In the last year alone, more than 80% of UK businesses, charities, and third-sector organisations experienced a cyber-attack, highlighting just how significant of a threat cybercrime is.
The phrase fail to prepare, prepare to fail is very fitting when it comes to SMEs and cyber, because sooner or later your business will become a victim of a cyber-attack if you fail to put defences in place to stop cybercriminals.
Cyber security is not just for your IT team, everybody involved in a business should understand the basics of cyber security and the role they play in keeping themselves and others safe. Cyber-attacks can lead to customers losing trust in an organisation, negative financial consequences, and reputational damage.
Cyber-attacks are often completely preventable; the following 7 simple steps could be all it takes to protect your business:
Take regular backups of your important data, and test that they can be restored.
Keep your smartphones and tablets safe by switching on PIN/password/fingerprint recognition for mobile devices and by using the automatic update option if available.
Prevent malware damage by using antivirus software on all devices, only install approved software and prevent users from downloading third-party apps from unknown sources.
Avoid phishing attacks by ensuring staff don’t browse the web or check emails from an account with Administrator privileges, scan for malware and change passwords as soon as possible.
Use strong passwords to protect your data and change manufacturers’ default passwords that devices are issued with.
Turn on two-factor authentication for all accounts where possible.
Consider using a password manager, if you do use one make sure that the master password is a strong one.
To help you to guard your business against cyber-attacks the police-led SECRC offers a free membership package. It is hassle-free and doesn’t commit you to anything that you’ll later be charged for. Join today at www.secrc.co.uk/membership.
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