The cybersecurity tips that every business should know

Understanding how to combat cybersecurity isn’t an option for business owners and employees anymore. It is absolutely essential for the security of the company. But knowing how you can uphold cybersecurity isn’t always obvious. And even when it is, you can’t always rely on employees to care. Unfortunately, this attitude can lead to serious problems in the future when an employer or employee negligence results in a cyber or ransomware attack that puts the business at financial risk.

Keeping it simple is the best way to ensure that key cybersecurity principles are upheld. That’s why we’ve distilled down the leading advice into the following tips.

Key cybersecurity tips all employers and employees need to know

Only use a backed-up network or the cloud to store files

All files should be stored on the business’ backed-up server or in a cloud storage solution such as Dropbox or Google Drive. This ensures that they are automatically backed up and easy to recover should the business fall victim to ransomware or another form of a cyber attack. Saving files to machine desktops is okay during the day when they are being worked on, but everything should be saved back on the server or into the cloud at the end of the day.

Don’t connect unknown devices to the network

No one at the business should connect unknown hardware devices such as USB sticks to any computer that is hooked up to the business’ network. Malicious software can be downloaded and installed as soon as the device is attached, even without the user clicking a button.

Don’t download third-party applications without approval

It can be very tempting for employees to download their favorite third-party applications to their business machines. But even if they perceive that this is for the benefit of the business, they shouldn’t download anything without approval from the business’ IT department or from an IT support company. Employees never know what malicious software could be downloaded alongside their favorite applications.

Never respond to unsolicited emails or click links

Phishing, the process of sending unsolicited emails with attachments or links, is one of the main ways that hackers install ransomware on business computers. Just clicking on a link in an email can be enough to automatically download malicious software. It is crucial to educate your employees and tell them that they should never respond to, click a link or download an attachment from an email that wasn’t solicited or is from an email address that they don’t recognize.

Never accept IT support from an unexpected caller

Your IT contractor or support company will almost never call you out of the blue offering support. You’ll almost certainly have to call them first. As a result, you should never respond to or accept help from anyone calling you out of the blue offering IT support. Regardless of what they say or where they say they are calling from, hang up.

For more information on cybersecurity and how to protect your business in the future, get in touch with our team. Call our sales and support team on 281-768-4800 today.