As there’s increased usage of the internet, the risks related to cybersecurity have also risen. Therefore, most companies have to comply with data protection laws. For example, as a business, it’s your responsibility to fulfill a Data Subject Access Request (DSAR) timely along with other data deletion requests.
You also need to make sure that the confidential personal data of your customers is secure. Otherwise, you may have to face hefty legal expenses and loss of goodwill. This can, obviously, be an extra burden or stress for small businesses that already have limited resources.
Therefore, this article will list 5 ways small businesses can improve cybersecurity at a low cost. Read below to learn!
1. Train Your Employees Regularly
Although arranging training sessions can be a bit costly, it will prevent you from paying thousands or even millions of dollars down the road. Whenever you hire a new employee, you must educate them on the basics of cybersecurity measures for your small business.
Arranging training sessions after every 6 months to keep your current workers updated with the latest developments in cybersecurity will also be your best bet.
2. Develop a Standardized Risk Response Plan
You should research and evaluate what kinds of cybersecurity threats your business faces. You must create a standardized risk response plan for every type of risk.
If your business actually faces a risk, your workers will know what relevant and feasible action to take quickly to prevent any major loss.
You can create a document containing this plan and distribute that to every worker in your small business. Ask them to read it thoroughly to understand the risk response plan.
3. Update Your Software Regularly
Whether it’s a computer software update or an app update, you must update them as soon as an update notification pops up. These update notifications fix bugs and improve the overall performance of the software/app to ensure they work smoothly and cybercriminals aren’t able to hack into them.
You must inform your workers as well to never ignore system or app update notifications. Of course, they can take a few minutes from your day, however, they will save you from the stress down the line.
4. Delete Any Unused Accounts
If any of your employees just left your company, it’s your responsibility to delete their accounts. Why is it essential to do so?
Because it may contain important information related to your business, leaving unused accounts as it is on the internet makes it a target for cyber perpetrators to extract your important business information.
5. Keep Changing the Passwords
From your business’s email addresses to portals, you must keep changing the passwords from time to time. Now, obviously, you shouldn’t do this every other month as it can be frustrating for your employees as well.
Just make sure that you set strong passwords, and using a password manager will help you and your employees not deal with the hassle of memorizing passwords again whenever they are changed.
This simple method can also improve the cybersecurity of your small business at a low cost.