Hacking is not really a new concept. In fact, the idea of breaking into a business to steal information, make a quick buck, or simply wreak havoc has been around pretty much as long as there have been businesses. The advent of online technologies has just upped the ante, so to speak, by increasing B2C connections and centralizing the data, making for a virtual smorgasbord that criminals can’t ignore.
Even worse, hackers are ahead of the game. They’re constantly finding new ways to break down defenses, exploit chinks in the armor, and defeat protective measures. This, of course, is also nothing new.
Build a better lock and thieves will find ways around it. The difficulty, as always, is that one party plays by the rules and the other delights in breaking them. That said, you can’t suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune without at least trying to protect yourself.
At the very least there are privacy laws in place that mandate some effort on your part to protect the sensitive information entrusted to you by customers. That said, you also have an ethical responsibility to treat confidential information with the utmost care, and frankly, your business will suffer the most if that data is compromised, thanks to government penalties, possible lawsuits, and a damaged reputation.
What can you do? As it turns out, you can do a lot. Many businesses are sorely in need of increased protection from hackers. In some cases pricy upgrades are needed, but others rely on pure common sense. Here are some strategies to help you protect against the most common hack attacks.
Don’t Be an Easy Target
As in the real world, many crimes in the online arena are crimes of opportunity. Hackers are predators – why work hard for a kill when there are so many easy pickings available? If you’re not protecting yourself adequately, your company will pay the price.
Although the headlines often feature only the highest-profile hacks on mega-corporations, it’s much more common for small businesses to be targeted and compromised simply because they don’t have the same level of protection as their larger brethren. If you want to secure yourself against the most common attacks, you need to at least take basic measures.
A firewall is pretty much a given, as is antivirus/anti-spyware software. However, you can do a lot more on behalf of your company and your clients. For starters, you’re going to need a web application firewall (WAF) to protect your online operations the same way you protect your internal network.
From there you can consider more aggressive options like using encryption software, hiding your website’s CMS with security applications, and employing a third-party monitoring service, just for example. These measures can cost you, but likely not as much as a data breach will, and you can pick and choose the options that work best for your business.
Focus on Login Controls
One of the easiest points of ingress for hackers is often customer or employee logins. The good news is that you can do a lot to stymie hackers on this front.
Strong password requirements are a must, but you should also prompt users to change their password frequently and automatically log users out after short periods of inactivity. You can also use login software that doesn’t auto-populate fields.
If the password is wrong, don’t allow the username to display even if it was correct – clear all fields for additional login attempts and freeze the account following successive fails to log in. Two-step verification is also becoming more popular for added security.
Train Employees
Your protective tools are only as good as the people using them. Your password protections, for example, are worthless if users allow easy access to login information. Your firewalls can’t protect against ignorant behavior.
Training is therefore an essential element of protection. You may have software that warns network users about dangerous websites, but you also need to train them to navigate away instead of ignoring these warnings and behaving in a foolhardy manner.
Employees should also be warned against opening suspicious emails or clicking harmful links. With proper training your employees and even your customers can be taught how not to facilitate data breaches.
Hire Help
If you want to protect against hackers you may have to hire professional help. Whether you employ an on-site IT staff or you contract with third-party service providers, you should update and maintain your hardware and software regularly, monitor your network, and implement a system of alerts that warns you of suspicious activity. Early warning of hacking activity can be a very valuable protective measure.
