According to a Verizon report, 61% of data breaches in 2016 targeted small businesses, while 39% of breaches targeted major firms and other organisations. According to additional Verizon research, 90% of all small firms lacked adequate network security protections as of 2017. It’s terrible since the majority of small enterprises would have had to shut down due to attack-related losses.
Network security best practises guard against hackers for both small and large enterprises. The ten factors stated below should be on any small business network security check list.
1. Updates to computer software
Millions of companies and organisations around the world, including the NHS in the UK, were impacted by the fatal Wannacry ransomware outbreak in 2017. The NHS could have easily prevented this attack by updating its operating systems, it was later discovered.
Updates are frequently released by Google, Microsoft, and other IT businesses to fix issues in software. Your systems will be strengthened by these updates, making it harder for hackers to access your network. Make sure your software systems are updated as a result. Also, keeping an eye out for updates and installing them as soon as they become available won’t cost you anything!
2. Improvements to the hardware
Much like software is examined for network security, the underlying hardware that enables your network and IT applications should be evaluated. Hackers routinely update to newer, more powerful equipment with higher processing power because they are aware of this. You should regularly update your hardware systems to keep current. Your networks’ overall usefulness and security will both increase.
3. Computer system security
Hackers can only be partially thwarted by software updates. To safeguard your users and add an extra layer of security, you also need specialised, dedicated IT security systems.
harm. Selecting the best IT security systems should be easy given the capabilities of the many types and brands. To safeguard both your conversations and your online activity, you might want to think about using a VPN. Hackers can only be partially thwarted by software updates. To safeguard your users and add an extra layer of security, you also need specialised, dedicated IT security systems. As the data is encrypted and being transmitted through a VPN, anyone who might be able to bypass your firewall and other security measures cannot utilise it.
4. Archiving of data
Data loss happens often for a variety of causes even without hacking. It was predicted that the WannaCry attack victims would have their data frozen until they made a payment.
If they failed to do so, the data was locked and was unrecoverable. This caused a great deal of disruption because data is becoming more sensitive and some businesses have been collecting data for years, depending on it for planning, marketing, and many other uses.
As a result, it’s crucial to regularly backup your data in a secure location outside of your company’s network. Consider investing in a second server that will only be used for data backups. Also, you can backup your data on the cloud. There should be regular backups, especially for.
5. Regular Audits
When were the IT systems of your business last audited? However, the advantages of assessing their network and IT infrastructure are not well known by most small firms. They are essentially uninformed of the state of their network security due to a lack of auditing.
An evaluation of the network and IT infrastructure is needed to find any hidden weaknesses. These weaknesses can then be closed before hackers use them. You can find out-of-date hardware and software by auditing. The effectiveness and security of the network and IT systems are ultimately improved via audits. There should be exceptions to the minimum requirement of twice a year auditing if there are active network security issues.