Forbes has predicted a 300% increase in ransomware attacks in 2020. The speculation also states that small and medium businesses are bound to form a large percentage of these cyberattacks with an average of $225,000 demanded as ransom. A steady increase of attacks has also been recorded over the years as a study by Datto revealed 20% of small and medium businesses were hit with ransomware attacks in 2018. If you want your business to be free of all cyber-attacks, you need to take this article seriously. Below you’ll find simple tips like using a VPN and enhancing password strength that’ll boost your firm’s cyber security level.
Ways to Protect Your Startup from Cybercriminals
1. Use a VPN Router
A VPN router is simply a router with a VPN installed on it. Virtual Private Networks secure your traffic by establishing a tunnel between your local network and an exit node in a varying region. This way, your location becomes spoofed, providing you with online anonymity. Once all your work computers are connected to the VPN router, they’re covered with the same protection. If your firm deals with the privacy of client data, a VPN will ensure that information will never get spied on by any entity including the government, your Internet Service Provider (ISP), and hackers. With a VPN, your employees would also be able to access geo-restricted content.
2. Secure your Hardware
Usually, cybercriminals attack devices remotely. However, competitors might utilize unscrupulous business activities such as theft of your work devices. This is why you need to secure your hardware. Secure all office computers with a strong password. A strong password consists of symbols, upper and lowercase letters, and numbers. Encourage the user of the computer to commit the password to memory instead of writing the password down. This way, in the event of a theft, company data would still be protected.
3. Backup Data to Cloud Storage
Since access to sensitive data could be blocked by hackers, you need to back up all your data to the cloud or servers in another location. This way, in the event of a ransomware attack, you’ll still have access to your data. An infamous ransomware attack called the WannaCry attack made firms all over the globe lose about $4 billion.
Final Remarks
When your business data is secure, you’ll concentrate your worries on other issues like operations. You can protect company data from hackers by securing office hardware, backing up your data, and using a VPN router.
