The list of major companies that have had significant security breaches is a long one. In recent years, we have seen Wal-Mart along with Amazon and others fall victim to hackers. These companies have had passwords stolen and the confidential information of their customers leaked. The reality is that once your website goes live, you have essentially unlocked the doors to your office and opened the safe.
Most of the people who visit your website will never know that all of your information is there for the taking; however, those who visit with the intent to steal will be looking for vulnerabilities. This is why you keep your office door and your safe locked. Here are some of the most effective ways to protect your data from hackers.
Implement Tighter Network Security
Without intending to, your employees may be providing easy access to the servers on which your website resides. Make sure that they change passwords frequently, that their log-ins expire after periods of inactivity and that devices are checked for malware or ransomware before being connected to the network.
Quality Support
A big part of network security involves having access to experts in computer services and networking. An experienced technical support provider like Firewall Technical can provide you with IT support services via phone or onsite. The right support team can help you to protect your network from viruses and spyware that compromise data security. They can also help your company to enact appropriate measures when issues do occur.
Update Regularly
Software companies only update when they have to since an update can be an expensive proposition for them. Even so, many people fail to act immediately after an update is released. If a patch was released to fix a security problem, not updating your software as soon as possible means that you are exposed until you do. Hackers are able to scan thousands of sites in a short time looking for security holes that they can exploit. Hackers also tend to share information with other hackers. If one finds a vulnerability, then it is likely that others will soon be making use of it as well.
Train Your Employees on Security
Employees should be taught to avoid relaying confidential customer information via text or email. They should also be taught about the laws that govern customer information along with the procedures for keeping it safe.
Keep an Eye on Your Site
There are multiple tools for real-time analytics that can be used to monitor your site. These tools can be used to watch your visitors so that you can see what they are doing as they navigate through your site. Think of it as the internet equivalent of a security camera except that some of these tools can alert you to suspicious behavior or fraud via messages on your phone. Not only should you be monitoring your website, your hosting provider should run regular checks on their servers to find and remove malware. Before paying for hosting, find out if the provider regularly scans for and removes malware and viruses.
Remember that there is no one perfect security method that will protect your company from all cybercriminals. However, a combination of different measures can significantly reduce your risk of being hacked.