As a small business owner, you understand the importance of a solid online presence. At a minimum, you’ve probably created a business website, some company email accounts, and a handful of social media profiles to increase your web visibility and drive your customer interactions. Depending on your industry and type of enterprise, you may or may not handle sales or transactions through your website.
Also, if you’re like most small business owners, you don’t see your website as a particularly enticing target for hackers and cybercriminals. Unfortunately, recent studies show that this reasoning is not only incorrect but is also exactly what makes small business sites such attractive targets. The good news is that it’s never too late to ramp up your website’s security. Try these tips to ensure that your site stays secure.
Keep Up with Regular Site Maintenance
An uninformed, lackadaisical, or outdated approach to website maintenance is what often makes small businesses such appealing targets for cybercriminals. To keep your website secure, remember to perform regular maintenance on it.
Examples of routine website upkeep include:
- Allowing automatic updates for most software, apps, and plugins so that you aren’t relying on old or less secure versions
- Ensuring that virus protection software, support subscriptions, and security certificates stay up to date and do not lapse
- Reviewing website analytics and threat monitoring reports
- Regularly updating passwords and clearing caches
If all these routine safeguards sound like a lot of work, consider subscribing to a website maintenance plan via OlivSEO that incorporates website security monitoring as part of the included site maintenance services.
Don’t Attempt DIY Cybersecurity
If you’re a computer whiz with excellent site coding and data analysis skills, this section doesn’t apply to you. On the other hand, if you’re reading this article, you probably focus most of your brainpower and energy on improving and growing your business. This may not leave you much time for keeping up with the latest developments in cybersecurity and information systems. In that case, the smart choice is to outsource your website’s cybersecurity.
This doesn’t mean you need to go out and hire an expensive IT team for your small business. In today’s online marketplace, you can often find freelance cybersecurity professionals who can tackle your company’s specific needs. You could choose someone who specializes in a particular area of cybersecurity, such as cyber defense strategy or data security, or a more generalized cybersecurity consultant. If the titles alone are confusing, try visiting a website that allows you to research freelancers, check reviews, and compare rates and turnaround times.
Back Up Your Data
A common cybercriminal tactic is to hijack your website and hold your data for ransom. Avoid this scenario by setting up automatic data backups for all of your data on each computer. The backup should include all your spreadsheets, documents, client files, financial information, and internal files, such as accounts receivable and human resources. Configure the program to perform a backup each day at a time when your computers are usually not busy. The backups should be stored online, in the cloud, or at an offsite location.
Hackers and cybersecurity breaches were once threats that only applied to large corporations with access to vast stockpiles of consumer and financial data. In today’s global, online economy, however, cybercriminals pose a real and dangerous threat to even the smallest businesses. Don’t skimp on cybersecurity. Act now to keep your business safe online.
OlivSEO provides a number of helpful services for small businesses, including web hosting, web design, social media management, and SEO. If you want to learn more about how we can assist you and your business, please call (480) 660-0577 or email support@olivseo.com.
