Crisp weather, pumpkin patches, haunted houses — spooky season is in full throttle and I’m excited for it. What I’m most excited for, though, is October being Cyber Security Awareness month. I know, it sounds kind of lame, but it’s my job to keep our company and team members safe online, which in turn keeps all of our members’ information safe.
According to a 2019 SMB Cyberthreat Study by Keeper Security, 66% of senior-level decision makers at small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) didn’t believe their companies would become cyberattack victims. The FBI’s Internet Crime Report tells a different story, saying the cost of cybercrimes reached $2.7 billion in 2020.
Small businesses can turn into a big business opportunity for savvy scammers. Spooky season or not, follow our scary good tricks to help you manage cybercrime and protect your employees and business.
1. Protect your devices
Regardless of which operating system your business is running, be sure all computers, tablets and business smartphones are protected with updated antivirus software. Remote workers are particularly vulnerable to attacks since a dedicated IT team isn’t around to keep their security current. Remind employees to install updates as they become available or check the automatic updates box.
2. Promote cautious communication
It’s becoming more common for hackers to send fake invoices from what appears, at first glance, to be a legitimate vendor or business partner. Always be sure to verify that the sender of the email is correct, and never make payment changes without verifying the change with the intended recipient.
3. Improve password protection
Encourage your employees to use a business password management tool to securely generate and store passwords for multiple accounts in one encrypted vault. If they make up their own, request they use a mix of numbers, symbols, capital letters and lowercase letters to make passwords harder to crack.
4. Use a virtual private network (VPN)
A company VPN can help your employees do their jobs more efficiently by giving them access to all the files they need on an internal server. They can also use a VPN from public spaces if they need to travel for work, which gives them secure, private internet access that encrypts information and makes it harder for hackers to intercept.