What can SMBs do to keep their business protected from a cybersecurity attack? There are many new technologies that can help in addition to value-added partners who can evaluate your business network, processes, and procedures and ensure they are tightened up to prevent an attack.
Ensure your Business Data is Protected
There are many challenges in running a business and one of them is maintaining the security of your business data and your customer’s data, including their credit card and payment information. Fraudsters are constantly coming up with new ways to breach systems whether by phishing, malware, or various other cyber-attacks. They know you are busy running a business, so they look for ways to exploit your vulnerabilities and attack where and when you least expect it.
What can SMBs do to keep their business protected from a cybersecurity attack? There are many new technologies that can help in addition to value-added partners who can evaluate your business network, processes, and procedures and ensure they are tightened up to prevent an attack.
If you are a business owner, learn 5 ways you can create an effective cybersecurity plan:
Pick a reputable, reliable PCI compliance partner – this partner should work with you in each step to ensure you are PCI compliant. From selecting and filling out the correct questionnaire to ensuring your network is monitored constantly against threats, the partner should not only be able to protect you currently but advise on ways to protect your business against new types of cyber-attacks.
Work with vendors/partners that are PCI compliant – Not only do you need to be PCI compliant, but any other partner, vendor, or provider you work with should also be as well. If they are providing any kind of service or solution that interacts with or touches your network, your data, and customer data, they need to be following the strictest, most recent PCI compliance rules from the PCI Security Standards Council. Read the most important questions you should ask vendors here.
Implement multi-factor authentication (MFA) for all business systems – Multi-factor authentication is a security measure requiring two or more forms of identification to log into an application. This means it’s not just your password that grants you access. It could also be something like a fingerprint, voiceprint, or even a one-time code created by an authenticator app. You can read more about MFA here.
Train employees regularly and consistently – It’s important that your employees understand the importance of security and their part in ensuring they are following all the policies and procedures to keep the business and data safe. They should be trained on securely accessing all systems and the importance of never disclosing any passwords or security measures to non-employees.
Keep aware of new forms of attack so you can be prepared – as a business owner, it’s important you stay up to date on new forms of attack, updates to your technology and networks that need to be made, and most importantly, passing that information on to your employees. Your PCI partner should be the main source of information to ensure you stay protected and compliant.
As you can see, there are lots of factors when it comes to ensuring your business and your customers are protected however, starting with the points above will put you in a better position to ensure you have the right tools and partners in place to prevent an attack.
We have been asked by many business owners and partners to help them protect their businesses and our PCI-in-a-Box solution helps business owners fill out the PCI compliance questionnaire quickly and appropriately while ensuring your network is monitored and protected by our always-on secure software.
To see our PCI compliance software in action, request a demo.
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