Please Wait

Please Wait

I-am.am | Ես Հայ Եմ

Strategies On How To Keep Your Small Business Safe Online

Strategies On How To Keep Your Small Business Safe Online

The online world has provided us with a diversity of perks and promises. We’ve started to trust technology and the internet so much that we got used to running our businesses in the online world — using convenient online tools and services. We know that the internet holds many risks and dangers and that staying safe online is an absolute priority. Nevertheless, we rarely assume that we can be a potential target of cyber threats, we usually think, “it can’t be me, I’m pretty much safe.”

In reality, you’re as vulnerable to such risks as everyone else on the internet. You can consider yourself safe and sound only if you’ve taken into account all the essential strategies we’re going to embrace in this article relating to cyber safety.

 

Common Internet Security Threats For Businesses

Small business owners may think that their business is just too small to be targeted, so they don’t prioritize cybersecurity as much. And that’s how they become easier accessible victims of cybersecurity threats. It’s important to remember that companies of all kinds and sizes can be in danger.

There are different types of cyber threats, some of which are met more frequently than others, such as;

  • Phishing 
  • Malware
  • Ransomware
  • Viruses
  • Misinformation caused by cybercriminals
  • Unsecured wireless networks
phishing

One of the most common threats has been phishing: when a cybercriminal pretends to be a trusted contact and makes you click on an insecure link, or download some insecure file, or give access to critical information or data. They pretend to be someone from a reputable company. Phishing is usually done via emails and with the dominated usage of mobile devices – via mobile. 

 

Malware attacks are carried out in the form of encoded harmful software products. There’s also the term mobile malware,’ which refers to a type of software used specifically on mobile devices for evil purposes.

 

Ransomware has also been prevalent during the last few years. It’s malicious software – a virus, which encrypts your data and, in return, requires money from you.

 

Business owners are the ones responsible for investing in cybersecurity measures. You simply cannot guarantee your safety until you take action.

 

What Strategies There Are To Help Your Small Business Stay Safe Online

 

On the journey towards establishing a cyber-secure business – the first step will be assessing your risks and coming up with a plan against online safety threats. There are diverse and proven strategies, with the help of which you can be sure that your business will stay safe online.


  • Keep your passwords long and unique.

There are still people who use the same password for all of their devices and internet accounts, which consists of their name, favorite number, and birth year. Well, this is not practical today. 

non-repetitive passwords

For the security of your business and its employees, you need to educate your workers to create unique, long, and non-repetitive passwords for each device, website, or account and update them once in a while. This might sound like a challenging task, and actually, it is because an average person has more than 100 passwords to manage, which can be highly time-consuming. Therefore, businesses are offered to invest in password managers.

 

 

cyber security
  • SSL certificate for website security.

As you’re trying to connect with your audience and do your best to serve your customers with the online business, cybercriminals are vying for your data to be stolen and sold for a nice amount of money. To prevent something like this, you need a secure web connection. An SSL certificate doesn’t let your important data have the possibility to be exposed and ensures your website’s privacy. Having an SSL certificate means you have ‘HTTPS’ instead of ‘HTTP’ in your website’s URL.

To stay away from many types of online threats, you need to back up any kind of original and significant data and safely keep it in your archive. Anything that cannot be replaced when lost must be backed up, especially by business employees.

  • Keep updating your apps, software, or devices.

Updates contain many bug fixes and security repairs. If the weak parts of your devices are not fixed on time, cybercriminals can use them and cause damage to those devices in several ways.

 

To sum up, there are hundreds of proven strategies and ways to protect yourself and your business from cybersecurity threats. When running a business online, be it small or big, you can’t avoid online dangers. Your only choice remains to take control over them and be aware of all the opportunities you have for web protection. 

Do you know any other ways to stay safe online? It would be great if you could share them by commenting below.