Cyber Security Month: five tips to keep your business safe

Cyber Security Awareness Month is here again, which makes this a good time to ask the question: ‘how secure is your business?’

When you’re looking to protect your business from cyber threats, there are some easy ways to boost your online security. Here are a few…

1) Understand the threats

If you don’t know what the threats to your business security are, or the areas that you need to secure to make your business safer, you’re going to be at an immediate disadvantage against the people who wish you harm.

Our advice is to develop an understanding of the threat landscape. A good place to start is with a better understanding of cyber security terminology. Our article here can help you get started, but we’d also recommend making use of online resources such as the National Cyber Security Centre.

2) Secure your devices and accounts

There are plenty of precautions you can take to keep your devices and accounts more protected from attack. From enabling two-factor authentication wherever possible to implementing other tools like firewalls, it’s vital to put up that extra line of defence whenever and wherever you can.

3) Train your people

Being aware of threats and implementing tools to protect against them can keep many security breaches at bay, but successful attacks often occur as a result of human error.

In many ways, it doesn’t matter how tight your business security is, how robust your protocols are, all it takes is a careless employee, a malicious user or even an honest mistake to compromise your systems.

That’s why it’s so important to keep your people aware of what they need to do to stay safe online, and – where applicable – to keep limits on their permissions (does every employee need access to everything?).

4) Be risk averse

A good general rule of thumb when it comes to online security is ‘if it doesn’t feel right, don’t do it’.

That unexpected link on an email: you don’t have to click it. That request for payment from the ‘CEO’: check with someone first.

It may be considered a sad state of affairs, but blind trust is what online scammers thrive on. Developing a cynical mindset can help safeguard from phishing emails, social engineering and more.

5) Get pro support

When you’ve done all you can to secure your business from attack, why not take things a step further.

From proactive monitoring to keeping criminals outside your network, we’ll provide the tools and expertise you need to take your business security to the next level.

Find out more about business security solutions from Zen here.