Over a quarter of all data breaches target small businesses, and the cost of a breach can be devastating. To protect your business’ data and infrastructure, small businesses need a combination of effective technology tools and well-planned strategies. Here are some key steps your business can take to safeguard itself against digital theft.
One of the most important things you can do is invest in solutions specifically designed to keep your business safe. Having the right firewalls, antivirus programs, and encryption services in place—and ensuring they are consistently updated—can block the majority of threats before they reach your network. By securing your data at its source, you gain peace of mind knowing that your information has robust defenses.
Every business should have a reliable data backup plan. Losing critical information could make it impossible to operate or, at the very least, cause costly downtime. But in today’s environment, simply backing up your data to a hard drive or NAS device isn’t enough. You also need to keep copies of your data online.
With a Backup and Disaster Recovery (BDR) solution, you can back up your data at frequent intervals, sometimes as often as every 15 minutes, while you work. These backups are stored both on a BDR device and in the cloud, ensuring your data is safe in an offsite data center and ready for retrieval whenever necessary.
While there are plenty of security options available, it’s important to avoid redundant costs. Here are a few ways to invest in your business’ security without wasting resources.
Threats come from all directions, so you need to address both cybersecurity and physical security. Today, many affordable physical security options can protect your assets and your staff, and integrating IT with physical security initiatives is a smart strategy. Some tools to consider include:
Whatever combination of tools you choose, ensure they’re effective for their intended purpose and compatible with your other solutions. Overlapping tools can sometimes introduce vulnerabilities instead of closing them.
Comprehensive training for your entire staff is essential for small business security. Ongoing testing will also help ensure everyone understands their role in maintaining security. Here are a few key areas employees should be trained in:
Well-trained employees lead to fewer security incidents, reduced downtime caused by mistakes, and better overall protection of your business’ data and resources.
Whatever security solutions you implement, regularly test their effectiveness to ensure they can handle potential threats. Your software and systems should be tested frequently, especially after receiving updates, to identify any vulnerabilities that may have been introduced.
The IT professionals at Graemouse Technologies are here to help you keep your organization’s network and infrastructure updated and secure. Give us a call today at 253.777.0763 to learn more.
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