CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Small businesses are being threaten by cyber attacks daily. Scammers are trying to steal and hold hostage the small business owner by stealing or corrupting their data. Cyber-attacks have grown over 400 percent since the pandemic started. Many of these hacks target small businesses.Tom Bartholomy with the better business bureau has a few tips to protect small businesses.
Tip 1: Understand your security status
What do your business have in place? Is your information in the Cloud on a server in your office. Knowing the status of your system is a good start.
Tip 2: Train your employees
Train your employees not only on the workings of your the IT system itself or on how to reboot the system those things are needed but more importantly train them not to open unknown emails. They should be fully aware of emails that are fraudulent and trying to install malware on your system. Train them to not to click onto email and attachments that they are unaware of. This is a good practice to prevent scammers installing unwanted viruses and holding your business hostage.
Tip 3: Back up important information
To prevent paying ransom if your information is stolen, back up your data and pertinent information daily. It may be necessary to store it offsite or in some secure place. Doing so will help prevent cyber-attacks.
Tip 4: Update system and password authentication
Make sure you update your system whenever you get security updates. Its important to get the latest software update to protect against current scams and viruses. Please do not ignore these updates. Also a multi-step password authentication does a great job in blocking scammers an those trying to steal your information. A two tier authentication is a great way to prevent cyber attacks. For more information visit BBB.org