DETROIT – If your company is like Canada’s most small or medium-sized businesses, the internet is an essential tool for success in today’s digital economy. Getting your business online helps you to reach new customers and expand your business.
Even If you do not have a website, an Instagram account, a Twitter account, or a Facebook page, you probably rely on the internet for day-to-day business operations like payroll, banking, and ordering supplies.
However, being secure and safe while online is essential. Unfortunately, it’s easy to believe that as a small or medium-sized business, you’re trivial to attract the attention of cybercriminals. Indeed, cybercriminals are increasingly targeting small businesses because they genuinely think their desktops are vulnerable.
We recommend Secured VPNs for Businesses in Canada as VPNs keep your organization’s information confidential, and no one can access your important data.
This article is for small and medium-sized business owners. However, cyber security is a joint responsibility. Depending on how the company is structured, other people like co-owners, administrators, or employees should also be aware of the information in this guide.
The following are 7 Top Cybersecurity Solutions for Small and Medium Businesses in Canada that are simple to implement and, when combined, will provide you with a basic level of security against the most common cyber risks.
Cybersecurity Policy
A cyber security policy is a plan that entails choosing and implementing quality practices that protect a company from both internal and external risks and threats.
The cyber security policy also provides a baseline for a business security program, allowing it to adapt to new cyber threats on an ongoing basis.
Most small and medium-sized businesses don’t have any cyber security policy. Creating a cyber security policy should be a top priority for any company. A cyber security policy will prioritize which assets must be secured, which must address threats and risks, and which safeguards must be implemented.
Here are a few steps to assist you in developing a cyber security policy for your company:
Conduct a cyber threat assessment.
Create your security objectives.
Examine your technology.
Choose a security framework.
Review security measures.
Develop a risk management strategy.
Implement your cyber security plan.
Review your cybersecurity program.
Teach your Employees How to Recognize Scammers
Phishing scams are now one of the most common ways cyber thieves target businesses. However, this will help to avoid such a damaging attack if you teach your employees about phishing through adequate training.
Throughout their phishing attempts, cybercriminals use emails that seem to be authentic communications. In addition, they are often hidden as a worker would expect, such as an email with a password reset link, an HR alert, or a shipment verification.
Even though scammers go to extraordinary lengths to disguise these emails, there are some methods for detecting phishing attempts. A few of the ways are as follows:
Check the sender’s name: clicking on a link in emails from someone you don’t know is never a good idea. No organization will ever request important data like usernames or passwords via insecure end-user messaging. Cybercriminals will even use an email address that looks similar to a company’s official email, so double-checking the sender’s email is from is essential.
Examine the email’s body for unusual spelling or characters, which could indicate a scam attempt, mainly if the sender asks for confidential information. Likewise, misspellings and grammar mistakes should raise a red flag when it seems to be coming from a reputable source. In conclusion, Cyber security analyst training can help your employees prevent cyber attacks.
Always Use a VPN
Even if you can convince your employees to take basic security measures with their home Wi-Fi networks, most will still need VPN services to establish secure encrypted passageways between a remote server and a home user.
This is essential in safeguarding the company’s sensitive information from wrongdoers who may attack a Wi-Fi network or use home ISP techniques.
Avoid free VPN services, as the majority of the free VPN services attempt to monetize their services by selling your data to third parties. You should also investigate the company’s physical location. To avoid data sharing, look for a service headquarters in a state with strict privacy laws. If you want your traffic to travel through a specific geographic area, server locations are something to consider. Depending on the variety of devices or operating systems you’ve deployed, you’ll also want to ensure that the VPN is compatible with your significant devices.
Data Security
If your business is primarily conducted online, you must ensure that the data you transmit and receive online is as secure as possible to keep your company safe.
To do so, you must first determine which data is public (and thus does not require strict security); which information is of moderate importance and would not affect your business if revealed; and, finally, which information is the most important and personal to your company.
To avoid jeopardizing your company, you must establish stringent procedures to safeguard this information. First, hire a Cyber Security Company to protect against data leakage. To protect sensitive data, these companies provide adequate coverage and intrusion detection.
Your most crucial data will significantly impact your company if it is stolen or lost, so it should be secured with the highest level of protection and given to members of your team with the fewest access permissions.
Two Factor Authentication
Two-factor authentication requires more information than your email address and password. Most consumer apps either use an SMS code sent to your phone or a code created by an authenticator app.
When you set up two-factor authentication, you’ll be asked to prove that you own mobile and the associated mobile number, which grants you the ability to create and receive codes. Hackers cannot log in unless they have access to your mobile phone, email account, and password.
Two-factor authentication codes are often sent via email; in some cases, a physical object, such as a USB key, can be used to access your account. For most accounts and services, this additional code is not required every time you open a site or app that would quickly become tedious.
Two-factor authentication is triggered when you attempt to log in to your account on a new device that you have never used before or have not accessed in a long time, such as a new laptop or a phone that has not previously been linked with your account.
Strong Password
Passwords are commonly used to safeguard access to important business information, but if workers are not cautious, others may use their passwords to access critical files and data.
There are several common issues with the use of passwords in the workplace:
- Employees either write down their passwords or post them somewhere others can copy them or share passwords with others. In both situations, the lack of control over the password makes it almost impossible to ensure that the individual accessing systems has the proper authorization.
- Employees use weak, easily guessable passwords, allowing others to access sensitive information.
- They reuse the same password across various systems and applications, putting all at risk if one is compromised.
- They do not often change their passwords.
Have a strong and secure password policy that specifies which rules should apply to passwords being used in your business. In this regard, the following advice should be included:
- Avoid using words like “password” or “login.”
- Avoid simple number sequences like “1234”.
- Personal names that are easy to guess, such as a kid’s first name, should be avoided.
- Create passwords with a minimum of eight characters. The more characters used, the more secure the password.
- Make strong passwords by combining the uppercase letters, lowercase letters, numbers, and special characters (for example, #, !, $, or%)
We recommend you use a password manager (an application that creates random passwords) to generate even stronger passwords for your employees.
Firewall
Firewalls act as a barrier between your device and the internet. They serve as a barrier to expanding cyber threats like viruses and malware. It is critical to configure firewall devices and check them regularly to ensure their software is up to date, or they might not function properly.
Conclusion
Cybersecurity is one of Canada’s most difficult challenges for small and medium-sized businesses. Cybercrime is a constant threat whether you have online accounts, an e-commerce store, a website, or a web-based infrastructure. So, to protect your business, we have explained all of the significant cybersecurity measures you can take.
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