If you own a small business, matters of cyber security may not be at the front of your mind, but it may surprise you to know how integral it is to your success. Your small business may not have the resources available to fend off a virtual attack, and even worse, may not have the resources to recover from one. Creating a small business cyber security plan can help protect both your business and your customers from the effects of attacks, including the potential for fraud or identity theft.
Protecting Your Assets
It may be hard to believe, but the theft of digital information has become one of the most common fraud complaints, even surpassing the theft of physical property. There are many different ways to protect your company from security risks that could wreak havoc in your system. One of the first lines of defense is ensuring that your employees are properly trained in safe online practices as well as computer security.
Once you have trained your staff in best online and computer practices, it is important to ensure that your network has the proper technology and programs needed to guard your systems, company data, and your customer’s information.
To stay relevant and competitive in today’s market, your company needs to adapt how it does business, how it interacts with its customers, and how it protects not only its own assets, but also those of your customers. Services like mobile websites, and social media platforms, have completely transformed how accessible companies are to their clients, which is a boon to businesses and customers alike. With these ever-adapting changes though comes the threat and increasingly more advanced virtual attacks.
Perhaps the biggest digital security concerns currently are ransomware and phishing. The first represents a malicious piece of software that essentially takes a user’s computer or other device hostage until the user pays a fee. The second represents scammers who impersonate a person or business in order to either steal private data (such as passwords or credit card information), or again, extort a fee.
Small businesses need to ensure that both their employees and customers are aware of the dangers of ransomware and phishing. Ransomware, for instance, could take the form of an unofficial version of your company’s app, or a piece of software your employees use. Phishing could take the form of someone claiming to represent your company to your customers, or emailing fake invoices to your employees. It’s important to stay on top of the latest trends in these two threats, so that your staff knows how to spot and avoid them.
A common concern is a data breach, which can lead to exposing customer details such as credit card information. Many small businesses believe that the solution to protecting sensitive data is to keep all of their data in-house, but actually, cloud solutions can offer some of the best security. It’s increasingly difficult for small businesses to find and retain good cyber security experts to ensure data safety, as the field is highly competitive and there’s a shortage of qualified candidates. Cloud providers are backed by their own highly skilled security teams who are dedicated to keeping their clients’ data safe. This off-site storage also protects your valuable data from such mundane physical threats as flooding and hardware theft.
Saberpoint can assist you with SAP ERP and Analytics solutions in the cloud, Salesforce CRM cloud solutions, and can also advise you in all areas of small business cyber security and data protection. For instance, a CRM like Salesforce stores your business data securely, protecting it from attacks. Salesforce includes security features that help you empower your users to do their jobs safely and efficiently. Salesforce limits exposure of data to the users that act on it. As Salesforce implementation partners, we are qualified to answer any questions you have about data security using Salesforce.
As your organization undergoes a digital business transformation, it is vital to keep cyber security in mind and adapt your existing security practices to better reflect the new platforms your company is exploring and expanding to.
Growing Your Business With Security in Mind
It may seem a bit daunting at first to contemplate transforming your small business to stay competitive in the digital age, but there are many tools which can help you. Saberpoint will work to protect your data from unauthorized access from outside your company and from inappropriate usage by your users.
If you are just starting out as a business, just beginning to digitize your processes and practices, or are looking to stay up to date with the latest technology, cyber security needs to be one of your core concerns. Building your organization’s digital system with security in mind will ensure that your growth will remain positive and safe for both you and your customers.
