Protecting Your SMB From Hackers in 5 Steps

Every SMB owner needs to be aware of the very serious threat of hackers. Typically, people tend to think of cybercrime only being an issue for the larger companies, but this is because these are usually the stories that you hear of, but the truth is that SMBs are targeted heavily by criminals because they often do not have protection in place.

You will not want to get caught out as a hacker has the potential to destroy your business. So, read on to discover a few key steps to take that will allow you to protect your SMB and operate with confidence each day.

1. Use Unique Passwords

More often than not, hackers gain access to systems by guessing the username and password. This means that it is vital that you and your team members are using unique, complex passwords that will be impossible to guess, and changing these on a regular basis. You could use a password manager to manage passwords, which will use one master keyword to remember (this needs to be something that could not be guessed!).

2. Two-Factor Authentication

Following this, another layer of security to use is two-factor authentication, which could stop a hacker if they manage to successfully guess a username and password. Two-factor authentication often involves a step like a one-use PIN number, which is sent by text message to the linked phone of the account – this can be highly effective at stopping hackers in their tracks and will alert you if anyone is trying to gain access.

3. Firewall

It is also important to invest in cybersecurity products with UTM firewalls from specialists like watchguardonline.co.uk being a smart option. UTM firewalls provide multiple security features on one device, which often include anti-virus, content filtering and VPNs to add another layer of protection to your SMB and to stop hackers in their tracks. Having robust protection like this in place is also important for giving you peace of mind knowing that you are well protected.

4. Training

Hackers are usually successful in gaining access due to staff negligence, so you will want to make sure that your staff are aware of common threats and scams and know how to protect data. Hackers are becoming increasingly creative, so cybersecurity training needs to be an ongoing process and you must make sure that every staff member is aware of what they must do to stop hackers.

5. Perform Regular Backups

Finally, it is important to make sure that you are creating regular network backups just in case there were to be a breach. As mentioned, hackers are becoming more advanced so you will want to have backup copies available in case someone were to be successful and destroy, corrupt or hold your data to ransom.

Hopefully, this post will help you to protect your SMB from hackers and boost your level of confidence knowing that you have the best protection in place. It is the smaller business that often fall victim to hackers, so make sure that you do not get caught out – make cybersecurity a priority.