3 Things You Can do to Reduce the Chance of Cyber Attack

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) was introduced in May 2018, the regulation had an impact on businesses’ handling of the data of EU residents. The regulation has meant that businesses now have to be more transparent with how data is used and held. In 2018 three large corporations Facebook, HSBC and Google all faced fines in relation to GDPR. All three cases were different Facebook was caught distributing consumer data without explicit written consent, HSBC experienced a cyber-attack, and Google was tracking locations of those who use its services. A Beaming report found, on average every UK business was subject to 52,596 attacks in a 3-month period from April to June 2018. Smaller businesses are more vulnerable to cybersecurity attacks, so here are 3 things you can do to reduce your chances: 

Secure your WiFi

Secure your WiFi, it can be easy access for hackers if it is not secure. Improve the security of your WiFI by adding a secure password consisting of symbols as well as upper and lowercase letters. If you would like an open WiFi for customers set up a separate network and ensure all your employees connect to the password secured one. This helps prevent the chances of malicious hacks through your WiFi network.  

Have a plan

Whilst it is important to have prevention methods in place; it is also important to have a plan in place in case of a cybersecurity attack. Your plan should be a formal policy, that outlines the steps that should be taken, in case of a breach. Review and update this policy regularly. For most businesses, the first step when experiencing a cybersecurity attack is to contact the IT team. Tell them exactly what is going on and they will guide you through what you need to do. If you do not have an IT team it may be worth outsourcing this business function. Click here to read more about the benefits of outsourcing  

Educate your team

Provide training for your team. The training should help them spot malicious emails, links and downloads. The training should be refreshed regularly. Team members should be taught how to reduce the risk of cyberattacks. For example, passwords should be changed regularly, links from unknown sources should not be clicked and passwords should be different for every site. You can use a password managing site such as LastPass – it’s free. 

Did you find this blog useful? Sign up for our newsletter (here) to receive fresh content directly to your inbox once a month.