How To Be Secure When It Comes to An Online Business
Running a business entirely online has just as many risks, if not more, than running a physical business. As the online world is ever-changing, this article covers some tips on how to be secure when it comes to an online business.
Running a business entirely online has just as many risks, if not more, than running a physical business. As the online world is ever-changing, here are some tips on how to be secure when it comes to an online business.
Choose Strong Passwords
We all have trouble remembering passwords, but having a strong password is going to prevent any hackers from accessing any software you use, whether that’s your emails or your personal online banking. Try to be complex with your passwords and pick something that has no relation to the business name or what it does. Avoid any family names or anything that’s close to you that might be available to connect together online. The longer they are the better and don’t use the same passwords for everything.
Enable Additional Security Features
Having layers when it comes to security is important, and there’s a lot of software and applications that now make use of two factor authentication solutions to help keep your most important details safe. The two factor authentication process works by linking up a phone to the account. Every time you log in from a new device, it’ll send a code to the phone which you then have to input into the system. This is great because not only does it keep you safe from those trying to access your account, you’ll also get a notification by code that will indicate that someone knows your password.
Switch To HTTPS
Short for Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure, this adds an extra layer between your website and the web server itself. Any information that’s exchanged is therefore safe and secure. This is good if you take payments over the website as customers will feel more inclined to pay if they know that they’re details aren’t at risk of being stolen. An added bonus of having HTTPS is it’s a signal that positive with Google’s ranking system. So not only is it secure, but you’ll end up ranking higher on the search engine because of it.
Encourage Any Staff To Be Wary
You might be running your business solo, however, if you do have any staff then they’ll need to receive the proper training in how to be wary when navigating online and representing your company. Common attempts at hacking from external sources can be through phishing. Phishing is where hackers will attempt to steal information by posing as other staff members over email or sending threatening emails that seemingly have incriminating evidence on you. It’s advisable that staff don’t click on any links and to simply block and delete the email in question.
Advise caution whenever they’re submitting financial or confidential details online, ensuring they know what to look out for when it comes to going on the safe websites and avoiding the dodgy-looking ones.
Protect Yourself With Firewalls
Firewalls are imperative for all of your electronic devices, whether that’s desktops, mobile devices, or work laptops. When choosing the right security software, you want to be able to cover all your devices under the one contract but to ensure that the firewall itself is going to be able to protect the size of your organization. It’s always worth checking back in with the security company in question to see if anything else can be done to improve the quality of security as time goes on.
Backup Everything Regularly
As a precaution, doing a back up of everything is important because if someone hacks into your servers, then they could remove every single document or corrupt it, so that’s not readable anymore. It’s definitely beneficial to schedule in an automatic, daily backup of your servers and anything else that’s stored on any of your devices. Just like you’d scan photocopies of documents to have as safety, you should have the exact same practice for all your digital files. There’s certainly no way of being too cautious when it comes to your business. Companies have gone under because they’ve ignored the advice of their IT support to back up files or improve their security.
Securing your online business is key because if you leave yourself vulnerable, you could easily have your whole livelihood wiped out in one go. Not to mention the fallout you’d have if you’re responsible for other people’s wages. So choose strong passwords, back your files daily, and encourage your staff to be wary of how they navigate on their work stations. Enable strong safety features and secure your servers with the right security firewalls that you can update every so often.