All it takes is one. A single data breach can throw your entire company into chaos. You’ve got to let all your clients and customers know that their information might be in the hands of a hacker.
It’s enough to make you lose a lot of valuable customers. That means you’ll have less money to bounce back. You may be forced to close your doors for good.
The best way to avoid such a scenario is to familiarize yourself with your site’s security risks. We can help you out with that. Check out this guide to learn what you should be on the lookout for.
1. You Don’t Perform Normal Checks
You don’t want to wait until it’s too late to check for a web security problem. Your system is something that you should be on top of every week.
You’ve got antivirus (or you should have antivirus) for a reason. You should be using it to perform a quick scan of your computers on a normal basis.
Doing so will help you spot a potential problem before it spirals into something so out of control that it’s too expensive for you to fix.
2. You Work With Sensitive Data
Certain companies need more protection than others. The more sensitive data you work with, the bigger a target you become to hackers.
So, take a minute to think about what kind of data you keep. If you’re a medical facility that has HIPAA regulations to worry about, you’re going to need The Scarlett Group’s IT Services.
IT companies can test your defenses to make sure they’re strong enough to keep hackers away from your patient’s vital information.
3. You’ve Faced a Cyber Threat Before
Just because you were able to shake a cyber threat once, doesn’t mean that you’ll be able to do it again. If you’ve been hacked in the past, this is a warning sign that something needs to change.
Use information from the previous threat to prevent another. Think about why the other one happened. Do you need to update your software?
Who or what was responsible for the problem? Once you have the answers to these questions, you can start taking strides to make the necessary corrections.
4. You’re Getting Error Messages
You’re trying to get some work done, but you keep getting a bunch of error messages. This sign that your website’s cybersecurity has already been compromised.
If your system is giving you error messages on top of running super slow, it’s possible that you’ll fix it by performing a system upgrade. Developers release them to close up any security holes that they’ve found. That’s why it’s important to always keep your OS and web browsers up to date.
If your system doesn’t have any updates available, you’ll need to get in touch with an IT company right away. They’ll be able to tell you what’s going on by using their monitoring software.
5. You Conduct Financial Transactions of Any Kind
No matter if you’re a small e-commerce store or you take regular donations of some kind, you need to pay attention to your business’s cybersecurity.
Your company stores financial information that hackers want to get their hands on. They can go into your system and steal card numbers without you even realizing it.
6. You’ve Got Serious Regulations to Follow
Every year, countries change what regulations companies have to follow in terms of cybersecurity. Certain industries have specific rules too. Like medical businesses and HIPAA
Those who don’t follow them could end up facing serious fines. Sometimes the bill can be bad enough to send small businesses packing.
If you don’t want that to happen to your company, you should start investing in your cybersecurity plan. Hire an IT service that’s up to date with all the regulations you need to know about.
7. You’ve Got Employees
Employees can be a company’s greatest strength and also their greatest weakness. They’re an easy target for cybercriminals because they fall for the easiest traps when they’re not trained properly.
We’re talking “leave my password out on my desk and use the same login for every account” kind of mistake. Even if you have the best IT company on board, they can’t help you if your employees don’t know what they’re doing.
You’ve got to talk to your employees about security the first day you welcome them to the team. Share with them your rules and regulations, and don’t forget to show them examples of those pesky phishing emails.
8. Watch Your Vendors
Your vendors can be as much of a liability as your employees. It doesn’t matter how advanced your system is, a hacker can find their way into it by pretending to be one of your vendors.
Before you bring in a third party, make sure you do plenty of research on them. You can hire a professional firm to do a background check if need be.
If your vendor sends you an email asking you for any kind of personal information, you’re going to want to scrutinize it. Most companies don’t ask for payment details like that over an email.
Site Security Warning Signs to Be Aware Of
All it takes is a single data breach to drag your company’s name through the mud. That’s why you should pour a certain amount of your time and energy into site security.
If you don’t, you could end up having to pay so many fines that it puts your small business under. Don’t let that happen to you! For more tips that will help you keep up with your cybersecurity, visit the Technology section of our blog.
