Three Ways to Safeguard Your Small to Mid-Sized Business

For small- to mid-sized business (SMBs), cybersecurity is an oft-neglected responsibility, partly because it seems too intimidating to take on without in-house expertise. But with nearly 70% of SMBs experiencing cyberattacks last year, SMBs can't afford to ignore the evolving threats of hackers and data breaches.

Keeping your security up to snuff starts by knowing what kind of measures you should have in place, and finding providers that offer them—or preferably just one, thereby simplifying your list of contacts and consolidating your services on one bill.

Here are three essential security measures requiring little to no effort on your behalf that any SMB should have in place:

1. Automatic malware protection

Malware attacks are commonly launched when an employee unknowingly clicks on a bad link, typically in an email. This cybercrime tactic is called a phishing attack, and while it’s still a good idea to educate your employees on what phishing attacks look like, they are becoming more sophisticated—and all it takes is one click by one employee to beset your business with adware, spyware, ransomware or a host of other types of malware. While there are peripherals like firewalls that help, they can be costly and often require manual updates to remain effective. The best malware solution would automatically block requests to malicious websites should an employee fall victim to a phishing scheme, and updates would be automatic as well. This kind of network-level security would be built into your internet service, so choose your ISP carefully.

2. Endpoint security

Each internet-enabled device your employees use is an “endpoint.” Used from within your company network, they’re safe from exploitation by cybercriminals—if you have certain security measures in place, that is, such as malware protection (see above). So, the more internet-enabled devices your business uses, the higher the risk. Endpoint security automatically blocks threats when those devices are connected to the internet from outside your company network. With endpoint security, you can use public Wi-Fi or even insufficiently protected guest Wi-Fi with peace of mind.

3. Disaster recovery

Should a breach happen despite your best efforts, you want to make sure you don’t lose assets like your data and applications permanently. This is where a backup and/or disaster recovery solution is crucial. With a backup solution, your assets are periodically copied to a secondary location so you can always go back to the most recent backup. It’s like copying everything onto a USB stick every night. A disaster recovery solution, however, goes a step further, perpetually replicating your assets so that in the event of a disaster, everything can be restored as if the disaster never really happened. It’s like having a second laptop that automatically duplicates everything you do on the first. If you spill coffee on the first at any time, you can simply switch to the second.

To learn more about these solutions, connect with a Rogers Business Specialist.