The digital-first era is here, bringing new ways to do business with it. It means increased efficiency and productivity for your organization, but it also comes with new cybersecurity challenges. If left unaddressed, these challenges can have severe consequences for your business in terms of finances and reputation. The good news is that there are simple steps you can take to protect yourself as an organization moving forward. In this post, we’ll look at those steps to understand how they relate to your business specifically.
Protecting Your Business in the Digital-First Era
As more businesses adopt digital technologies and services in their day-to-day operations, they’re also adopting new ways of working. It puts them at greater risk of becoming the target of cyberattacks and not just from hackers with malicious intent. As cybercriminals become more sophisticated and advanced, so do the attacks they launch against your business.
That’s why every business owner or manager needs to understand how they can protect their organizations from these threats. Not just now but also into the future as technological changes continue to shape our world and its risks.
Addressing Security Issues With Current Digital Services
In the digital era, cybersecurity is a top concern for businesses of all sizes. Online threats can be daunting, and they’re only going to become more complex as years progress. Protect your business from cyber threats and keep employees, clients, and customers safe online.
- Ensure that all your employees know what constitutes a cyber threat and how it can affect their personal information or business data. You should also ensure they understand how to protect themselves against phishing emails and other malicious software (malware) forms.
- Ensure that you have adequate security measures in place so that no one can access sensitive information without authorization. If an employee leaves or takes another job with another company, make sure they have signed an agreement releasing you from liability for any breaches they might commit while working for you before moving on.
- Use encryption technology when sharing sensitive data electronically so hackers cannot gain access to it quickly if they somehow manage to hack into your network.
What Does It Take To Keep Your Employees and Customers Safe Online?
To ensure that your employees are protected, you first need to educate them on cyber threats and how to avoid them. You can start by conversing with your IT department about developing a cybersecurity training program for all employees who access the internet on company devices or computers.
Next, ensure that all your employees have unique passwords, which they change periodically (every month or so). Passwords should be complex and challenging to guess. The more characters, numbers, and symbols in the password, the better. It’s also essential to require two-factor authentication whenever possible.
How Should You Verify IDs Digitally and In-Person?
Verifying your customers’ identities is a crucial component of cybersecurity. There are two types of identity verification. The first is verification in person, which can be done through a driver’s license, passport, or another form of government-issued ID with an expiration date on it. The second type of identity verification is online, where a customer provides their name and address information to your website as proof that they’re who they say they are.
When verifying customer identities in person (with valid documentation), make sure that you ask for more than just their full name and birthdate. Also, ask for other identifying information like social security number or email address, so you have multiple points from which to verify authenticity later on if need be.
If you’re using an online service like Google Sign-In or Facebook Login for authentication purposes, remember that these services aren’t foolproof. Suppose someone has access to one person’s login credentials. In that case, those same credentials could be used against another user account elsewhere on the web due to shared data being stored within these third-party services’ databases.
It would be best to employ identity verification solutions from au10tix.com. As a business owner, you get a fully automated identity verification and fraud prevention system that works efficiently even during a surge. With this identity verification system, you can rest easy knowing only genuine customers will be onboarded.
Protecting Your Business Data
Protecting your business data is an essential aspect of digital-first era cybersecurity. It’s no secret that data breaches are a significant concern for businesses, and knowing how to protect your company from these threats can be challenging. But there are steps you can take to keep your business data safe, as well as the personal information of your employees and customers.
To protect against cyber threats, you must keep an eye out for suspicious activity in any part of the network. Whether on the web or inside physical devices like computers, servers, or routers. You should monitor security controls at all times to ensure they’re working correctly, so no hackers get through unnoticed.
How to Share Sensitive Information Safely and Securely?
In the digital age, it’s not enough to protect your business data. You also need to protect your employees and customers, as well as your business itself. To protect these assets, you’ll need to understand what makes them vulnerable in the first place. Here are some ways you can share sensitive information safely and securely:
- Use a secure platform with encryption technology that meets government standards (e.g., FIPS 140-2) when sharing confidential information with third parties such as contractors or vendors. It protects against unauthorized access by malicious actors who may attempt to gain access via brute force attacks using passwords or other means at their disposal.
- Encrypt emails containing sensitive financial or personal information before sending them out over email. It prevents unauthorized parties from viewing sensitive info if there is an issue with the email server.
- Ensure that all employees have strong passwords on their work laptops/desktops. It helps prevent someone from accessing files remotely even after stealing one of these devices.
Bottomline
Your company might be at risk of losing sensitive information that could jeopardize its reputation or even lead to legal trouble if released into the public domain. In addition, if customers were affected by an attack on their data, they could be very angry with your company and other businesses associated with yours.
The digital-first era is here, and it’s time to ensure your business has the proper cybersecurity protections. Cyber attacks are on the rise, and companies can protect themselves from them in many ways. The most important thing you can do is educate yourself about protecting your employees, customers, and data from cybercriminals.