Don’t be a statistic in the news, one of those businesses that is included in sentences like, ‘In 2018, the percentage of businesses that were hacked increased from 35% in 2017, to 47% in 2018.’

That’s not a good place to be.

A business is only as strong as it’s weakest link, and in many cases, that vulnerability is the actual employees.

That’s just one of the areas opportunistic hackers can enter your business without your knowledge. And once they are in, then you’re going to start hearing terms like ‘identity theft’, ‘privacy breach’, ‘cyberattacks’. Not nice words.

But there are some simple, actionable steps you can take within your own company to protect your business from hackers, and privacy breaches.

Here they are for you.

 

5 Ways to protect your business from hackers.

TRAIN YOUR STAFF

The heart of your organisation is your employees. And they bear a considerable amount of responsibility when it comes to protecting your business overall.

For example, sophisticated social engagements with staff members from certain departments are are increasing – meaning they are being approached with specific manipulative and conversational techniques.

Hackers are experts in building relationships with employees, sending malicious links or what appear to be official documents like invoices and spreadsheets. Or they send what looks like company branded collateral, with just a little difference that the untrained eye wouldn’t ever notice.

The key to protecting your business from this insipid activity is to train your staff to be aware. To look for ‘glitches in the matrix’. To understand that this CAN happen to any business, not just other ones.

 

SECURELY DESTROY PERSONAL DETAILS

Don’t leave any sensitive client, employee, business or personal information lying around. Ever. Have your staff full aware of how this sort of information should be managed – through being correctly archived for compliance reasons, to being stored in a locked bin prior to being 100% securely destroyed via mobile or onsite shredding, or locked cabinets.

And if you do get a professional shredding business in to ensure your documents are completely, and thoroughly destroyed, make certain that they provide you with a Certificate of Destruction. No need to worry then.

 

PROTECT ALL ONLINE FILES WITH SUPER STRONG PASSWORDS

You know that there are some basic passwords that every one uses. It’s so easy to be complacent. But that’s where we get back to, ‘it’ll never happen to me, it only happens to other people’s businesses’.

Be vigilant. Make your employees vigilant. Ensure they are accountable and responsible for updating their passwords regularly.

 

DO AN AUDIT

It’s worth spending some time doing an audit of how your employees manage privacy and sensitive documents, files, and information.

By doing an audit, you will get a snapshot of where your business security is weakest. And then, you can put updated processes and procedures in place.

 

PUT CHAMPIONS IN PLACE

Sometimes having a team of people who are responsible for keeping the rest of the team in check when it comes to security and privacy protection can get great results. These people can be your Security Champions.

 

Ultimately, keeping your business protected from hackers requires vigilance, consistency, and a commitment from your entire staff. Putting procedures in place means that you have a foundation to work with, to keep those hackers at arms length, and not become a hacking ‘statistic’.