For many small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), cybersecurity is often limited to the fundamentals: setting up passwords and firewalls. While these serve as the first line of defense, they alone aren’t enough to protect against the wide array of sophisticated cyberthreats. SMBs need a comprehensive cybersecurity framework that covers all potential angles and entry points. 

Investing in a diverse range of security measures is essential to stay ahead of evolving threats, prevent data breaches, and secure customer data. In this post, we’ll walk you through our small business cybersecurity checklist to round out your defense strategy.

Regular patch management

Malware, network intrusions, and other cyberattacks target vulnerabilities found in outdated programs. It’s therefore critical to install the latest updates for your operating systems, device firmware, applications, and security programs as soon as they’re released. Software updates typically contain security patches for recently discovered cyberthreats, greatly strengthening your company’s security posture.

Security awareness training

Security training  equips employees to recognize common cyberthreats, including phishing attacks, business email compromise, and other social engineering tactics designed to steal confidential information. Train employees to recognize suspicious emails, websites, and activities, and make it clear that reporting potential threats is an important step in preventing them. Utilizing security resources such as simulated phishing exercises can help reinforce good habits and prepare your team for real-world scenarios.

Strong authentication measures

A clear password policy helps protect company networks and data from unauthorized access by establishing rules and guidelines for employees to follow when creating and managing their passwords. While specific guidelines can differ between organizations, an effective policy generally includes requirements for minimum password length, complexity, and regular updates to ensure security.

The best passwords are lengthy and include a mix of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and special characters for maximum security. However, this combination can be difficult for employees to remember, which is why password managers with built-in password generators are highly recommended.

Businesses should also enable multi-factor authentication (MFA) so that in the event of a compromised password, cybercriminals still won’t be able to access data. MFA works by requiring users to enter an additional verification method other than their password, such as a facial ID scan or one-time passcode generated by an authenticator app.

Robust access controls

Giving everyone unchecked access privileges exposes a business to unnecessary risks. If a cybercriminal breaches user accounts or network resources, they can exploit sensitive data or potentially seize control of the entire system. SMBs should therefore limit employee access to only the devices, software, and data they need.

To restrict user access, implement role-based access controls to assign permissions based on each user’s roles and responsibilities. For instance, a sales representative might only need access to customer relationship management software, while an IT administrator would require access to all network resources. If you have remote workers, set conditional access policies to control where and when they can access company resources. This could include only allowing access from authorized devices or during specific times of the day.

You should also limit physical access to computers and network devices by implementing a combination of surveillance, identity verification, and restricted access zones, thus preventing unauthorized individuals from tampering with or stealing sensitive information.

Periodic risk assessments

Conduct thorough risk assessments at least twice a year to evaluate the strength of your current cybersecurity measures. During these assessments, identify the areas where your systems are most vulnerable and list the potential threats that may affect your business based on likelihood and severity. 

You may find that new malware strains have emerged and your small business’s network has inadequate safeguards to detect and filter them out. Or perhaps your employees’ lack of cybersecurity training has left them susceptible to phishing attacks. Regularly performing risk assessments helps you identify potential threats early and update your cybersecurity protocols as needed.

Next-generation firewalls

Traditional firewalls are a solid first line of defense, but next-generation firewalls offer deeper visibility into network traffic, providing better protection from sophisticated attacks. These modern firewalls can detect and block malicious software, prevent unauthorized data exfiltration, and defend against ransomware attacks.

Anti-malware software

Anti-malware software proactively scans your systems to detect and block malicious programs before they can cause harm. It works by continuously monitoring files, applications, and network activity for suspicious behavior or known threat signatures. When a potential threat is identified, the software either quarantines or removes it, preventing malware such as ransomware, spyware, and computer viruses from executing and spreading. 

As cyberthreats become more sophisticated, maintaining up-to-date anti-malware software is necessary to stay ahead of attacks.

End-to-end data encryption

End-to-end data encryption secures your data — both in transit and at rest — by converting it into a coded format accessible only to authorized users with the correct decryption keys. Even when cybercriminals intercept the data or gain entry through a successful attack, the information remains protected and unreadable, significantly reducing the risk of data breaches and safeguarding sensitive business and customer information. Strong encryption protocols are especially crucial for healthcare, finance, and legal businesses, where sensitive data is regularly transmitted and stored.

Virtual private networks (VPNs)

Using a virtual private network is important for every business, but particularly those that have remote workers. A VPN encrypts internet traffic and routes it through a secure server so that data stays safe from cybercriminals who might try to intercept it over public Wi-Fi networks.

Robust data backup and recovery

Data backups protect your business against security incidents such as ransomware attacks, accidental deletion, hardware failure, or natural disasters. They provide a way to restore critical information and systems so operations can resume with minimal disruption.

When developing your data backup strategy, keep three copies of your data in different media, with at least one stored in a secure off-site location. Cloud storage often works best for that off-site copy, giving you both security and remote accessibility in a single solution.

Equally important is testing the backup and recovery process regularly. Doing so is the best way to confirm that your backup data is intact and that your business can quickly bounce back from a crisis when it matters most.

Protecting your small business from today’s threats requires careful planning, dedicated effort, and strategic investment. If you need help or don’t have the resources to handle it on your own, consider working with our security experts at Integrated Axis. Schedule a free consultation with us today for comprehensive security assessments and professional recommendations.