For all your efforts to make online business cybersecurity as effective as possible, things can slip through the net, as it were. But when cybersecurity isn’t as strong as it can be, it can cause numerous issues with a business, not least a ruined reputation and even legal hot water.
Controlled Access to Customer Data
One of the most controversial and hot topics these days is the handling of data. Data is valuable, and legitimate companies and criminals alike will pay top money for it. User access control to data can help reduce card not present transaction fraud because specific data is required. UAC is easy to implement using an operating system’s built-in security. But it can be easy to get around. Customer data platforms such as Snowflake are much more effective.
Password Changing Requirements
According to Expert Insights, weak passwords are among the top 5 vulnerabilities to an online system. Passwords are indeed a massive liability if they aren’t secured as well as they can be. A good password is 12 or more characters long, contains a mixture of upper and lower case letters, and includes numbers and symbols. This makes it much harder for software to guess. It also helps if you ensure your employee and customer passwords are changed often.
Online Business Cybersecurity Includes Software
You don’t have to do it all yourself when enhancing cybersecurity. Fortunately, there are many apps and software available for making security at any business much more effective. At the minimum, software that proactively monitors activity on a company network is recommended:
- LAN and WiFi analyzers are great tools for spotting unauthorized activity
- Tools that systematically check drives will help spot file access and creation.
- SNMP, packet sniffing, and WMI tools will secure a business network.
The best budget software includes Defendify and Burp. On the higher end, Solar Winds and SecPod are much more effective for managing vulnerabilities and guarding against threats.
Multi-Factor Authentication
Complex passwords are a great first line of defense against cybercrime. But they can fail and become a risk eventually. However, you can boost cybersecurity alongside passwords with multi-factor authentication. This forces a user to use another means of identity verification alongside logging in with a username and password. A popular method is to send a unique code to an email or a mobile phone that a user must confirm when they login to an online system.
Proactive Checks and Balances
One of the best ways to tackle cybersecurity issues is to be proactive. But what does this mean for you? There needs to be some way to predict future issues and take action against them rather than installing a reactive solution that only kicks in after an event. Data backups, security and software updates, and regular penetration testing are among the best ways to proactively defend against scams such as phishing, malware, and denial of service (DDoS) attacks.
Summary
Online business cybersecurity means taking measures against attacks before and after. Access to data must be controlled with apps, password management, and multi-factor authentication. Yet security software and being proactive against common threats is also an effective solution.