Cyber threats and business continuity
It seems that over the past year there has been a spike in high profile cyber attacks. The big names that we know and trust to look after our confidential data have been successfully targeted by hackers – as customers, we’ve been the ones who have suffered.
For you, as a business owner, these cyber attacks should act as the prompt you need to make sure that your computer security is up to scratch and to look at your data recovery plan. Here are our top tips for what you should do be doing to protect your business from a cyber attack.
Firewalls
Watchguard Managed Firewalls protect your network from unauthorised access and if you don’t already have one, then you’re putting your customers’ data at serious risk.
Spring clean
Chances are, you have some customer data on your system that you no longer need. Do regular checks and see which data you can afford to get rid of. A data retention policy will help you achieve this.
Monitored access
Make sure you know exactly who has access to sensitive data, keeping a list of names that you can refer to. Restrict access according to each person’s responsibilities. If one of those people leaves the company, then disable their access and make sure you update passwords – it’s also important that you change passwords on a regular basis, regardless.
Backup
Ensure that your data is saved both to a physical hard drive and to the cloud, to guarantee that your business will be able to continue running if you do come under attack.
Plan
You need to have a business continuity plan that accounts for all possible eventualities. In 2016, cyber threats are at the forefront of many people’s minds. However, you still need to think about the threat of theft and flooding – both of which can seriously compromise your customers’ data and your ability to function as a company.
Your client data is one of the most important things that you are responsible for. Having a business continuity plan not only guarantees that your business can keep on running if there is a security breach, but it also gives customers peace of mind. To arrange a free check-up of your backup and disaster recovery system, get in touch.
