Cybersecurity: 8 tips to protect your business

Cyber threats affect everyone—whether you’re a freelancer, a multinational business, a government organisation, or a small business, no one is immune. That’s why proper cybersecurity measures are essential to protect your sensitive business data and financial assets.

The good news? There are effective ways to safeguard your business against cyber threats. A strong IT infrastructure, robust cybersecurity practices, and employee awareness all play a crucial role in keeping your business secure.

What are the risks of a cyberattack on your business?

If a hacker gains access to your network, the consequences can be devastating for both your business and your clients. They could steal critical information, including:

• Customer lists
• Customer credit card details
• Your business’ bank details
• Pricing structures
• Product designs
• Expansion plans
• Manufacturing processes

Beyond direct financial losses, cyberattacks can cause irreparable damage to your reputation, legal liabilities, and loss of customer trust—threatening the very survival of your business.

Given these risks, protecting your business is essential. Not an IT expert? Don’t worry—our practical tips below will help, and if you need additional support, we recommend consulting a specialist.

Cybersecurity tips for your business

Protecting your business from cyber threats isn’t complicated—if you follow the right steps. Hackers are constantly evolving their methods, so staying one step ahead is crucial. Here’s how you can safeguard your business and your clients.

1. Protect access to your business network
Your IT network is the first line of defence against cyber threats. Strengthen it by:

• Using a proxy server. This acts as a gateway between your business’ network and the internet, boosting security and controlling access.
• Implementing firewalls to add an extra layer of security. There are many available online, but some are provided by default on your devices. For example, Microsoft offers its Defender firewall by default.
• Limiting the number of login attempts to accounts to detect any suspicious intrusions on your network.
• Using a VPN to anonymise your connection and avoid detection by hackers is also a good idea.

2. Train your staff

Not everyone is a cybersecurity expert, and mistakes can happen easily. It’s best for everyone in your business to be trained in cybersecurity. There's no need to turn your employees or collaborators into true experts, but explaining how to avoid falling for phishing scams or other online fraud is a good idea.

Organise some training to raise awareness of the risks online, so they don’t download anything suspicious from the web and take care of their work devices like their computers or tablets. Regular cybersecurity training can drastically reduce the risk of human-related security breaches.

3. Install antivirus software

If you're not careful, a virus or other malware can infect your devices or IT network in seconds. Antivirus software helps detect and remove threats. There are many antivirus programs on the market, so it's up to you to choose the right one. Once the software is installed, remember to regularly update it so it can fight off the latest viruses on the web.

4. Regularly back up your files and data

A cyberattack can wipe out critical business data in an instant. To avoid such a disaster, the best thing to do is to back up your data regularly. However, you need to have enough space to store large amounts of data. You could opt for cloud services like OneDrive or Dropbox, but this comes with risks as everything is online. The ideal solution is to opt for a physical solution: NAS (Network Attached Storage).

This is a storage box that allows you to share (and manage) files on a server with multiple hard drives. You can configure automatic backups of your data to this device to never lose it.

5. Encrypt your data

Encryption ensures that even if hackers access your files, they won’t be able to read them. This is unmatched protection, as the only way to access it is to obtain several encryption keys that are extremely secure. Moreover, such encryption has no negative effect on storing or sharing your data.

6. Generate your passwords

Always use complex passwords containing both uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and special characters. Also, choose unique passwords for different accounts each time and change them regularly. The simplest way is to have your passwords generated by a computer and store them in a secure password manager.

7. Grant the right access and rights to your employees

Not every employee needs access to all your company’s data. For each tool you use, you should be able to determine who needs what access rights. Grant admin access only to yourself or one or two people. Never share an email address and account password with multiple people. Always delete accounts that you no longer use.

8. Secure your Wi-Fi network

Ensure that your business’ Wi-Fi network is always securely protected with an unguessable password. If you regularly receive clients or external individuals using your Wi-Fi, set up a separate guest network.