cybersecurity Archives - American Quilt Retailer

Things to consider

Facebook was down for a total of six hours on Monday, October 4. If it can happen to them, it can happen to you too.

Something else to consider is your cloud. Currently, less than one-third of businesses monitor abnormal behavior across their cloud environment. More important than the cloud however, is your email. Currently, 94% of breaches enter through the email.

When looking to protect your digital assets, think of your enterprise wide system, and what you need to do to cover your bases. Check out some below tips for small business from the FCC.

FCC Cybersecurity Tips

Train your employees. Make sure your employees know to use strong passwords, and the information below.

Keep clean machines. Make sure you’re operating on the most updated software.

Get a firewall. Also ensure employees that work remote have a firewall installed on their system.

Backup important information. By this point, this is a given. But it’s always good to have a reminder.

Create accounts for employees. This prevents use of business computers by unauthorized individuals (in other words, your children).

Secure your Wi-Fi.

Use best practices when it comes to online banking. Ensure your bank is using the most recent anti-fraud software available.

Limit employee access. No employee should have access to all data. If you can, also limit what software they can download.

Passwords/authentication. Currently, two-factor authentication is the safest way when it comes to securing your passwords.

If you’re looking for more information to guide you in owning a retail business, subscribe to American Quilt Retailer today. Already a subscriber? No worries—join our Facebook group for insights and dialogue from industry specialists like you. And don’t forget, you can always purchase single issues if you prefer that instead.

With more time spent online, cybersecurity practices are more critical than ever. Check out this list to make sure you’ve got your business is safe.

Passwords

Train your employees to use strong passwords and require them to change their passwords every three months. Better yet, implement multi-factor authentification, or check with your bank and other vendors to see if they offer that option.

If employees use a shared laptop, create different accounts for each employee and encourage each employee to protect their account with a strong password.

Finally, make sure your business is using a secure, encrypted, and hidden WiFi network. Set up your wireless router so it does not broadcast the WiFi name and make it password protected too.

Cybersecurity

Installing a firewall on each of your computers is essential, and there are free versions online too. If employees work from home, make sure they have a firewall installed on their home computers as well.

Back up your data as frequently as possible. Per the FCC, critical data includes word processing documents, electronic spreadsheets, databases, financial files, human resources files, and accounts receivable/payable files.

Lastly, limit employee access to this data. Employees should only be given access to systems they need for their jobs, and shouldn’t be allowed to download additional software.

Hardware

Update your systems regularly and run antivirus software after each update. Also make sure you use a different computer to process payments than you use to browse the internet.

Nobody wants to be in a position where they have to pay someone because of a lack of online security. Start with these practices to protect your business from cyber attacks.