An expert will do an audit of your business network to help you find and fix any issues.

Improving Digital Security Doesn’t Happen Overnight

You can’t just add a few tools and expect to call it a day. Improving digital security is a process of learning and implementing those tools. Make sure you and your team learn what it takes to stay safe on the internet.

If you think your security is on point, you shouldn’t have to worry about becoming more reliant on technology. Keep reading our blog to learn how to make the most of the tech in your business.