As a business owner, it is your utmost responsibility to protect your business from cybersecurity threats. So, make sure to do them.
Businesses leverage the use of technology for communicating with their customers. So, in that case, all businesses should have a safe and secure network.
The amount of damage a cybersecurity breach can cause your business is massive. It can cost you more financially.
Try to prevent your business from critical cybersecurity mistakes. The reason is your customer’s data is at stake.
You should secure your network and identify the vulnerabilities using advanced cybersecurity tools.
5 Critical Cybersecurity Mistakes You Can Avoid
1. Avoid Using Free Antivirus Software
Like how you wouldn’t use a low-cost padlock for locking your home doors. In the same way, you shouldn’t use free antivirus software.
The reason is that free antivirus software does not provide complete protection against viruses. Also, they have very low virus detection rates.
The primary issue is that they collect all the details about your internet activity. It may result in a breach of your privacy.
Another vital issue is that these free antivirus software might sometimes contain viruses. They also show annoying ads that would slow down your system.
Also, make sure all your employees have the best antivirus apps for their android devices and also iOS devices if they use your company phone.
Always ask this question to yourself, like if something is for free, but at what cost? You should be cautious in using free cybersecurity tools and make sure your data is secured.
2. Small Businesses Being Complacent
Many business owners have thought they won’t be a target for cybercriminals. It is because their business size is small.
Nowadays, most cyberattacks happen with small businesses, too. Also, the ransom demanded by cybercriminals is massive.
Small businesses are most likely to have a weak network infrastructure. They become an easy target for cybercriminals to attack. This can cause a lot of problems in terms of data privacy and security.
So, in this scenario, using a viable residential proxy can help your business stay away from cyber-attacks because your IP address is hidden.
A residential proxy helps secure your network connections that are impossible to break in. Your connection is shown as an individual residence and not the data centers.
They secure your network connection by using a robust network structure. Your connection would be completely anonymous, and your business internet activity can’t be tracked.
3. Your Business Doesn’t Have an IT Plan
Your business should have a perfect IT strategy that should be reviewed monthly and annually. It depends on your business growth.
Always consider the total cost of ownership. Not based on the specific software, hardware, or other services.
The total cost of ownership (TCO) includes expenses such as hardware maintenance, software upgrades, and subscriptions.
For technical support, sometimes people would work per hour, per project, or monthly fees. So, they have to be included too.
In a scenario where your business gets offline due to technical issues. In that case, you would really need a disaster recovery plan which is also part of the IT plan.
4. Mismanagement of Updates and Patches For Software and OS
Software developers would usually release all the patches and updates. You need to resolve all the bugs and issues in the software and OS.
So, in such a scenario, the network administrator should schedule all these updates. After that, update them once they are released.
When the updates are missed or not done on time. There would be many vulnerabilities that would be exploited by cybercriminals.
You can outsource your cybersecurity services. It is because the updates and patches would be implemented in all the servers.
If you don’t want to outsource, make sure you have a dedicated cybersecurity team. They should work on a 24/7 basis efficiently.
5. Routine Security Testing is Vital
Sometimes your cybersecurity team would have high confidence. Confidence in the sense like they have cleared all the vulnerabilities. So, they take a back seat, which should be avoided.
If your cybersecurity team clears one vulnerability, the cybercriminals will find multiple loopholes to break them and breach into the network.
So, in such a scenario, you can leverage penetration testing tools to find all the loopholes and vulnerabilities.
Cybersecurity professionals should make sure not even a single breach can be done on their network. It is possible to use the testing tools.
Hackers are evolving day by day, and they find new methods to get into the network. So, cybersecurity professionals should upskill and update themselves often.
6. Monitoring The User Activity is Critical
One of the critical mistakes that business owners make is they do not track the user activity for security purposes.
In some cases, a security breach happens because employees access an insecure website or click on a malicious link on an email.
When there is a security breach, it is very easy to find the source if you are monitoring all your employee’s online activities. So make sure you monitor them.
7. Have a Robust Recovery Plan In Case Of a Cyberattack
There are instances where you would have made your network completely secure. But still, there would be loopholes that cybercriminals would exploit.
So, in such a scenario, you should have a robust recovery plan. You need to implement the plan when any cyberattack takes place.
Make sure your network infrastructure is tested often. Also, be prepared to recover quickly if a cyberattack happens.
Final Thoughts
We hope that this article helped you know all the critical cybersecurity mistakes you should refrain from making as a business owner.
As a responsible business owner, you have to protect your customer’s data and privacy. Make sure to implement all the cybersecurity measures necessary for your business.
Weak network infrastructure would lead to compromise on your network security. There are high chances of a cyberattack taking place on your business.
So, invest as much as possible to have all the cybersecurity tools for your business. Also, don’t rely on the free tools because they won’t help much.