Easy & Affordable Cyber Security Tips EVERY Business Must Have

Guest Blog by Mike Shelah, Director of Marketing and Business Development, Advantage Industries

Back in December 2020, My colleague Russell and I shared a webinar with Chamber members (you can watch it here https://youtu.be/Wsidf2Q-wYM ) about simple , effective and low cost cyber security tips that every business should follow.

Here is a hard truth, the days of having an “IT break fix guy” that puts out fires for you when something breaks are long gone. It is super easy for a hacker to steal your information today, you really need to be proactive and work with a team to keep everything up to date. That said, there is plenty you can do as a business owner to better protect your company, your data and your reputation.

• FIREWALL: I hate to break it to you, but the wireless router that came with your internet connection does NOT include a firewall ( I don’t care what the TV commercials say). The good news, this is a fairly low cost investment. For a company with 50 employees or less you can purchase a configured and installed firewall for $2,000.00 or less.
• Multi Factor Authentication: You see this everywhere, why not use it in your business? Set it up with every application your use. Most important. Set it up for your email. This way, it becomes almost impossible for someone to hijack your email credentials and access your network. MFA is almost always free, all you have to do is take the time to set it up.
• Cyber Security Training Services for your team: Once the technology is set up properly, the biggest threat remaining to your business is “the human error.” Most typical business professionals do not know what to look for when it comes to fake emails (and the fakes get better and better). Effective and proactive training for your staff is around $4 per person, per month (sometimes less). Sign up for this service today and educate your staff.
• Hard Drive Encryption: This one is often included with the device or can be added for a small fee. In the event that the device is lost or stolen. You can remotely active encryption and the drive becomes useless to the thief.

 
Following these rules will greatly enhance the protection of your company data and reduce your liability. We implement all of these for our clients (and many more security features) plus we proactively monitor everything.

Bonus, recommendation. Sign up for a full cyber security insurance policy. This one is also fairly low cost and you will be glad you have it, when something does go wrong.
We can provide all chamber members with a free dark web scan and we can provide most (about 90%) with a free network scan. Contact us today and find out how simple and affordable full protection can be. The scans are yours to keep, no obligation.