A common nightmare among online business owners is the fear of falling victim to the increasing Cyber attacks. Small business owners are the most vulnerable to these attacks due to their low-level security protocols. A hacker is often a computer whiz who continuously adapt and develop new means to attack every new security update. So what is the ultimate way to ensure you always stay ahead of attacks and secure your online business from getting compromised?
Frequent Updates
The first step would be to ensure you always update the software components on your computers to fix all security flaws and have the latest features not yet exploited by hackers. Once a software version becomes old, the chances of getting a security breach are higher since hackers borrow ideas from each other. The chances that a hacker somewhere has already penetrated the version of the software are high.
Use a Firewall or Antivirus Software
Firewalls and antivirus act as the vanguard of your computer systems, blocking out suspicious actions and files while scanning through your files to detect unsafe activities. You have better security when using a paid package since free antivirus is accessible to more people and offers rudimentary security services.
Use a security Hosting Service Provider
Considering that you would need to make money by selling stuff on your website, employing a good security service provider would help secure the whole process. It would be best to choose a PCI-compliant security service provider, meaning that they can be trusted to protect payment systems from attackers. This is highly recommended for upcoming online markets as they are the primary targets for international Cyber attackers. A good example is the rapidly expanding online gaming industry in Thailand that is currently experiencing the digital migration of big market players like casinos. This makes such platforms readily accessible from any smart device in the country and thus creating the need for mobile game security in Thailand.
Use a VPN
You might sometimes need to access your site from a public WIFI network or a different computer. To ensure your connection remains anonymous, use a Virtual Private Network, preferably a paid one. Hackers and online scammers would have a hard time acquiring critical information to execute fraud.
Change to HTTPS
HTTPs is an internet protocol that encrypts data during transportation to protect crucial information from hackers. Using this protocol would ensure that user information and other communications are protected from tapping until they reach the intended destination. Furthermore, google checks for these types of websites to prioritize during searches.
Ensure Your Business
Business insurance might seem like an unnecessary expense until a customer decides to press charges against your business. Various insurance covers protect you and your business from various risks such as lawsuits, property loss, and contract disputes. For a business with physical offices and locations, a property cover should be a priority. However, if you sell goods, you should first consider getting a liability cover to protect you from dissatisfied customers.
Employ Healthy Email Handling
Whether large or small, online businesses need to send and receive many emails daily. Your workers would also be receiving a lot of emails from clients and other senders. Therefore, you should train them on professional ways to handle emails, such as not opening email files from unknown sources or opening their personal emails on business computers. Phishing is most commonly used on emails, whereby an attacker sends malicious files that either take control of your computer to execute a ransom attack, or hide inside your computer, paralyzing your security software to open a backdoor for attacks.
Limit Employee Access to Sensitive Data
Considering that you might have users signed up on your site, you have the duty of securing their personal information at all cost. One way of securing such data is by limiting unnecessary access. Regardless of how much you trust your employees, it would help if you always remembered that they too are vulnerable to common Cyberattack tactics and social engineering tricks and might reveal important information without knowing. You should, therefore, only provide sensitive information on a needs basis.
Hire a Security Service
If your business scale allows for extra expenditure, why not hire security experts to do the job for you? Various speciality Cybersecurity companies exist to help brands fortify their online operations. Such brands employ experts in the field and take responsibility in case of an attack. They usually offer round the clock service, hence provide better security than you could ever do yourself.
Broadcast Legal Documents and Disclaimers on Your Website
Legal documents are important in protecting you from lawsuits. Dealing with a vast number of clients from different environments, you might realize that every target market comes with its set of challenges. Being transparent with legal documents helps show what clients should expect from you, hence help absolve your business from third-party liabilities.
Most online businesses start as small-scale operations, and most owners fail to grow their security protocols with the expanding multitude. It would be best to keep in mind that an online business is like any brick and motor business, hence subject to the law and other risks. It helps always to be steps ahead.