Locking Down Your Small Business Data

Cyber attacks on large businesses seem to be in the news frequently nowadays. However,
large corporations are not the only targets of hackers looking for data. Small businesses are
prime targets for cybersecurity breaches. In fact, 43% of cyber security hacking incidents
are committed against small businesses.

Why are small businesses even targeted? For one, most are ill-prepared to defend against a
cyber attack. Owners often think that their business is not a prime target, and are far less
inclined to spend money in something they do not feel is pertinent. In turn, they do not invest
in proper infrastructure to protect their data.

How can you protect your small business from such a breach? Is it even worth your time and
money to do so? The answer is yes, it is worth it. There are several ways you, as a small
business owner, can protect your customers' data, foster an attitude of importance within your
business about the dangers of cyber attacks and how to prevent them, and instill confidence
in your customers that their information is safe.

Create Strong Passwords

The vast majority of cyber attacks on small business come from within. Whether it be a
disgruntled employee or a negligent contractor, it is important that you create strong network
passwords and protect them from getting into the wrong hands. Using longer passwords with
a mixture of letters, numbers, symbols, and capitalized letters make for strong passwords.
Also, do not reuse the same password for different systems.

Educate Your Employees

Customer data protection should start with the people who your customers interact with on
a daily basis. Employees should be educated on how to protect customer data and company
policy should detail protocols for them to follow.

Get Cyber Liability Insurance

If your small business is hit with a cyber attack, chances are you will have to pay for a lawsuit
filed by your customers for having their data stolen. This can lead to your business failing, as
60% of small businesses shut their doors six months after a cyber security breach. Cyber
liability insurance can help cover lawsuit damages and fees, data restoration costs, the costs
associated with notifying your customers of a breach, and more.

Investing in Stronger Infrastructure

While many small businesses are worried about cyber attacks, over half do not budget for
investing in cyber security measures. You may think you do not store valuable data, but
customer home and email addresses, phone numbers, and credit card numbers are exactly
what hackers are looking for and should be treated as highly valuable information.

Utilize an Off-Site Data Storage Service

Most small businesses rely on in-house or local servers to protect their data. Sometimes,
this is not enough. Local servers may or may not be sophisticated enough to prevent a cyber
attack. There are off-site services that can be utilized to store your customer data that provide
the proper level of sophisticated protection. For instance, Amazon offers a service called
Amazon RedShift that allows you to store your data on a secure server far from your store. It
offers the ability to scale the storage amount you need as your business grows for a
reasonable price. It is simple to use and compatible with standard SQL clients.

Customer data is the gold hackers are mining for. As a small business owner, you owe it to
your customers to prevent their information from falling into the wrong hands. Improving
in-house security in the form of education and stronger passwords, investing in liability
protection in case you do have a breach, making sure the technology used to protect your
data is secure, and taking your customers' data seriously are huge steps in preventing a
cyber attack and allowing your business to flourish and grow.