As a small business owner, trust and quality of service are everything. Maybe not everything, but it holds the power to make or break the success of the business. Imagine you release a beta app and through word-of-mouth, you get your first few downloads. Later you see negative reviews under the beta app because you see reviews of a virus or malware infected through your app. Tragic, right?

In this ever-growing online world, hackers and cyber-attackers are opportunists. It is not just big companies they’re after. They can even target up-and-coming services that didn’t think much of implementing security measures. This spells disaster for the business and needs to be taken care of. For example, if you are residing in Australia,  a quality Australian VPN service can help prioritize your work operations, transactions, and dealings, etc. Therefore, we bring to you the top cybersecurity strategies to adopt if you’re a small business owner. 

The online world is under constant attack of cyberattacks and malware. We also understand that as a small business owner, the budget is tight. So, these tips will be enough to sustain your security measures from potential malware and attacks. Let’s get started. 

1. Use VPNs and Firewalls

We suggested this in the intro and it’s worth mentioning again. The use of VPNs is quite common amongst organizations and big businesses. The private network seals out the operations and dealings from unwanted attacks. Investing in a VPN like SurfSharkVPN, ExpressVPN, NordVPN, etc. will bear long-term benefits for the company.

2. Cloud Security

The data of the future is backed up on the cloud and its infrastructure requires constant check-and-balance. While they may be cost-effective, accessible, and efficient, they can be vulnerable to cyberattacks if you don’t pick the right one. Take out time to survey cloud security services and see what fits best for your small business. 

3. Network Security

Preventing unauthorized use of data is a hazard and needs to be dealt with. You never know if your employees have a torrent file downloading in progress or a Netflix show downloaded for offline viewing. Network Security bars users from unwanted sites and safeguards against internal threats. This may sound strict but is a step towards quality control. The Network security measures can include setting up strong Wi-Fi passwords and periodically updating them. 

4. Backups and Recovery Points

Data is precious, and every piece of data that is developed, stored, and used needs to have backups and recovery points. This helps a lot against ransomware where the data is stolen and sold back to the user. It is preferred to have local backup data as well as on the cloud. In case one fails, the other is readily available. It may seem old school, but it is a small effort to save a big future. 

5. Employee Training

Companies employ an IT service, and they make occasional visits to survey the security protocols and data. Some people get smart enough and try to disable firewalls, misuse VPNs, and leak sensitive data. That is why the knowledge of cybersecurity is one that the whole workforce needs to know. 

Employee training can include seminars on cybersecurity tools and how to avoid releasing important forms of data. They can also be designed to educate the employees on the system of security, which will strengthen their knowledge of the basics of cybersecurity. It is also important to educate them on common schemes and scams that occur during the handling of information. 

6. Consistent Upgrades, improvements, and updates

As a small business owner, the rooms for improvement, upgrades, and updates keep expanding. It is the same case for security measures. Many new features are being rolled out in 2022 that ease the worry of cybersecurity. You need to make sure that your enterprise is equipped with the best Web Services, best Firewall as a Service (FWaaS), Virtual Private Networks (VPNs), Zero Transfer Network Access (ZTNA), and much more. 

It is important to note the concept of Chaos engineering at this point. It is a team designed specifically to detect bugs and issues and the engineering team gets to work on fixing them. This results in consistent upgrades that smoothen the customer experience. Before they get their hands on the service or product and face chaos, you would’ve already detected it and fixed it. This concept has helped companies like Netflix and Hulu win their customers. 

Conclusion

The future will continue to embrace the internet space, but it will also harbor dangerous cyberattacks. For small business owners, these 6 tips are best practices to refine your proposition and win more customers. Have a safe experience!