4 Inexpensive and Low-Tech Ways to Stay Safe Online

Not a day goes by that the news media doesn’t report something about cybersecurity. With emails getting hacked, corporations being extorted and small businesses going under, it’s a wonder why more organizations don’t take their cybersecurity seriously.

This article isn’t meant to bash business owners who haven’t made cybersecurity a priority, rather it’s to help you understand why companies like yours need to really look into their cybersecurity practices and learn how they can boost their security and have an invaluable partnership with one of a list of amazing cyber insurance companies.

The truth is, you never know when you’ll be caught in the crosshairs of a cybercriminal’s virtual weapon. Isn’t it better to prepared for disaster rather than wait for it to strike?

Here are five ways to protect your company from the likes of no-good hackers that’ll protect your clients, your company and your livelihood.

Make all passwords passphrases

Having a different password for all of our different accounts feels like a lot to remember, but using the same one-word password for everything we do online only hurts us. According to Password Dragon, “passwords are relatively easy to guess or crack by both human and robots. The online criminals have also leveled up and developed state of the art hacking tools that are designed to crack even the most complicated password.”

Passphrases are harder to bust because they are phrases made up of symbols and numbers that make a complete sentence. By having a specific and unique sentence for each site you use, cybercriminals won’t be able to readily crack your code. On top of that, “the use of punctuation [and] upper and lower cases in passphrases also meets the complexity requirements for passwords.”

Set up your software to automatically update

Getting that notification that it’s time to update our computer software is a daily irritant when you constantly hit ‘ignore,’ but it doesn’t have to be. If you set up your software to update automatically, you won’t have to worry about your work being interrupted; it can be set up to update at your lunch break or the end of the work day.

By having your updates automatically set, you won’t need to worry nearly as much about cybercriminals getting into your data because your software will constantly be updating as soon as new security measures roll out. Hitting ignore on a software update can put you at risk of a cyberattack, especially as new software updates patch weak coding. Making automatic updates lessens your chances of being hit by a breach!

Always connect to your files through your virtual private network (VPN)

Never use public Wi-Fi to connect to your private work data. Wi-Fi hotspots are notorious hunting grounds for cybercriminals. A Norton Cybersecurity Insights Report found that over 594 million public Wi-Fi users fell victim to cybercrime.

Lifewire reports that “a VPN cloaks and encrypts your signal [and] manipulates your IP address.” This makes it nearly impossible for a cybercriminal to get onto your network and keeps all of your private data just that: private.

Invest in a cybersecurity insurance protection plan

A cyber breach can cost your business tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages. In fact, cyber breaches are so costly that 60 percent of small businesses go under within six months of suffering a cyberattack.

A cyber insurance policy will cover all business expenses related to the cyber breach, including business interruption, extortion, equipment replacement and court fees. Isn’t it better to pay a small annual premium than to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars out of pocket?

Be the small business owner you always dreamed of being: be responsible, efficient, trustworthy and professional—and above all: let no one play you for a fool.