Cyber risk is one of the leading threats for small businesses in Australia, with the cost of a cyber incident averaging $276,000 for businesses.
Whether it’s marketing material, legal documents or customer details, businesses nowadays depend on the digital for operation. This is why it’s so important to make sure your digital assets are protected and safe from hackers, viruses and malware.
Keep track of all your digital assets
Listing all of your digital assets will make it easier to ensure that you’ve got everything covered, as we often don’t realise how many digital assets we have. These could include your social media accounts, trademarks, customer information, contracts and websites. You can prioritise these assets by which ones you want to protect the most to ones that wouldn’t affect your business if they were stolen.
Secure your servers
You can physically protect your servers by keeping server rooms cool, monitoring and limiting access to server rooms and keeping servers, switches and hubs locked. Securing your servers digital can be done by restricting the number of administrator passwords, using updates anti-virus software, regularly backing up data, setting up a firewall and keeping track of server reports to monitor changes and irregularities. You can see what security measures are available for your servers by seeking advice from a trusted supplier.
Implement two-factor identification
Two-factor identification requires a user to get through two layers of security in order to be allowed access. For example, having to enter a password and then entering a code sent to your phone. Implementing two-factor identification wherever possible will help add an extra layer of security, and for most online platforms such as Google and Mailchimp, no additional software is needed as you can choose to enable two-factor identification.
Secure networks
Protecting your network from unauthorised access can be done by using a firewall and reviewing firewall logs for unusual activity on your network. You can also restrict your staff from installing software and content for personal uses as they may allow remote access to the network and could bring in viruses and hackers. Additionally, it is important to always keep your operating system and security software up to date. Replacing any weak passwords with strong and unique ones can also go a long way.
Consider cyber insurance
Cyber insurance can be used to protect your business against digital breaches and risks, meaning that if your digital assets are lost, cyber insurance can cover related costs such as investigation and crisis management costs such as notifying customers and lawsuits. If you’re thinking of implementing cyber insurance, check if your current insurance company has the option to add it to your plan. If not, there are many separate cyber insurance companies you can use.
