Tag: cyber threats

Protecting Your Startup – 4 Ways To Prevent Online Frauds

Cyber threats and online frauds have become quite common. Startups need to invest in measures that protect your business from such setbacks, always.

Cyber threats and online frauds have become quite common. No business in the world has remained untouched by these atrocities. These can arise in the form of company-wide threats as well as tiny nuances that can render either one of your teams or departments handicapped for a few weeks. Regardless of what the intensity of these online frauds might be, you must be careful. You need to invest in measures that protect your business from such setbacks, always. Let’s discuss a few ways to do that:

Protect Your Bank Account

There has to be a company bank account that you must have opened. It is critical to prevent all your banking-related information from getting out on an open network. Do not download any mobile apps or even desktop applications that are not verified and safe for your system. These can obtain your banking information from your company smartphones and company nodes and servers as well. This is your first step to protect your enterprise from the most basic and very common online fraud.

Perform An Employee Background Check

You would say that you always do that. And then you will say that you hire only trustworthy people. Remember, everyone says the same thing. It is never a good idea to rely entirely on references or perhaps the candidate’s work history. Cyber security experts suggest that you should always conduct a thorough background check on every candidate that you hire in your company. Regardless of what their job responsibilities might be, do not forget to conduct a proper background assessment.



Do Not Forget To Perform A Security Audit

A lot of business owners do not understand the importance of a timely and regular security audit. This is a great way to prevent any kind of online fraud in your company. According to HPS Worldwide, it is important for any company to strengthen its networks and educate its representatives and team members on how to identify any potential cyber threat. A security audit lets you identify loopholes and various points of weakness in your existing security measures, data protection protocols, antivirus strategies, ransomware prevention tools, and a lot more.

Identify The Signs Of Payment Frauds

Are there any signs of online payment fraud at all? Yes, there are and you must be aware of them. Whenever you come across a single entry that might seem suspicious, the best approach to take is to alert your bank right away. The majority of payment frauds do not involve big sums and large transactions. They involve tiny sums so that it becomes very difficult for you to notice them. You must check your accounts regularly and identify any suspicious debit/transfer entries that take out small yet regular sums of money from them without any initiation from your side.

Conclusion

Remember to implement a company-wide password policy. Make sure that your security measures are updated. The best way to steer clear of these online frauds and their negative impact is to prevent them from happening in the first place.



5 Tips on improving digital security for small businesses

Part of the maintenance of your online services is avoiding any cyber threats that may come. Here are tips for small businesses on improving digital security.

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.