October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month. We know you are busy running a small business and cybersecurity can be complex and overwhelming. Here are some action items you can take to make sure your business is more secure:
- Use two-factor authentication when logging into accounts (i.e. online banking, social media, etc.):
Two-factor authentication, or multi-factor authentication is a security feature that protects an account in addition to a password. This electronic authentication method grants access to an account, website, or application after successfully presenting two (or more) pieces of evidence.
- One piece of evidence can be the password to the account.
- The second piece of evidence could be entering a code from a text message or authenticator app.
- Beware of malware:
Malware is a file or program and that may harm the computer user, and cause a breach of data security. Some types of malwares are: ransomware, spyware, command and control, virus, worms and trojan horse.
How to prevent a malware attack:
- Regularly update systems, software, and applications.
- Encrypt your data.
- Educate employees through security awareness training.
- Regularly backup data.
- Control physical access to your computers and create user accounts for each employee.
- Limit employee access to data and information, limit authority to install software.
- Prepare for an insider threat.
An insider threat is an individual from within the business such as a current/former employee, contractor, or partner that poses a security risk. These threats keep rising despite improvements and developments of cybersecurity tools.
Some ways to protect your business against insider threats:
- Limit employee access to data that is absolutely necessary to perform their job functions.
- Control offboarding process to prevent a disgruntled employee from acting maliciously.
- Provide security awareness training.
- Regularly back up data in a worst-case scenario.
As always, if you are interested in learning more about cybersecurity and would like to discuss it with any of the small business consultants at The University of Scranton Small Business Development Center, our team is just a phone call or a click away. Get started by calling (570) 941-7588 or by visiting www.scrantonsbdc.com today!
