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Modern technology constantly advances to the point that it seems to change daily. Some people naturally embrace and adapt to these modifications, but others fall behind because they feel they can't understand new technology, no matter how simple. As a business owner, you need to be able to navigate between these two camps to keep up with the technology. Cyberattacks are a part of this new technocratic world, but there are ways to fight against them and keep your sensitive business data safe. Here are five tech habits your business can embrace.
1. Learning
Cyberattacks can happen anytime, and you'll need to give your employees things that inspire people to fight against these crafty attacks. Hackers can get information in various ways. They try to trick your employees into giving away their passwords with phishing emails, phone calls and texts. The best way to combat this is to educate your people on how cyberattacks occur. You will want to keep your staff up to speed through email newsletters or learning module videos.
2. VPN
A Virtual Private Network (VPN) has become a necessary tool for every business. It helps keep information private when it is shared by your employees over the internet, especially for traveling or remote workers. People trying to steal sensitive information may compromise a public wifi network. Even with a cellphone's 5g network architecture, you need to have a great VPN available for your business. While it may seem safe, any network can be vulnerable to hackers and cyberattacks. A VPN will scramble any data that goes over the internet whether it's from public wifi or your cellphone data.
3. Security
A VPN helps with some of your security, and your network also needs extra protection with proper password use. Many people misuse passwords or use passwords that are too simple to be effective against hackers. Password managers exist to help your people create more complicated password strings. These management programs have settings the user can set up to comply with each site's password rules. Password managers have a single password for the employee to remember. The rest will remain hidden from hackers' eyes as long as the main password is strong.
4. Encryption
When working remotely, a laptop may get lost or stolen from time to time. Your business information must be kept secure by using encryption. Even with the best password, a hacker can still remove the hard drive and access the files it contains. Encryption is a necessary evil to keep sensitive information safe from identity thieves. Many programs exist to help with your encryption requirements. Windows professional products have the options built in and simply need to be turned on by your IT team.
5. Updates
Regularly updating your systems will keep your software updated so it can fight against cyberattacks. Many software companies will add updates to their products to ward off penetration attacks by plugging up any holes hackers found in their software. Some updates will come with a pop-up reminder that an update is waiting for them. People habitually hit "remind me later" when they see pop-ups on the computer. It may be essential to require them to pull in updates after a specific time to ensure that all the security features are implemented. Updates sometimes require a laptop to be restarted, and training your people to do regular restarts may be necessary.
We hear news about companies getting hacked almost daily, and it is now a part of doing business to keep user data safe. By implementing these habits into your business practices, you can help keep your private information private from hackers and cyberattacks.
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