Everyone is taking their business online, and it’s a trend and necessity now. With the growing number of online businesses, there’s another field that’s growing as a threat to online firms – cybercrime.
What exactly is Cybercrime?
Cybercrime can be defined as a criminal practice that takes place online via the internet. Hackers often steal other data, money, and information for their benefit.
Cybercrime is now more than just stealing financial information.
Hackers are creating new threats that include personal information, and other vital data associated with you.
Therefore, it is essential to identify Cybercrime as the initial step of protection for your data and yourself.
Ways to Protect Your Online Business against Cyber Crime
Below are some ways with which you make sure your online business remains secure and avoid any attack from hackers.
1. Use DevSecOps
DevSecOps is derived from development + security + operations.
It is the practice of taking security measures in the development, operation (DevOps) phase, and all the other phases of the development lifecycle of the product.
Using Contrast DevSecOps, it’s easy to eliminate the communication loophole between the development team and the security team as they remain an integral part of the online business.
Usually, security is considered to be the last stage of development, but Contrast DevSecOps ensures that security measures must be taken at each phase of development.
2. Application Security Monitoring
Monitoring involves collecting, tracking and analyzing of even small details that include failed login, logouts, attacks, spamming, bot attacks, and much more.
Whenever a suspected activity happens, it triggers alerts and sends messages to the authorized person of the online business.
3. Educate Employees About Cyber Security
Not 100% of the attacks come from hackers or outsiders.
In 2018, a massive number of breaches recorded performed by insiders of the organization or employees working for online businesses.
To avoid these types of situations, existing and new members (including freelancers, third-party users, and contractors) of your company must be aware of all the security policies.
Apart from knowledge, small training should also be conducted to match up on-going cybersecurity issues.
4. Data Encryptions
Encryption is one of the most straightforward techniques online businesses must use to encrypt their critical data.
Even if someone gets hold to your business data, it will still be useless for them unless they have the right decryption keys and passwords.
This practice is considered to be one of the most effective strategies to protect an online business from any type of cybercrime activity.
5. Data Backups
Apart from data encryption, regular backups are also accountable to avoid any data breaches and secure your online business.
Data encryption especially is super helpful when hackers make ransomware attacks, encrypt their critical data and lock online business out of their systems. Then, they ask for ransom money for decryption and system unlocking.
You can outsmart these ransomware hackers by taking regular backups of your online business and store it somewhere else apart from the hacked systems.
6. Take Cyber Security Insurance
Due to an increase in Cybercrime, and when the risk and stakes are high, cybersecurity insurance was introduced.
However, the number of insurance investors is not that great but people are still opting for insurance over the money getting paid in a cybersecurity breach.
7. Restrict User Privileges
As the owner of an online business, you must be careful about what user privileges should be given to whom.
Everything from individual details to high-security authentications, redundant logins to the removal of formal employee accounts must be handled carefully and with responsibility.
8. Use Strong Passwords
Easy-to-guess and weak passwords are a common vulnerability. There are multiple types of passwords you can use to protect against Cybercrime –
- Use a password generator tool to create strong passwords for everyone.
- Enable 2-factor authentication
- Biometric authentication while accessing critical data
- Fingerprint scanning
9. Keep Your Cloud Software Updated
Updating cloud software and technologies that are behind your online business is one of the critical factors for your business security.
Servers and technology providers keep providing updates that include patches for exploits, loopholes, and security issues in the early version of the software or technology.
If you don’t update them on time, it might create security threats for your online business.
Final Words – Be Prepare & Expect an Attack
Preparing for the threat and expecting an attack is always a better option when it comes to cybercrime attacks.
When a hacker can breach and attack anytime on an online business, company, stores, etc.
Make sure you prepare a cybersecurity strategy beforehand.
Take security measures, take proper backs to apply encryption to your critical data, spread awareness in your organization about cybersecurity, and ask your development, security and operation team to implement Contrast DevSecOps.