We now live in a digital age where most businesses operate online and need digital assets for their company to thrive, so it’s no wonder that businesses should protect themselves from cyber attacks. These methods of protection should become integrated into your business practices to ensure complete cyber security. We’re here to take you through the best practices for cyber attack prevention and how to keep your business secure!

At Infinitel, your company is in safe hands with our seamless business internet solutions. We offer 24/7 support to help you overcome any issues at any time. A reliable provider can keep your mind at ease so you know your business is well protected by experts. Let’s uncover the ways you can protect your business from cyber attacks!

How to Protect Your Small Business from Cyber Attacks

Why does cybersecurity matter for businesses?

Cyber security makes sure that all online operations are protected. Preventing even the threat of a cyber attack could save your business. As businesses have lots of personal data stored (either from employees, customers, or sensitive financial data), it’s important that this is stored securely without the possibility of a data breach. People put their data in a company’s hands, and when this trust is broken, it can have detrimental effects for a business’s future.

As cyber attack threats are ever evolving, businesses must keep up to date with the latest security to fight back against these developments. The attacks lose businesses money, time and trust from partners. Businesses depend on the internet and IT systems to run smoothly, so when they’re compromised, this affects productivity and smooth operation. When systems go down, this slows down all business operations, creates delays and disrupts smooth communication.

Another reason that cyber security matters for businesses is that it must remain in line with laws and government regulations. The GDPR ensures company transparency and protection of people’s data- you can read our blog covering GDPR and data security for more information.

Best practices for protecting your business from cyber attacks

So, how do you ensure absolute security and protection from your business? The practices we outline below should help you consider whether your business is effectively protected, or whether you need to rethink some of your security practices. Let’s take a look at what you can do:

Use MFA and strong passwords

Multi-factor authentication makes sure that even beyond the password, the user has to go through extra layers of security to authenticate who they really are. These normally consist of two or more methods of security, whether it be a code sent to a smartphone number/email, or the answer to a security question.

Having a strong, secure and unique password in the first place seems obvious, but getting past it can open up the gateway to all the sensitive information of your company. It must be unique, contain a range of characters and you should generally use different passwords for different online locations.

Install firewalls and antivirus software

Firewalls should be implemented to protect servers as it’s often the first line of protection against any potential cyber attack. They stop unauthorised attempts to infiltrate your network, blocking any suspicious traffic.

Antivirus software can identify malware and work to remove it. It continuously scans applications looking for any suspicious activity and signs that a new virus has intercepted your network. This software needs to be regularly updated to scan for any new threats. These softwares should also be added to business’ mobile phones as well as their servers to ensure full safety.

Manage access to data

Properly managing access to data means that only authorised users can gain access to the sensitive information on your server. Only the people who absolutely need that data are the ones who should be accessing it. Unnecessary privileges only increase the risk of infiltration.

MFA does play a part in this- only the relevant users should have the means to access data through multiple-factor authentication. Access permissions can be based on roles and determined by what data each role needs.

Backup your data

Let’s say in the worst case a cyber attack does happen to your business, at least if you’ve backed up your data, all hope isn’t lost. This helps recover data if it is compromised and minimises the damage if the worst were to happen.

Backing up your data gives your business a chance at a swift, smooth recovery instead of it taking a huge toll on both your company’s time, money and reputation.

Choose a reliable business communications service

Choosing a reliable service provider ensures secure data transmission and puts your data in a safe pair of hands.

A trustworthy provider is likely to comply with security regulations, have built-in prevention software and regular updates and monitoring of their services.

Cyber awareness training

Each employee at your business has the power to prevent an attack from happening. Having cyber awareness training helps teach people what to look out for, what not to trust, and what to report when necessary.

Training may include teaching employees how to handle sensitive data, how to spot suspicious emails and links, and how to browse safely. If everyone is aware of potential signs and risks, then everyone plays a part in combating a potentially large problem.

What to do if a cyber attack happens

The most important thing to do when a cyber attack happens is to act swiftly and with a plan to ensure the best chance of recovery. Here are some tips for what to do if a cyber attack does happen:

Assess the damage: Identify what type of attack has occurred and any suspicious behaviour
Try to contain the attack: Temporarily going offline or disabling any accounts can help prevent further spread
Alert your team: Notify the IT team or Incident Response Team if you have one in place
Identify and remove the malware/virus: Get rid of the malware as quickly as possible and change passwords
Recover your data and systems: Use clean backups of data to restore your system and test for any lingering malware
Tell the relevant people: This may include customers, stakeholders, and anyone whose data could be affected

Choose Infinitel for your business communication services

At Infinitel, we’re industry experts offering a customer-focused service to ensure your business is given the highest quality business communication services. We know just how important these communication services are for businesses, which is why we monitor both our own network and our customer’s equipment.

If you have a question about your business’ cybersecurity or about our services in general, then don’t hesitate to contact our knowledgeable team for help.