Cybersecurity A Must
For All Businesses

It has never been more important for businesses to understand cybersecurity than now. With a nation-wide shift to hybrid and digital working environments, businesses have been faced with the responsibility of protecting their employees, digital assets, and data from attacks of all kinds. Not only do businesses have to worry about individual/independent threats, but more concerningly, they must prepare for attacks carried out by unfriendly state actors. As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine rages on, the threat of active cyberwarfare grows, and the most likely targets of Russian attacks at this point in time are businesses, from the smallest startup to the largest megacorporation.

To compound the urgency of this issue even more, there is the simple reality that even the smallest breach might allow a hacker or otherwise malicious actor to inflict severe damage on a company and their digital infrastructure. It is therefore important for companies to make their cybersecurity outlook as airtight as possible in order to minimize the chance of a breach ever happening. Thankfully, cybersecurity solutions have reached the point where they are accessible and functional for all – you no longer need to be a master of computer knowledge to take steps that will exponentially reduce the likelihood of your organization being compromised. Read on to learn about a few steps that you can take to protect your business against the worst-case scenario.

1. Educate and train your employees
   Since a very common focus of cyberattacks are employees themselves (especially through their email), it is important for all employees to be accountable for the digital security of their business. Make sure that your employees are educated, trained, and contractually obliged to uphold necessary cybersecurity protocols. If leadership brings all employees on the same page with this, it will nullify one of the largest and easiest ways for hackers to breach your security.
   
2. Install modern security software
   There are a number of different types of software that businesses should have installed in order to increase the depth and complexity of their security. Most of these operate on subscription models and are affordable enough for small businesses to pay for and maintain without issue. Virtual private networks, antivirus programs, data encryption software, and password managers are all very accessible tools businesses can use to complexify their cybersecurity outlook and make it exponentially more difficult for an attacker to make a successful breach. To go one step further, businesses can install and maintain a firewall to protect their physical servers as well.
   
3. Back up data
   Make sure that all of your data, especially that which is most critical (such as accounting, financial, and human resources files), is consistently backed up and stored in a separate location from the main company server or cloud. This makes it impossible for you to lose your data, even if attackers manage to steal if off of the main server.

Security practices like these will help ensure that your organization is as safe as possible from the threat of cyberattacks. It is highly encouraged that you conduct research on these ideas and implement them to shield your business and employees from unnecessary risk.

Rowe, Adam (2022). “12 Cyber Security Measures That Every Small Business Must Take” [Blog]. Tech.co. Available at: https://tech.co/vpn/cyber-security-measures [Accessed Mar 30, 2022]

Segal, Chelsea. “8 Cyber Security Best Practices For Your Small To Medium-Size Business” [Blog]. CoxBLUE. Available at: https://www.coxblue.com/8-cyber-security-best-practices-for-your-small-to-medium-size-business-smb/ [Accessed Mar 30, 2022]