Today, virtually all businesses collect personal information about customers, employees and others. This information is valuable to hackers – evidenced by the increasing frequency and severity of data breaches across the globe.
Big businesses are not the only ones who are vulnerable. Small and medium-sized businesses with fewer data security resources are often targets for cybercriminals. In fact, research we’ve conducted with the Ponemon Institute shows that more than half have experienced a data breach and nearly three out of four report they can’t restore all their data.
The good news is that businesses can take steps to protect themselves from destructive cyber intrusions. To preempt hacking activity, you must think like a hacker. Here are a few tips to get you started.
1. Think beyond passwords. Never reuse them and don’t trust any website to store them securely. To increase the level of security, set up a two-factor authentication for all your online business accounts. This authentication relies on something only you should know (your password) and authenticates something only you should have (typically your phone) to verify your identity.
2. Stop transmission of data that is not encrypted.
Read more from Globe and Mail