No one is immune from cyber threats. Data breaches are common for businesses small and large, and all companies need risk management as an essential component of a successful business plan. The steps to make this security work are not difficult, but it is essential to be diligent about enforcement to avoid cyberattacks and financial disaster.
What Digital Risks Do You Face?
Every digital risk out there is a digital risk your business faces. Even if you are individually hacked, if you hold financial and proprietary information for your enterprise, a cyberattack can reach those details too.
While many cyber choices are made to be convenient and efficient for customers, clients, employees, and your business, the most important element is safety first. If you don’t recognize how the following elements might impact your business, it’s time to learn more about cyberattack and quickly.
- Do you offer Wi-Fi to employees, customers, and visitors?
- How do third-party vendors protect information and do their security practices comply with your standards?
- Do employees who access your system use complex passwords and change passwords regularly?
- Does all the personal data you keep serve a business purpose?
- Who has access to software and systems?
- Is sensitive documentation encrypted?
Steps for the Risk Management of Cyberattack
The following tips are a compilation of advice from the Small Business Administration (SBA), Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to protect your cyber systems:
- Review: Identify all areas of cyber vulnerability. Engage a professional to help identify risks.
- Collect: Know how information is collected, stored, accessed, and protected (e.g., credit card info, Social Security numbers, etc.).
- Protect: Password-protect all files in multiple locations and formats using complex passwords. Use firewall and encryption technology and antivirus and anti-spyware software for computer systems.
- Backup: Have multiple data backups stored in different locations – including off-site – and in different formats (e.g., external hard drive and flash drive) for computers and mobile devices and backup on a regular basis.
The Importance of Cybersecurity in Risk Management
Any business owner can fall prey to complacency. You might think your organization is unappealing to hackers, but turning a blind eye makes businesses bigger targets. No matter your size or reach, your organization has customer data, employee data, revenue, financial account information, and intellectual property – all attractive to cyber criminals. When any system is inadequately protected, an avenue to larger supplier networks is inadvertently created.
Your positions as a business owner and operator, as an employer, and as a member of your community are all financially affected by the ebbs and flows of cyber behavior. An essential key to financial success protecting against cyber threats. Discuss your financial needs and planning, including budgeting for digital safety support, with help from the financial experts at Hollander Lone Maxbauer. Schedule a consultation with one of our experienced advisors in Southfield, MI.
