Small Business owners carry their livelihood as well as their employee’s income as a part of their many vital responsibilities. Thanks to the wave of the technology age, those responsibilities have grown to provide business protection from online hackers through cyber security. Ensuring a business is safe with cyber security is critical to avoid negative rolling snowballs such as a security breach. Everest Business Funding, a revenue-based financing service firm, provides six essential cyber security steps to aid the protection of small businesses against cyber criminals.

1. Choose a VPN

A VPN is a Virtual Private Network that can help protect a small business from hackers as it allows users to work online with anonymity and privacy. A VPN essentially creates a private network from a public internet connection. For small businesses with a tight budget who cannot afford an internal network of their own, VPNs are an excellent way to protect a business, especially if any employees work remotely.

2. Properly Train Employees

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) states that the leading cause of data breaches for small businesses is due to employees and their work-related communications. The ultimate goal of cyber security employee training is to educate staff about the reasons why cyber security is critical to protect the business and what steps employees can take to help digitally secure the company, such as avoiding working on public WiFi. Other essential training topics for the U.S. SBA include identifying and steering clear of questionable downloads and phishing emails.

3. Create Strong Passwords

Any account associated with a small business that requires a login should have a strong password to fight unwelcome cyber threats. Making sure passwords are complicated for hackers to figure out is a must, and every employee should follow this protocol. An effective template to generate robust passcodes includes making each different, using twenty characters, and incorporating a mix of letters, symbols, and numbers.

4. Continuously Update Software

Though many people believe all software updates on its own, like automated Windows or Windows-based programs, that is not the case with certain software like the WiFi router’s firmware. Some software does not have automated updates and needs the job to be done manually. Security patches are vital for battling cyber threats and require updates to help keep devices such as routers, devices connected to routers, printers, and scanners from being vulnerable targets.

5. Regularly Backup Business Information

Any data and important information revolving around the business on any computers associated with a company should be regularly backed up so that there is always a copy of everything. A security breach could lead to the loss of crucial information, so a backup copy helps avoid this detrimental possibility.

6. Have AVS and firewalls

Small businesses can better protect themselves from cyber attacks using anti-virus software (AVS) and firewalls. Both are crucial to building a strong defense and solid hardware and network protection against unwelcome online guests. AVS detects and neutralizes cyber threats, keeping hardware safe, and the network hardware runs on is defended via the firewall.

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