In the new digital world, we are seeing an increase in the more varied and relentless threats that are floating online. These can be different in the amount of damage they do, but cybercriminals are becoming more and more relentless and are finding new and more creative ways to attack people, businesses, and even governments. They will breach consumer data, sensitive files, and valuable content before holding them to ransom. Cybercrime can be extremely traumatizing and financially crippling if you do not work and put practices in to prevent it.
We have seen that cybercriminals are moving their target to small businesses instead of large ones, with the ability to exploit them becoming increasingly easier. Larger corporations and businesses are taking measures and steps to plug weak spots and make themselves impregnable when it comes to pesky cyber criminals. Smaller businesses are much easier to attack as many SME owners do not realize the potential threat that comes with cybercrime until it is too late. Reports found that the average cost of a data breach amounts to $9.44 million, an amount that would wind up most businesses.
Knowing this, it makes sense to put strategies and processes in place to protect your business and customers. Here are the best ways to protect your business against cybercrime in 2023:
Use VPNs
A straightforward way to add a huge layer of protection to your business would be having your employees and work processes done through VPNs (Virtual Private Networks). A VPN is a tool that hides your IP address and makes it impossible for a cybercriminal to localize where you are or find out if you are part of an organization based on this knowledge. This comes in addition to the encryption feature of a VPN, which creates a tunnel between your PC and the VPN server and has your internet traffic encrypted. By doing this, your online activity and everything you do through a VPN are hidden from cybercriminals, and even if they did get their hands on the data, the encryption would deem it essentially useless. A VPN grants you a huge amount of online freedom and security that you wouldn't have without it.
VPNs do not even have to be costly for your small business, as you can find a free VPN with unlimited data quite easily online, and this is something you can introduce into your workforce to secure everyone. This can be particularly useful if you are working for a remote, online company. A VPN gives users added protection in places like airports and coffee shops where the public network may be lacking security. By accessing it through a VPN you hide away from any lurking cybercriminals who may be using the public network to exploit users.
A Proxy Server Can Be a HUB
A proxy can be a crucial aspect of a small business, operating as a HUB which can protect the employees in various ways. Firstly, a proxy server can hide your employee's IP address and have the same benefits as a VPN. Additionally, a proxy server can work as a filter between your employees and business in the online world. Any dangerous or malicious files will not be able to pass through the proxy server, and a business can put in settings on the proxy filter to block out websites that could harm productivity.
Strong Password Practice
Making sure your employees and entire workforce have strong password practices can be a huge step in protecting your online business against cybercriminals in 2023. By making sure your employees are using different passwords for work accounts and making sure that these passwords are adequately strong enough, you add a layer of security to your business. This can be done in various ways, whether it is making sure your workforce has passwords that are around 14 characters with mixed characters, symbols and numbers or even using a password manager. A password manager can be the best option, as it is a tool that generates random passwords for every login and saves that internally - this stops any fear of forgetting them while ensuring that you can have strong passwords for every login and account you have.
Put In Two-Factor Authentication
A huge percentage of online users have terrible password management, and this could be an area where you help your employees get up to scratch. One thing we have seen that could be even more important is using two-factor authentication when employees access company files, networks, and data. Two-factor authentication works by making sure the person who is logging in is them, regardless of whether they have the right credentials or not. It does this through an app or R2A token which will generate codes that need to be entered at the time of log-in. The use of two-factor authentication will negate the importance of passwords and add a huge layer of security to your company.
* This is a contributed article and this content does not necessarily represent the views of sciencetimes.com
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