Guarding My Business Against Cyber Attacks

Cyber attacks aren't just for big business. Many cyber criminals like to target small business. These cyber attacks are often small transactions, so small that until they have added up a business owner doesn't always notice them.

For cyber criminals it isn't about one huge haul, it's about the big picture. Many small transactions can add up. So much that some cyber criminals have been found wearing designer clothes and watches, driving expensive cars, and living in high dollar homes. All of this paid thanks to their unsuspecting victims.

You can safeguard your small business from cyber attacks and avoid paying a cyber criminals bills.

Lock It Down

Not all cyber criminals sneak into your hard drive from miles away. Some actually break into a business and steal computers or servers to break into at their leisure.

A simple way to avoid this attack is to keep your servers and computers under lock and key. Install surveillance equipment and alarms. Tracking software can be installed on the computers so that if they are stolen their positions are tracked.

Burglars can circumvent tactics used to bungle them ,but every second you can slow down a thief is one more second that police have to catch and stop them. Lock all doors, windows, and tether computers to desks.

LockDown Networks

Locking down networks is easier than it sounds.

Many wifi networks are left open for anyone to access. You can place a password and security key on any wifi network. If you must use wifi always use the password option, never allow the public to access your network. Once the option to restrict the network has been chosen use a unique user name and password. Too many people choose to keep the default user name and passwords that come standard with their wifi router. Don't do this!

Did you know that hackers try 'admin' as the username and 'password' as the password first? Quite often these turn out to be the correct credentials. Those two words or slight variations are used far too often to be considered safe.

Another way to lock down your system is to install virus or malware monitoring software.

Malware or viruses get into your computer through infected emails or from infected websites. Once a rogue program is installed on your computer all of your computer's information is available to the person behind the program. Lock your computer against such attacks by keeping your anti-virus software up to  date.

Keep An Eye Out

Keep watch on all of your financial transactions.

If you begin to see small or large transactions going to banks you're never done business with – take note.

Contact the bank where the transaction took place and your own bank to stop the transactions. You can block transactions when you are not aware of who or where they are coming from. Your bank may be able to recover the lost money.

If the transactions are taking place through a credit card you usually have theft protection. Contact your credit card company as soon as such transactions are viewed.

By guarding your computer/s, your business can increase the chances of avoiding becoming another hacked victim.