Computer safety tips are not just for individual people. Small businesses can really benefit from effective computer safety practices.
Are you taking the necessary precautions to protect your business and your customers from fraud? There are steps you can take to ensure security, fraud prevention and privacy protections for you, your employees, and your customers.
Keep reading for some security tips that can help you protect your most important assets while delivering a great customer experience.
Make Employees Aware
Fraud prevention and cyber security starts with employees, as they have access to information and data that you want to protect from fraudsters. It’s important that they realize the important role they have to play in protecting your assets with physical security measures and protocols, like ensuring that prying eyes cannot see sensitive information on their screens or ensuring their devices are stored in secure locations. This is especially the case if they deal with customer or financial information that could be stolen.
You should also teach employees how to identify indicators of phishing. Make sure your employees are aware of the threats that come with using public wifi to encourage online safety when they are working out of the office. Send out regular emails about the latest cyber threats as well as updates on your internal protocol to keep everyone on the same page.
Invest in Protective Software
Investing in anti-virus and anti-malware software and strong network security measures helps to add an extra level of security to your workplace devices. Investing in this software will pay off, as it acts as a safeguard that detects, stalls, and removes threats before they can affect your system.
Consider using a trusted digital identity platform to keep you and your online customers safe. Fraudsters will often attempt to impersonate a customer to defraud you or them, and it’s crucial for businesses to take the appropriate steps to ensure the actual identity of anyone engaging with your business. In the digital world, this can be a daunting task, but luckily there are some very innovative methodologies out there to establish with a high degree of accuracy, the identity of a person interacting with your business in the digital world.
Over 90% of businesses use Knowledge Based Authentication, or KBA, which consists of things like usernames, passwords, account numbers, Social Security Numbers, birthdays…even silly questions like your favorite ice cream flavor or your best friend’s address.
KBA is widely used but unfortunately can be beaten all too often. Fraudsters can beat KBA questions 60% of the time, whereas the actual person fails this part about 30% of the time. That leaves your business and your customers at risk, and also pretty irritated.
The good news is that there are outstanding tools out there that preserve the customer experience and establish digital identity to 1:million veracity in less than 2 seconds. For an example of this, check out Journey’s Trusted Identity Platform (www.journeyidstage.wpengine.com).
Establish a Cybersecurity Policy
Establishing a formal cybersecurity policy is a great idea for businesses of all sizes. This keeps everyone on the same page with your expectations, keeping all employees accountable. This will encourage safe online practices, allowing you to trust that your employees are keeping your company safe.
Make a document that establishes your rules and security controls when using your network and company devices. Highlight rules such as the acceptable use of email and the internet in the workplace, as well as how to handle sensitive data.
Have all new employees sign this document, pledging that they will follow safety measures in the workplace. Keep this document visible in the office for your employees to refer back to when necessary.
Routine Backups
Having a backup plan in the case of a hack or loss of data can help you recover when necessary. Implement a routine backup system that can help you get up and running after a threat.
Use off-site and on-site backups to help you in the case of any kind of natural disaster or outage. This will help you protect areas such as your network-attached storage as well as your online cloud storage.
Small Business Fraud Prevention, Not Just Fraud Detection, Tips
Keep your small business safe with these safety tips. Practice these security protocols for your physical and digital assets and make sure you share them with your employees to ensure that everyone in your small business is practicing online safety. Protect against threats, outages, and more with the simple practices above.
Are you looking for a solution that will ensure you and your customer’s online safety when filling out forms and personal data? Contact us today for a free demo of our trusted digital identity platform.
