How to Avoid Getting Hacked by Cybercriminals and Protect Everything You’ve Worked So Hard to Achieve

Cybercriminals are always looking for new ways to steal data and make a buck at the expense of someone they’ve never met. They don’t care if they ruin someone’s life or destroy a business in the process. This is why it’s so important to stay up-to-date with the latest technology.

Cyber security threats are constantly evolving. vest in new equipment or software. It can be a tough If you let your software or hardware – or both pill to swallow, but it doesn’t compare to the cost of – fall behind the times, then you put your busidealing with a hack or data loss. Data loss can be ness at serious risk. Five years ago, your malware devastating for a business. Some never recover and protection might have been the best on the market. If have to close their doors because the cost is so high you haven’t updated since then, you need to change – and customers don’t want to give their money to a that. Here’s what you can do right now to protect evbusiness that isn’t going to keep their data secure. erything you’ve worked so hard to achieve. At the same time, you need to update your exist

Stay updated. After a while, developers and ing equipment and software. Make sure everything manufacturers stop supporting their old hardware has the latest security patches. Most hardware and and software. Many of them simply don’t have the resoftware come with an option for automatic updates. sources to keep updating older products. They need If you’re concerned that you’ll miss an update, then to make sure their current products are supported and keep this option on. It is a good idea, however, to secure. After five years, they may stop sending out check everything periodically to make sure the upsecurity patches for their software. Or they might not dates are being applied, just in case. offer help-desk support for a seven-year-old router. Say yes to proactive monitoring. Proactive network

If you run into this situation, you may need to incontinued on page 66

Avoid Getting Hacked continued from page 65 m onitoring can be yourbestfriend in the fightagainst cyber-attacks. ManyITsecurityfirmsnowofferproactive services. Basically, they watch your network 24/7. If a threat is found, they can stop it before it does any damage. They act immediately to stop those threats.

You can sign up for real-time reports or just get updates once a week to stay informed so you know what’s going on with your network. Proactive monitoring can also make sure your systems are up-to-date (comingbacktoourfirstpoint). Iftheydetectavulnerability, then they can work to patch it. This means you have so much less to worry about so you can focus on what really matters: growing your business and taking care of customers!

Back up everything. If you don’t have data backups for your business, it’s time to change that. Setting up a data backup system – whether it’s local or cloudbased – can sound like a lot of work. You might have a ton of data, especially if you’ve been in operation for a long time. But not having a backup system can tear your business apart.

If a piece of hardware fails or a hacker gets into your data, you may have to dig deep into your pocket to recover it or you may just lose it all. There are a lot of scenarios where data can be lost.

Investing in a backup system, like a secure cloud backup, solves this. You can set up a secure system that backs up data daily (or nightly), weekly or whenever you need it. It’s good to keep backups offsite just in case anything happens on-site (electrical surges, flood, fire, theft, etc.). If data is lost or your network falls victim to ransomware, then you can restore your data and continue operations!

These tips can seem like a lot, but when you partner with a dedicated IT services company, you can overcome a lot of hurdles. Working with IT specialists is how to keep your business safe in a world where cybercriminals are actively trying to break in. You want someone with the expertise to secure your network watching over your shoulders.

Printed with permission from Systems Support Corporation n

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