Maintaining Cyber Hygiene Is Now Essential: Steps To Reduce Your Risk

The fundamentals remain critical when safeguarding your business against cyberattacks. IBM’s 2023 Cost Of A Data Breach Report revealed that 82% of breaches targeted cloud-stored data, and the majority could have been avoided through basic, preventative security measures.

This is where “cyber hygiene” plays a role – think of it as the digital equivalent of washing your hands every day. It may not sound exciting, but it’s absolutely vital. Ignoring these fundamentals is essentially inviting problems.

Below are four core cyber hygiene practices that every small business needs to have firmly in place:

1. Protect your network.
   
   Secure your internet connection by encrypting sensitive company data and enabling a firewall. Make sure your Wi-Fi is locked down and hidden by disabling the Service Set Identifier (SSID), which prevents your network name from being broadcast. Always secure your router with a strong password, and require remote workers to connect through a virtual private network (VPN) for safe access from outside locations.
2. Teach your team how to stay protected.
   
   Establishing basic security policies for employees is a great way to reduce your risk of breaches due to human error. These include things like strong passwords, multifactor authentication (MFA), appropriate Internet use guidelines and policies to follow when handling vital data. Other important training topics to cover include how to spot phishing e-mails and avoid suspicious downloads.
3. Create regular backups of critical data.
   
   If your business experiences a breach, system failure, or ransomware attack, having access to your essential data ensures operations can continue. That’s why routinely backing up information from all computers is crucial. Key items to safeguard include documents, spreadsheets, HR and financial records, and databases. Whenever possible, automate backups and keep copies either in the cloud or on a secure offsite server.
4. Restrict who can access sensitive data.
   
   Restricting access to sensitive information significantly reduces your risk. If a breach occurs, limited access helps ensure that the most critical data remains safe. Employees should only have permissions for the systems necessary to perform their roles, and no single person should have access to all data systems. Administrative rights should be reserved for trusted IT personnel and essential staff. Additionally, make sure departing employees are promptly removed from all company systems during offboarding.

Investing In Security Pays Off Despite The Effort

Although implementing these precautions may feel burdensome, it’s far more efficient and cost-effective to do so upfront. Failing to invest in security can lead to stolen critical data or a complete business shutdown from a ransomware attack, which can be far more expensive and disruptive.

Looking To Stay Ahead Of Cyber Threats?

If you’re unsure about your business’s cybersecurity posture, now is the perfect time to check. Our free Cybersecurity Risk Assessment reveals hidden vulnerabilities, highlights gaps in your defenses, and provides a clear, actionable plan to quickly improve your cyber hygiene. Schedule your assessment now.