Online security has become a quintessential aspect of business management. With more cyber threats developing every day and tireless hackers working on finding loopholes in security, no business owner could be taking the online security of their business too seriously. Cybercrimes have skyrocketed, and the value of people’s personal data is exploding. Never has it been more important to educate yourself on online security and the things you can do to help ensure your business is safe. The following will explore several essential steps you can take to help protect the online security of your business.
Critically Examine Hosts
If you want to have a website online, you’re going to have a hosting service that provides digital real estate for you. Almost certainly, since you’re running a business, you’re going to be using an e-commerce platform that allows you to maintain an online store. Before you make a selection, do your research on which hosting platforms provide the best security for you and for those who will be visiting your site. You also need to regularly revisit this research to see if anything has changed. At the bare minimum, you want a host that has 24-hour support so you can get in contact with them should a security issue arise.
Rethink Storage
If you’re running a business and keep digital information and records, you need to rethink where you’re storing all this data. The team behind Back Blaze explains that many business owners are making the shift to cloud-based storage solutions either as their primary storage option or as their backup. You’re probably using cloud storage without even being aware of it; anything stored on the internet for you, including your emails, photos you upload to Google Drive, documents you save online, etc., are all stored in the cloud. When it comes to your business’ data, however, it is critical that you learn about what security measures your cloud storage provider is taking. You also need to be able to answer any questions your staff or customers might have about where their personal information is being kept and whether or not it’s safe.
Enable A Firewall
A firewall is a brilliant security step that will help protect your network from malware, viruses, and cyberattacks. There are many firewalls available on the market, so you should be able to find one in your price range that suits your needs. It is critical to note here that if your employees are working from home, their home computers also need a firewall, especially if they’re going to be updating your site from their home computer.
Use Good Passwords
This one cannot be stressed enough. Most people’s passwords are terrible, and there are several standard ones to try if someone is attempting to get access to secure information. Don’t make it easy for hackers to bypass all your other security measures because your password is easy to guess.
SSL Certification
An SSL certificate guarantees that confidential user information is properly stored in a safe location. Almost always, this involves a stage of encrypting information to make it more difficult for hackers or malware to access. Without an SSL certificate, you might find that your website sets off a lot of personal internet browser security measures, resulting in a pop-up message warning users that the site is not secure. Almost always, people click away from a site after that message arises. Of course, this can have a drastic impact on the amount of traffic your site gets.
HTTPS
When you visit a website, you’ll notice at the top of the URL either HTTP or HTTPS. The S stands for secure, which means all sites begin with either hypertext transfer protocol or hypertext transfer protocol secure. This makes a big difference whether or not a browser considers a site safe, and for a good reason. Having a secure protocol means the information that is bouncing between a website and a web browser is secure.
The above tips should give you a few excellent places to start securing your business’s website. Of course, none of these steps are things that can be done once and then left alone. You need to be continually revisiting your security measures as well as staying up to date on the new developments in the field of digital security. More and more customers and employees are becoming aware of the critical issue that is data rights, which means all too soon you’re not going to be able to draw new clients in or keep staff working for you if you aren’t doing everything you can to keep their data safe and private. People don’t like being spied on, and they don’t like having their personal information shared with third parties that are unknown to them. If you’re collecting people’s data as part of your business (which you are doing if you have a website), it is your responsibility to keep that data safe.
