As the volume of cyberattacks continues to rise and these attacks grow increasingly sophisticated, many small businesses are struggling to keep pace with the rapid technological change that this demands. When faced with a tidal wave of different cyber security solutions and services, it can be difficult to wade through the various acronyms and buzzwords and boil it down to what your business actually needs.
In this blog, we will demystify some of these terms and break down the top five cyber security solutions for your small business in an evolving cyber landscape.
- Ensuring round-the-clock protection with managed detection and response
Managed cyber security services such as managed detection and response (MDR) can provide the solutions and support that you need to keep your sensitive data and systems ultra-secure, while also meeting the necessary industry regulations and standards.
Smaller businesses may lack the resources or skillsets to tackle evolving cyber demands. Round-the-clock proactive cyber threat detection and response from an expert partner will not only protect your business operations, but give you peace of mind as you continue to innovate.
What’s more, in an increasingly complex regulatory landscape, compliance with cyber security directives such as NIS2 is becoming mandatory for more businesses than ever before. Partnering with a third-party provider can ensure compliance for your business and free up time to focus on critical tasks.
- Protecting against compromise with multi-factor authentication
It’s no exaggeration to say that most small businesses will use email on a day-to-day basis, whether for communicating with customers, employees, or suppliers. Therefore, vigilance when it comes to phishing attacks such as business email compromise is crucial. This works by impersonating legitimate business email accounts to exploit employees’ trust with the intention of stealing money or critical data. Phishing attacks like these are becoming ever more advanced and, with the rise of deepfakes, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to identify suspicious activity.
To protect your business against these threats, implement multi-factor authentication (MFA) on company devices, which requires multiple verification steps to log into business accounts. This layered approach makes it harder for cybercriminals to gain access to your networks.
- Encouraging employee awareness training
Employees are often the weakest link in any cyber security chain and human error is one of the top causes of cyber breaches. All it takes is a single click – and cybercriminals are banking on overwhelmed or fatigued employees to fall victim to a malicious link within a seemingly innocent email or message.
Ensuring that employees at all levels receive regular cyber security awareness training and upskilling will help to protect your business against this (often unwitting) threat. This training can be done online in employees’ own time, or as part of workshops to promote a sense of teamwork in the fight against cybercrime.
- Being proactive with penetration testing
Take proactive steps to protect your company’s assets with penetration testing. This simulates cyberattacks on your business’ networks and defences to identify where the vulnerabilities are – and can be an invaluable cyber security service for small businesses. Testing can be carried out across WiFi, web and mobile apps, cloud and physical infrastructure, and more, ensuring your network is secure from external threats.
Don’t wait until a breach occurs before assessing where the gaps are in your defences, as breaches can cause irreparable reputational, financial, and operational damage to small businesses.
- Enabling secure hybrid working with private networks
As many small businesses operate hybrid working models, ensuring security while working outside of the office is paramount. Whether working on home or public WiFi, using a shared office space, or travelling for work purposes, a virtual private network (VPN) will ensure that employees have secure access to the company network, wherever they’re working.
It also masks IP addresses, helping to hide employees’ locations from would-be hackers, enhancing security and privacy for your business.
To sum up…
Small businesses face constant threats from cybercriminals looking to exploit vulnerabilities and gain unauthorised access to valuable data. Take control of your cyber security and maximise the cyber security solutions for small businesses that are designed to help you grow and succeed.
To find out more about Landmark Technologies’ small business cyber security offering, speak to our highly skilled technical or customer service teams. Call us on 01 569 1056 or email hello@landmark.ie.
