When you hear the term security breach, the first thought that comes to mind is a large corporation or retail company- like Target being another victim. But security breaches on small businesses are on the rise, and most business owners do not know how to prevent a security breach from happening to them. 

 

And yet, there are simple yet effective ways to prevent a cybersecurity breach from happening to your business. The most common attacks to avoid:

 

• Phishing or Social Engineering
• Identity theft 
• Data Hacking 

 

You can’t leave the door wide open for potential cybercriminals to compromise your network systems over lack of best practices and employee training. It can put the company at financial risk, or worse, a loss of trust and reputation with clients. 

 

Need help with creating a comprehensive security breach prevention plan for your small business? Let Us Help you. 

 

 

We share six ways to help you prevent a security breach with your company (some you can implement today). Let’s get started.

 

 

Six Steps On How to Prevent a Security Breach in the Workplace

 

1. Phishing Training

Close to 90% of organizations from around the world have experienced phishing attempts in 2019. Setting up proper Phishing Training with employees once a year is a good practice to prevent a security breach in the workplace. Remind employees to stay vigilant about unfamiliar email addresses, check the spelling, and avoid opening attachments with a suspicious headline of urgency. 

 

2. Complex Password Policy 

Training employees on how to create complex passwords should be a standard practice to avoid a security breach. Passwords should have at least eight characters consisting of upper, lower case, numbers, and characters. 

Example: “H01ly$Wood” for Hollywood. 

Pro-Tip: Add a two or multi-factor authentication. It offers an additional layer of security by sending a code or asking to answer a pre-set question to access data.

 

 

3. Strictly Business Use

Implementing employee training on “business only use” for laptops and smartphones will help keep your company’s data and sensitive client information protected. The training should also include a policy for USB flash drives or external drives not provided by the company. With the use of an unauthorized external drive, it could have a virus that could potentially infect computers and the network. 

 

 

4. Protect Wi-Fi Routers 

A password should protect the company’s routers, and people with specific credentials should only access it. The routers should be set to highly secure encryption settings and on a different IP scheme from the network. Most routers have this capability; if not, it’s time to upgrade your router. 

 

5. Security Starts at the Front Door

Every company should have standard procedures and policies that keep the office safe. These practices should also include best cybersecurity practices like:

• Passwords should not be available in plain sight.

• Do not leave your computer/server unattended and easily accessible. 

• Every computer should have a screensaver.   

 

6. Patch Management

Like how your smartphone needs an update of the latest version, applies the same practice to the computer operating systems and software. It is crucial to have the latest antivirus and anti-malware with the latest definitions protecting your data. And every node in your system should be updated with the latest updates.

 

Employee Training to Avoid a Security Breach is Just the Start

 

We listed the six steps to prevent a cybersecurity breach at the most basic (and fastest) level. 

 

Cybercriminals are becoming more sophisticated, using bots to crawl networks to look for vulnerabilities or utilizing the Dark Web to purchase passwords and credentials-posing as you or an employee to hack into your system.     

 

The best recommendation we provide to clients who have been victims of a cyberattack is implementing a multi-layered security plan. 

 

A multi-layered plan proactively secures the data at every possible entry point in the system. We explain the three main elements of what a multi-layered security strategy should entail. To learn more about the elements, click on the link below. 

 

Want help with your cyber security strategy? Contact us for a free consultation.