5 Steps To Reduce Cyber Threats In Your Startup

The invention of the internet and new technologies allows you to learn a business from the comfort of your home. You can start a business and connect with customers and workers remotely with just a smartphone.  

Running a business online promotes your convenience and flexibility. However, according to Rublon’s authors, sometimes it can expose your firm to cyber security threats.

Hackers utilize the same modern technologies and the internet to access a business’s networks, especially those using Samsung, iPhone, LG, and Motorola smartphones. When that happens, you can lose your data or business in general. 

However, you can take some simple yet effective steps to reduce cyber security threats in your startup. These include:  

1. Creating Strong Passwords

One of the best approaches to protect your business against cyber threats is to create strong passwords, according to a blog published on February 23, 2022, by Rublon authors.  

Passwords are secret digits or words you use to  access your phone or computer system. It helps keep your business secure by ensuring no one can access your data without your permission. However, it would be best if you build strong passwords.  

There are various steps you can take to ensure you create strong passwords. These include having upper and lower cases, digits, alphabets, and nonstandard characters like ‘@#$?!’ in your passwords. 

At the same time, you need to make sure your passwords are reasonably long. The most recommended length is 10-12 characters. Creating strong passwords makes it difficult for anyone to guess them.  

2. Consider Two-Factor Authentication

Creating strong passwords for your smartphones is a good idea. However, sometimes it can fail to provide adequate security for your business. For instance, in some cases, a person might guess your passwords correctly, thus unlocking your phone.  

Apart from that, a person can get access to the location where you’ve saved your passwords. This 2FA can expose your business to cyber security threats. That’s why you need to provide two-factor authentication on your smartphones.  

Two-factor authentication involves having an additional security layer on top of passwords. It ensures any phone user goes the extra mile to unlock it after keying in passwords. These could be using facial recognition or fingerprints to unlock a phone.  

3. Update Your Systems Regularly

Most hackers tend to scan outdated phone applications to determine their vulnerability. The older versions of androids, windows, and other software, needless to say, are more prone to cybersecurity threats than new ones. 

If you’re still utilizing old smartphone programs to run your business, you’re at risk of losing your data.  Avoid this by updating your phone systems regularly.  

Keeping updating your networks isn’t easy, especially when you’re too busy doing other essential things. Therefore, you can forget or lack time to keep your systems updated as it can pose your business at significant risk. The best solution is to install an automatic system update application on your phone. This result will ensure that your networks always remain up to date, thus protecting your business from cybersecurity threats.  

4. Educate Your Workers

It’s no doubt that some other cybersecurity attacks happen because of employees’ ignorance. For instance, maybe most of your team members don’t know sharing essential data and passwords with outsiders poses a cybersecurity threat to your business. That’s why it’s advisable to train your workers in cybersecurity best practices.  

The best way to educate your workers on cybersecurity is to arrange training programs regularly. These can be during workshops, forums, or monthly meetings. 

You can also consider hiring cybersecurity experts to train your workers. This training helps equip workers with adequate cybersecurity knowledge, thus protecting your business.  

5. Encrypt Your Data

Lastly, you might consider encrypting your data to enhance your startup’s cybersecurity. This encryption involves encoding your files before sending them to intended recipients. In simple words, encryption consists in converting your data into nonstandard language. 

Therefore, even when an unintended person receives your documents, they won’t understand their meaning. On the other hand, the intended recipient will use some binary codes to decode the files to help convert the data into standard language that’s easy to understand.  

Takeaway

Utilizing the internet and modern technologies is the way to go if you want your business to remain competitive for the foreseeable future. However, this exposes your business to cybersecurity attacks. This outcome occurs when unauthorized persons access your phone systems, thus stealing or manipulating your business data. 

You can protect your startup from cybersecurity threats by implementing the strategies explained in this article. Guarding your smartphones against cybersecurity attacks is the best way to run a successful business.