Data: the buzzword of the turn of the millennium. Data is more than just a buzzword, however, because it truly can make all the difference when planning business and marketing strategies for your small business.
This is a blessing and a curse, however, because all of that data can make your business a target for hackers who seek to profit off of someone else’s hard work. Here’s what you need to know about protecting your data from bad actors.
Encryption and Decryption
Encrypting data is the oldest trick in the book and has played a major role in espionage, but its use in modern data security is even more important. This vital safety feature is the most basic way that you can protect your data from hackers. Despite this, it’s not a native component of the internet as you know it. You will have to pay for SSL or TLS certification in order to protect your website from hackers.
This is a two way street, as it protects not only your business, but also the consumers that will be using your website. The way it works is that it scrambles incoming and outgoing data, and this means that data that is intercepted by a third party such as a hacker will be illegible without the corresponding cipher.
When viewed on the correct end of the transfer, it will have been decrypted and made readable again. This protects your customers’ personal information with which hackers could steal their identity or simply their money, but it also protects you and your staff, as well as the integrity of the website itself.
Unsecure websites are often a host for malicious programs that can steal or leak your data to hackers from within your own computer, or they can surrender control of your device over to the hackers in question to do with what they will.
Cybersecurity Software
In order to protect against malware, you’ll need antimalware software, another fairly basic way to protect yourself from hackers. Software forms the bulk of cybersecurity, because it enables your devices to fight fire with fire by using technology to beat technology.
Antimalware accomplishes this by warning you about the possibility of a malicious file before downloading from an unverified publisher and then detecting malware once it has been downloaded. At this point, the program will attempt to remove and/or quarantine the virus before it does any more harm.
DDoS prevention software can prevent Distributed Denial of Service attacks, a type of cyber attack that is uncommon because of the complexity with which it must be executed. Despite this, these attacks do occur, and they can devastate a business that isn’t adequately prepared.
Password Security
Approximately 90% of all cyber security breaches are the direct result of simple mistakes, and nowhere is this better exemplified than in the problems with the current reliance on passwords. An effective password is practically antithetical to a memorable password, so it’s a game of picking your poison between a safe password that will need to be reset when you inevitably forget it or a password that’s as easy to remember as it is for a hacker to guess or brute force.
Multi factor authentication is quickly catching on as a way to strengthen password security, and it does so by adding an extra step, typically one that depends on the user’s smartphone. This can make it much more difficult for a hacker to use your passwords against you. On the other hand, there is an ongoing push for passwordless login solutions that forgo this flawed security measure entirely.
Protecting your business and your customers from hackers is a multi pronged effort. It takes a mixture of software and best practices, and it’s best for businesses that can afford it to consult with a team of experts in order to achieve the best results. These tips can help you build a sturdy defense against hackers, but you can always do more.
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