The Only List you will Need
Online businesses have become increasingly popular over the past two decades. Even if it’s a small family business, most of your interactions with your clients or accountant are likely to be virtual. However, as businesses conduct more and more procedures online, the risk of falling into the hands of online fraudsters increases. Data loss is probably the worst experience a business can have.
It only takes one employee to click on the wrong link, and the entire company can suffer the consequences of a data breach. The company faces a lot of challenges after data loss, including data recovery, possibly loss of reputation, unfulfilled orders, and downtime. However, it is possible to protect your business from such incidents using a powerful toolkit for unbreakable business defense.
The Latest Statistics of Cyber-attacks
Cyber-attacks aim to compromise or gain control or access to critical documents and systems on a corporate or personal computer network. Cyber-attacks are deployed by individuals or organizations with political, criminal, or personal intent to destroy or gain access to secret and sensitive information.
The list of the most common cyber-attacks includes:
- Malware;
- Denial-of-Service (DoS) Attack;
- Phishing;
- Code Injection Attack;
- Cross-Site Scripting (XSS);
- Spoofing, etc.
According to the newest statistics, phishing is continuing to be the most common email attack method. In 2024, cybercrime is going to cost 9,5 billion USD to the world. In 2023, the most targeted world regions by cyberattacks were the Asia-Pacific region, following Europe and North America. Contrary to the common belief that cybercriminals primarily target large corporations both large companies and small businesses are equally at risk. According to the experts, considering the development of modern attacks and the possible consequences, business should take care of cyber security in advance. Read on to find out which tools can help protect your business against cyber-attacks.
Virtual Private Network
The internet connection is not secure. Our data is constantly collected and stored not only by Internet service providers but also by the government or criminals who can steal people’s money or identities. To reclaim safe and private browsing, a virtual private network or VPN comes to the rescue.
By activating it, you can also get many additional benefits, for instance, cheaper hotels. The VPN, for instance, Portals VPN, hides the user’s network IP address and directs the Internet traffic through an encrypted connection to a private VPN server. In this way, Internet service providers, the government, or criminals see that a person is connected to the Internet. Still, confidential information is not visible to them and they cannot use it.
Password managers
Weak, easily cracked passwords remain a major cause of data breaches. Avoid data breaches with minimal effort by protecting your data with strong passwords. A password manager will help you take the first steps in strengthening the security of both your personal and business accounts. The password manager is an online tool that generates unique and random passwords based on security recommendations. The best password managers are the ones that allow you to change the settings according to your needs.
Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
A complex password is not always enough to protect against hackers. Multi-factor authentication provides an additional level of security as users must provide more than one proof of identification when accessing systems or information. For instance, two-factor authentication or 2FA is when two proofs of your credentials have been verified. Credentials fall into three categories: what you know (such as a password or PIN), what you have (such as a smart card), or what you are (such as a fingerprint or face). For strong security, your data must fall into two unrelated categories. 2FA is one of the most important measures that businessmen use to protect their online activities. For instance, Duo Mobile App is one of the most popular two-factor authentication (2FA) solutions.
Secure Email Services
Email services are the main medium for business and professional communications. It is important to protect your sensitive and private data contained in emails from cyber threats and government agencies. The most popular secure email services include Protonmail, Mailbox.org, and Tuta. Protonmail is an open-source secure email provider worldwide, located in Switzerland. Mailbox.org is an encrypted email service provider located in Germany. Tuta is another secure email provider with end-to-end encryption and two-factor authentication.
Endpoint Security Solutions
Endpoint security solutions are the practice of securing endpoints of end-user devices, for instance, desktops or mobile devices. These services may include anti-virus, anti-malware, internet filtering, etc. Endpoint security solutions help businesses protect critical systems, intellectual property, customer data, employees, and guests from ransomware, data theft, and other cyber-attacks. Regardless of company size, businesses need to use endpoint security solutions that can stop today’s cyber-attacks. Since most companies are subject to some sort of compliance and privacy regulations, endpoint protection software, for instance, Bitdefender, is necessary for companies to avoid reputational damage due to data breaches.
Secure File Sharing Platforms
Secure file-sharing platforms are a convenient way to share files that are too large to send via email. Use a file-sharing platform if you want to send many files or large files or preserve the quality of the original file, and, of course, ensure data privacy. In secure file-sharing platforms, all files are scanned for viruses and malware. Encrypted file transfer for both upload and download ensures secure file transfer. Also, users can add an expiration date and password for files to ensure stronger security. One of the most popular secure file-sharing platforms is Dropbox which allows you to store content, edit PDFs, share videos, sign documents, and track file engagement.
Secure Communication Tools
The secure communication tool, for instance, the Signal app, is an advanced end-to-end encryption app that keeps your conversations secure. This secure communication tool ensures that nobody can read your messages or listen to your conversations. Using the Signal app, you can easily and safely send text and voice messages, photos, videos, stickers, GIFs, and files for free. Signal app uses your phone’s data connection to avoid paying for SMS and MMS. Group calls via the Signal app allow you to connect up to 40 people. Share photos, text, video, or stories that disappear after 24 hours. Moreover, the privacy settings of the Signal app allow you to choose who can see each story.
Web Security Scanner
The web security scanner, for instance, Acunetix, is an application that finds and fixes over 7000 vulnerabilities and potential exploits that put your web applications at risk. Acunetix is a very powerful tool that finds many vulnerabilities including SQL injections. There are many different settings and different scanning options in this application. Acunetix also provides accurate reports. With this web security scanner, it is much faster to identify and fix vulnerabilities in a web application before hackers take advantage of it.
Data Backup Solutions
A backup strategy is another effective method to protect businesses from data breaches. Backups are created to restore data to its original location after data loss. Therefore, it is important to do backups periodically: every hour, every day, or week. The less frequent the backups are, the less likely that lost data will be restored. There are a lot of data backup solutions, for instance, Backblaze or CrashPlan, that help protect your business from data breaches and recover data easily after the data loss incident.
Employee Training Platforms
An online cybersecurity platform, for instance, TryHackMe or KnowBe4, is a platform where you can study topics of cybersecurity threats and opportunities online and remotely. Learning about cybersecurity is possible from anywhere, with access to the Internet and a computer or mobile device. Online cybersecurity platforms provide content on cybersecurity topics in different formats such as texts, video tutorials, assignments, etc. It should be mentioned that the cyber security learning platforms can be free or paid.
Cyber Insurance
Today, cyber insurance is the fastest-growing type of insurance in the world. It provides financial protection to companies that rely on information systems. During a cyber-attack, the company may suffer losses due to business interruption and data theft. Cyber insurance specialists help minimize damage after a data breach and restore the functioning of systems. Insurance specialist consultations are available around the clock. In the case of larger cyber-attacks, insurance specialists can upload systems to the cloud, thus ensuring the continuity of the company’s activities.
Wrap up
In the list of global risks, cyber-attacks are in the top ten and, according to experts, will remain so for a long time. Constantly evolving cyber hacking tactics and tools, and geopolitical unrest increase the risk of cyber-attacks for both small and large businesses.
The tools mentioned in this article, such as virtual private networks, password managers, multi-factor authentication, secure email services, endpoint security solutions, secure file-sharing platforms, secure communication tools, web security scanners, data backup solutions, employee training platforms, and cyber insurance can help reduce the possibility of data loss. A large or small business that cares about cyber security wins a lot.
This 2024 toolkit ensures smoother business continuity, confidentiality, protection of sensitive customer information, greater customer confidence, and better brand reputation. In addition, although protection from possible cyber-attacks requires at least a minimal initial investment, this investment later helps the business save money and quickly repair the damage after a cyber-attack.
