Gone are the days when only large corporations and companies had to worry about being hacked. But that is no more the case. Now, the small-scaled businesses are becoming a prime target for hackers to feast on. And what is the primary reason behind it? The reason is simple. Small businesses are the softest targets, and they have the least website security, whatsoever, making it easier to hack in. That is why it has become important for small businesses to gear up and bring their war face on.
For a small business, the stakes are way higher than the owners get to realize. On top of that, not having the backup of a strong website security action plan worsens things up. That is why hatching the right strategy in place can save you from many such problems to come and can save you a fortune as well. Well, as you have landed on this page, we have got this covered for you. Here we will walk you through seven such best practices that when incorporated can protect your business from getting ripped. Without any further ado, let us now dig into cyber security tips for small business in detail. Let us begin.
Get a Vulnerability Scanner for your site
Well, if you have not gotten a vulnerability scanner for your site yet, maybe you should get it sooner than later. So, what does a vulnerability scanner do? This scanner will help in letting you know whether your site is weak. It will alert you as and when it sees loopholes that hackers aim for.
Plus, if you happen to have a good one, these scanners will also tell you how to remediate those weaknesses. Once you get one of these scanners, you can see your site from a hacker’s perspective. Further, to ensure the best for your website you must scan your site as often as you can. Often, we mean scanning it daily too should not be a problem. And why should you not be doing this? New vulnerabilities surface the online front now and then. Another word of advice – these scanners run on a highly technical note and require an experienced holder who can work it out.
And as a small-scale business, ensure that you hire someone from the technical area to help you out with this. Nonetheless, it is wise to get one of these scanners to secure the website.
Keep off the sensitive pages from Google
While one creates a website to be in the eyes of the customers, there are still some of the pages that are better off without Google’s eyes. What we are referring to here are the admin pages that a website generally has upfront. After all, the admin pages are those areas of your site that cybercriminals need a business with.
So, doesn’t that make sense when we say that you should keep these pages off the public’s eyes? And, then again you will be happy to know that, doing this is no rocket science as well. Well, for that to happen you too should make sure that you do not have a bunch of links that are pointing to that site.
Or better yet, what you do, to begin with is click on the Disallow button. By doing this, you command your robots.txt file. In non-technical terms, hackers will not be able to find these admin pages of yours. Thus, you can deploy this formula to secure the website at every cost.
Get malware and virus protection for your site
While getting hacked by a professional cybercriminal is not in your hands, what lies in your hands is to prevent that crime from happening. That is why it is of high pertinence that you get a proactive malware and virus protection service for your site.
Now, remember you do not need to be a big, blown business with a zillion customers for implementing this process. Even the small businesses too can incorporate this, or rather, should incorporate this!
Our recommendation here will be to secure the website by getting a website security service for your site as fast as you can. They can get you elite scanning, and super-quality remediation assistance too. When you do not have one of these protections, it becomes easier for hackers to probe into your site and feast on your precious data. If you do not wish to see all that gone yet, you must get yourself one of these at the earliest.
Protect customers with an SSL
SSL (secure socket layer) security has become in-demand for enterprises. With the pervasiveness of cybercriminal exercises occurring, it has gotten more than needed to defend your site. For that, SSL authentication is an extraordinary method of adding that additional layer of safety to your site. When you are SSL protected, you can strengthen your business.
Regardless, every one of your data and exchange that occurs on your site is completely scrambled and cannot be decoded by an outsider until and unless it has not arrived at its destination. Now, you might be wondering, how can you say whether a specific site is being SSL guaranteed or not? All things considered; it is quite simple.
Simply search for a secured padlock and HTTPS on the top of the URL. This HTTPS and padlock stand as a guarantee of the fact that the site is protected to utilize, and your data would not be spilled. Likewise, an SSL-ensured site will have HTTPS URL denotation rather than an HTTP one. The ‘S‘ in the end represents security. This is the primary thing that a learned client searches for when perusing a site.
There are types of SSL certificates available in market like DV SSL, Wildcard SSL, Multi-domain, EV SSL and more. EV SSL Certificate is most preferrable among all. There would be high conversions rate on your website once you get an EV SSL Certificate. This certificate provides highest validation and strong security that can bring visitors’ attention to the website.
Perform backups frequently
You might have heard this a thousand times. However, there lies a great reason to keep people telling you to do this. Like we just mentioned, getting hacked by a professional is not in our hands. But we can always do our best to minimize the harm and protect our business no matter what happens.
Even if each of your files sits on a hard drive and are available all over the company, there are still chances that they can break out the precious data. And just in the unlikely case of you not having a backup, what are you doing to do next? On that note, had you kept a backup of your data and files, this would not have been the case. To begin with, try to transfer each of your files onto an online cloud file.
See that you regularly transfer every byte of your data in the online podium and change the passcodes frequently. That way, you can still not lose all your data at once. And with the given backup, you can rebuild your broken business once again. That is why, even if you have heard this bullet point a zillion times, make sure that you pay heed to that. Also, the regularity of your backup is important. Make it a point to back up your files every once in a week or fortnight thoroughly, without fail.
Be cautious with login privileges
For a small business, one of the best ways to tighten your website security is by lessening the number of login privileges by your staff. Note that a single login can stay valid for up to 30 days. And you can stay logged in without being active on your site too. Just in case, your login credentials are weak or not as strong as they should be, you can easily fall prey to vicious cybercriminal activities – breaking the trust of your customers, tanking down into losses and what not! So, what can be done then?
For starters, have your logins expire after a maximum of two hours of inactivity period. Make sure that each of your employees has this facility. Although you might be wondering that it is irritating to log into your system a thousand times a day that way, but still, it is way safer than getting the wrong person to log into your system and making a mess. While you do that, also check that you have a stern limit on the number of log-in attempts that a user can have on your system. Keep this number less than 5 times, at max. This way, you will be safeguarded against brute force attacks as well.
Further, if any of your employees are no longer associated with your business, make sure that their login credentials and passwords are changed at the earliest and that they do not have any access to any of your login pages, whatsoever. Limiting the amount of access to your employees is also another vital point that you should pay extra heed to. Grant only the requisite amount of access to someone that is needed for the smooth functioning of your tasks.
Safeguard your Wi-Fi
Wardriving is a term for when programmers cruise all over searching for unstable Wi-Fi organizations, and afterward access gadgets that are associated with those organizations to take the information. Wi-Fi signs can travel a fair distance. Hence, what you need to do is simply check the available networks your smartphone can join at the times you are away.
That is the reason it is so essential to protect your organization with an exceptionally strong password. To have a strong password, begin with the one that has a tough combination of numbers, alphabets, signs, and symbols. Refrain from using the mundane, common passwords that you have had used in the past.
Additionally, it is always deemed as a good practice to update your password at least once in a fortnight or a month. The more you avoid updating the password of your Wi-Fi, then it becomes easier for hackers to dine onto your portal and dig out the precious data that you would have had protected otherwise with the help of a great password. On that note, also see that you do not run into a public Wi-Fi board, the second you see the ‘Free’ internet board. It is best to steer away from those gimmicks.
That is a Wrap
What stays common in each of these seven points is that you need not have a Fortune 500 budget to protect your business. All you need to have is some forward-thinking attitude and some cautiousness that is all that matters. On that note, make it a point to make real efforts with assiduous planning to protect your business.
You must have some concrete steps planned out well in advance, just in case of any unlikely event taking place. That is when this important question strikes in – given all the uncertainty in the current scenario and the hyperactive cybercriminal activities surfacing every day, can you afford not to follow the prime protecting steps? We would reiterate that it is still not late for you to gear up.
And that all is still not lost yet. It is always wiser to stay prepared. On similar tracks, make sure that you conduct real-world cybersecurity drills based on some of the common situations and test the readiness of your company. This way you will know where you stand and how to battle through digital crime, scams ad cyberattacks as well. Follow these practical cyber security tips for small business and you will soon start seeing great results in no time.
