Many small business owners choose to believe that hackers and cybercriminals are constantly developing new means, methods, and ways, to attack SMBs. While this is not entirely untrue, but in most cases, these hackers are merely exploiting the existing vulnerabilities within the existing networks and systems. If your company is serious about emerging threats and wants to reduce cybersecurity vulnerability, it is important to be proactive. We have a few tips below on how to deal with security vulnerabilities better.
Test, scan, and test again
Penetration testing and network segmentation are extremely useful means and ways of finding existing vulnerabilities. If your organization can fix the problems long before anyone else exploits the same, you can prevent the complicated consequences of a security breach, which obviously extend beyond standard financial losses. Network scanning can be also handy for keeping a check on suspicious activities and for detecting malware and unknown files.
Educate your teams and employees
Your employees are your biggest asset in ensuring cybersecurity, and unfortunately, they are also the weakest link. When your employees aren’t sure of how to handle company resources, follow the dos and don’ts of accessing information, emails, and other assets, security breaches are like, sooner or later. Ensure that your employees know of the common security threats, and how hackers tend to exploit vulnerabilities within the system. Let them know of the common social engineering tactics, phishing, and smishing.
Update third-party software and firmware
All third-party software, firmware, and other programs should be updated on a regular basis, and ensure that your operating systems are updated too. This just ensures that existing flaws and bugs are done away with. Most manufacturers and developers spend considerable time and effort to offer security patches and updates, and as a customer, you should make the most of it.
Password protection is a must
Weak passwords, and default details, are super easy to hack and guess. Ensure that you have strong list of dos and don’ts for creating and managing passwords, and don’t forget to ask your employees to use a password manager. Where needed, use a second or third layer of authentication, and use the lockout feature, which can be really handy for preventing brute force attacks.
Finally, get everyone involved. Cybersecurity should be a shared organizational concern, and every team, department, and employee should get involved in finding and fixing vulnerabilities, by working in a collaborative manner.
