As cybersecurity threats evolve, so should your Internet security solutions. Your online business is always at risk. Hackers, viruses, and malware are constantly improving and relentlessly seeking chinks in your security.
According to the Telstra Cyber Security Report 2019, 59% of businesses in the Asian region have experienced a significant online security breach at least once per month. Experts believe that as more businesses are digitizing their operations and moving their stuff to the cloud, the more exposed businesses are to cybersecurity threats.
Meanwhile, Telstra director Neil Campbell highlighted in a 2019 Forbes article on cybersecurity how smartphones, tablets, wearables, and IoT-enabled devices are vulnerable to cyber-attacks. It’s because they are not fully covered by the conventional security setup offered by most internet security software solutions. With that, if traditional internet security measures are not adequate, how does an online business operator like you improve your online security?
1. Deploy an MDM Software
Most companies purchase and use different mobile enterprise devices from multiple vendors, thus making it difficult for businesses to create, configure, and implement an IT security solution that is unified as well as strategic. The best solution to address such a problem is to utilize a mobile device management (MDM) software. With it, you can configure and enforce custom policies to specify and limit access and utilization of information per user.
An MDM software allows you to monitor device usage and manage user access to all mobile devices that are used for company operations and transactions, including devices owned by your employees. This discourages instances of inside jobs as you are in total control over all the mobile devices in your enterprise network.
2. Encrypt Your Hardware
Data encryption is one of the most common features of internet security software. There is an imperative need to encrypt all data that pertains to your online business, one that should be addressed immediately.
But more than securing information that is available online, you also need to safeguard the data stored in your physical hardware. Computers, hard drives, laptops, and mobile devices all contain crucial and sensitive details that you don’t want to fall into the wrong hands. Hardware theft is as real of a threat as viruses, malware, ransomware, and other cyber attacks.
Thus, it is highly recommended that you encrypt the data found in your hardware as well. On top of that, you can add a strong layer of security over your devices by making access more difficult by using complex passwords.
Data is a valuable commodity in this day and age and you don’t want someone else getting your data ROI.
3. Invest in Financial Fraud Detection Software
With a financial fraud detection software working alongside your internet security system, you’ll drastically improve your defences against fraudulent online payments. Mobile and online payment fraud is the leading concern of finance professionals going into 2019. It is also among the most common small business challenges today.
According to a 2019 survey on online payments, 44% of respondents expect incidences of mobile and online payment to grow as mobile and online shopping has become more prevalent than before. Losses due to online payment fraud are expected to reach $22 billion by the end of the year and will balloon to as much as $48 billion in 2023.
Businesses of all sizes are taking precautions, as indicated by the exponential growth of the fraud detection and prevention market. MarketsandMarkets published a 2018 research projecting the fraud detection and prevention industry’s value to grow from $19.5 billion in 2018 to $63.5 billion by 2023.
Financial fraud detection software utilizes machine-learning algorithms to filter good customers with positive scores and separate them from the bad ones. Staple features like ID verification, IP address authentication, address verification (AVS) and card code verification (CCV) among others further reduce the risks of fraud and ensure that you are dealing with a real customer.
4. Use Payment Gateways To Process Payments
It’s never a good idea to store your customers’ financial information on your servers and database. In the event that your security is breached and all credit card information you have in your system is stolen, it’s not that difficult to guess as to who gets the blame: YOU.
Apart from the blame, your business will be charged with expensive fines. The cost of your fines is so significant that it will probably drive your business to the ground.
Sure, you save money when you process payments onsite. But is the gains really worth the risk? On the other hand, payment gateways like PayPal, Stripe, and Skrill, have the infrastructure in place and the means to process online payments securely. Your business gets paid for just a fraction of the cost and your customers are satisfied.
In addition, you should get a Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) accreditation as well.
5. Use Multiple Layers of Security
Secure your online business by leveraging SSL certificates. These certificates encrypt sensitive details such as credit card information, address, contact details and more. The encryption protects the data during transit from your sender to the server. It also prevents hackers to use your website as a counterfeit for their phishing activities.
Another layer of security that you might want to consider is a widespread CDN or content delivery network. This shields your site against DDoS attacks and filters out malicious incoming traffic from regular traffic. Other layers you might want to employ for added protection are two-factor authentication, eCommerce security plugins, and firewalls.
Don’t forget to use antivirus software as well. There are numerous antivirus systems available in the market. Take your time to pick one that suits your needs and budget.
Don’t Go Totally ‘Smart’ Just Yet
As mentioned earlier, smartphones, smart TVs and appliances, wearables, and other mobile devices can be used to compromise the security of your online business as well as that of your customers’. As you add more and more enterprise mobile devices for your business, the number of endpoints that needs to be monitored and secured increases as well.
A cybersecurity survey by AT&T revealed that 84% of the respondents pin the blame of the growing number of mobile devices and the subsequent diversity of endpoints to the developing complexity of IT and cybersecurity. In an ideal setup, business leaders and IT personnel would like to have these endpoints in a single, unified view within a comprehensive suite from a single vendor.
Data processed using IoT technology can be stolen. A recent survey of 950 IT and business decision-makers saw that less than half of the respondents are confident they can detect a security breach in their IoT architecture.
It doesn’t mean IoT is bad. It is still the future. However, you’d want to choose the correct tool that suits your needs best for a successful software implementation.
