If you run a small business, you might think that you are safe from harm, since you’re not a target of big malicious attacks. Unfortunately, your lack of concern can actually put you at risk and a simple and small security issue could be enough to bring your business’ downfall as a dangerous entity targets your business. A small business’s greatest risk is not securing your data and technology from cyberattacks. With a highly-skilled Phoenix business IT support team, your company can be safe from harm. Let’s consider Equifax and how its security issues can be a lesson to those thinking about their small business data security.
The Equifax Problem
Credit reporting firm Equifax fell victim to a data breach during the months of May to July of 2017. This breach exposed 148.1 million records that held personally identifiable information about their clients. That is almost half of the U.S. population.
The company was criticized for their lack of effort when it came to security and the Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Greg Walden said, “I don’t think that we can pass a law that fixes stupid.”
How to Fix Your Data Security
You need to make sure that your team is always doing the best to keep cyber threats out of your systems. This can be done on a company-wide or case-by-case level. With MyTek Technology Solutions, your IT support needs can be evaluated and assessed. We will help you figure out where your vulnerabilities are and we can even help by providing recommendations.
Here are some ideas that you can start with:
- Start with compliance: While these don’t always have data security in mind, it can still be a very important part of your security regulations so you aren’t targeted with any fines or troubling regulations.
- Resolve vulnerabilities: Most exploits happen because of laziness and unsolved vulnerabilities. Any vulnerability your system has should be patched and seen as a priority in order to protect your data and systems.
- Centralize your data security: Someone should be in control of your data security. This person on your team (or ours) is the one who should be responsible for implementing access control and making sure your data stays safe during ordinary workdays.
Encouraging Employee Security
You may not even realize how much security is held onto by your employees. Your team should always know the best security practices so they aren’t putting your entire company at risk. Here are some ways your employees can do their part and help out with your security efforts.
- Lazy credential habits: Your employees should never reuse their passwords for multiple accounts that they have, each password should be complex and different so that security issues don’t arise. If this gets to be too much for your employees, you can install and use a password management system so they aren’t burdened with remembering every single one.
- Oversharing information: Passwords should not be anecdotal or anything that could be guessed by grazing over their social media presence. You also want to have a discussion with your employees so you know what talk is allowed and isn’t allowed outside of the office, like personal information about clients or invoice and receipt numbers that hackers could use to get in.
- Using the wrong Wi-Fi: If your team does business outside of the office, you’ll want to talk to them about the use of public wifi. They can very dangerous to use, especially if they are not protected by a password. If they need to use public wifi, they should use a virtual private network or a VPN to do so, so their data is encrypted.
If your small business data security needs an evaluation, get in contact with us today at 623-312-2440.