Protecting Your Business from a Hack
In today’s digital age, data breaches are becoming more and more common. Unless you have been hiding under a rock for the past week you would have heard of the Optus hack and the potential effects on 10 million potential Optus Customers.
Whether it’s through a phishing email or a ransomware attack, hackers are finding new ways to access sensitive information. As a business owner, it’s important to take steps to protect your business from a hack. Here are four tips to get started.
1. Educate your employees about phishing emails and other scams.
One of the most common ways that hackers gain access to sensitive information is through phishing emails. Phishing emails are designed to look like they’re from a legitimate source, but they typically contain links that lead to malicious websites. Once an employee clicks on one of these links, the hacker can then gain access to the employee’s device and any sensitive information that is stored on it. To prevent this from happening, it’s important to educate your employees about phishing emails and other types of scams. You should also have a policy in place that requires employees to report any suspicious emails that they receive.
2. Use strong passwords and multi-factor authentication.
Another way to protect your business from a hack is by using strong passwords and multi-factor authentication (MFA). Strong passwords should be at least eight characters long and should include a mix of letters, numbers, and symbols. MFA adds an extra layer of security by requiring users to enter a code that is sent to their mobile device whenever they try to log into an account. This makes it much harder for hackers to gain access to your accounts, even if they have your password.
3. Encrypt sensitive information.
If you store sensitive information on your devices or in the cloud, it’s important to encrypt this data in order to Protect it from being accessed by hackers. When data is encrypted, it is converted into a code that can only be decrypted with the proper key. This makes it much more difficult for hackers to read or make sense of the data even if they are able to gain access to it.
4. Back up your data regularly.
Finally, you should also make sure to back up your data regularly in case you do suffer a breach. That way, you’ll have a copy of all your important files and can quickly restore them if necessary without having to worry about losing any critical information. There are many different ways that you can back up your data, so find one that works best for you and make sure to stick with it so that you’re always prepared in the event of an attack.
Breaches can be devastating for businesses of all sizes, but by taking the proper precautions, you can minimise the risks and protect your business from becoming a victim of a hack.
These days, data breaches are becoming more and more common as hackers find new ways to access sensitive information. As a business owner, it’s important to take steps to protect your business from a hack by educating your employees about phishing emails and other scams, using strong passwords and multi-factor authentication, encrypting sensitive information, and backing up your data regularly. By taking these precautions, you can minimise the risks associated with a data breach and help keep your business safe.
Some Useful Online Resources & Links
Whilst we believe that risk mitigation is the best tactic to protecting your business, we also know that with the increase in online business risk mitigation is never 100% effective. That is why we have gathered some valuable information and links to help you stay safe.
- Identity Theft Moneysmart Website: https://moneysmart.gov.au/banking/identity-theft
- Identity Fraud OAIC Website: https://www.oaic.gov.au/privacy/data-breaches/identity-fraud
- ID Care Website: https://www.idcare.org/support-services/individual-support-services
- Australian Cyber Security Centre Website: https://www.cyber.gov.au/
- LastPass Secure Password Generator Tool: https://www.lastpass.com/features/password-generator
- LastPass Password Management Software: https://www.lastpass.com/
- PC Magazine Article On Backing Up Your Website: https://au.pcmag.com/web-hosting/86026/how-to-back-up-your-website
- Equifax Credit Protect Monitoring: https://www.equifax.com.au/personal/products/credit-protect
