From backups to choosing partners, SMB’s should take care of the following tips for better security
Small and medium scale businesses are at a higher risk of malware attacks since multiple partnerships and low budgets for security become an important reason for open nodes that are vulnerable to attacks. Here are 4 ways to keep your data safe:
- Share the costs: According to EY Global Information Security Survey, 2018–19, 56% of the small companies that are concerned about cybersecurity say that they have budget constraints or lack the skills for ensuring adequate security. Investing in in-house technology is expensive, but consulting is cheaper. Hiring consultants for your SMB is a great option to build and maintain security walls.
- Choose partners carefully: Greater adoption of APIs has also opened new nodes for entering the systems. Unsecured APIs and other shared applications make databases vulnerable to attacks. According to API Security Survey by OnePoll for Imperva in 2018, nearly 70% of SMBs are exposing their APIs to their partners and the public too. It is important to choose partners who give cybersecurity a priority and take actions to stay secure.
- Back up is the key: According to Symantec’s guide to Small Business protection, there are 5 ways to do data backup properly for small businesses.
- Schedule backup – Implement backup schedules and automate the process.
- Backup systems Backups are only as good as the ability to use the information once recovered, hence, backing up system and application files become important.
- Maintain Backups offsite – There can be natural or man-made disasters. To make sure that files and systems survive the loss of your primary facility, it is important to have offsite backups.
- Test backups – Regularly test the entire backup and recovery cycle. Also, test if recovery can be done to dissimilar hardware.
- Stay updated: Software manufacturers routinely issue updates. According to the EY Survey, 28% of small companies say their information security function does not currently meet their needs or is to be improved. This opens the nodes to the new viruses that cyber attackers create. It hence becomes important to invest in updating the software. Every device at a small business needs to have all updates and patches downloaded and installed.
