10 Tips for Keeping Security in the Budget

Security doesn’t have to be expensive to be effective.

Sometimes security can be an overwhelming (and expensive) burden for small businesses to bear. Understanding how hackers work and what makes your business an easy target can be a great place to start planning your security strategy.

Malicious hackers exist for one purpose: stealing valuable data to make a profit on the black market. While there is no such thing as hack-proof, data thieves and cybercriminals are notoriously lazy. They look for easy paths to compromise, and are often dissuaded by simple security roadblocks. Setting up even simple security features can help deter threat actors and keep your data safe.

Here are 10 tips for effective, reasonable security

1. Conduct regular vulnerability scans to locate external network vulnerabilities before criminals do.
2. Update anti-virus software, regularly. This software helps find the latest malware/virus versions that may compromise your system.
3. Update software and hardware, regularly. Even updating your browser can have an effect on your overall business security.
4. Change passwords. If you have a hard time remembering your password, think of a memorable phrase, then take the first letter from each word to create your password. Here’s an example. “My dog Kibbles has 16 teeth & loves steak” becomes “MdKh16t&ls.”
5. Install a strong firewall, and make sure the firewall rules limit incoming and outgoing traffic.
6. Scan mobile devices for threats. Check out MobileScan to verify mobile device security in seconds.
7. Encrypt portable data. That’s right, I’m talking about all USB drives, hard drives, and CDs.
8. Start training employees. After all, your business is only as secure as its weakest link.
9. Discover your unencrypted card data. Get a free trial of PANscan and find that dangerous stored card data before criminals do.
10. Get breach protection and avoid unforeseen expenses in case your business is compromised.

SecurityMetrics is invested in keeping businesses safe.

To help augment IT teams, SecurityMetrics created Pulse, a platform that provides SMBs with tools, training, and support to fight threat actors and provide needed network threat visibility. The Pulse Security Platform helps businesses with both ecommerce and business location network security.

The Pulse Security Operations Service (SOS) helps IT teams strapped for resources to get crucial threat visibility. Pulse SOS helps businesses:

• Find their most pervasive threats with access to finely tuned and frequently updated scan engines
• Avoid a system lockout with ransomware and virus protection
• Spot threat actors in a network with asset discovery
• Lighten workloads with security team augmentation
• Prevent damage with prompt compromise notifications
• Track security progress with an up-to-date monthly analyst review and report
• Get a monthly cybersecurity consultation with a threat hunter

Also, as part of the Pulse Platform, SecurityMetrics offers an ecommerce solution that provides support to IT teams. Shopping Cart Monitor helps vendors by detecting digital skimming, also known as formjacking or magecart attacks, against payment checkout pages on ecommerce sites.

This new technology has the potential to save online retailers a significant amount of money and frustration since organizations can be held liable for damages.

Shopping Cart Monitor offers:

• Non-intrusive scanning of ecommerce payment pages
• Customizable notifications
• Regular alerts and support
• Straightforward and simple reporting
• Automated inspection
• Segmented lists of threat indicators
• User-friendly software
• 24/7 technical support

Conclusion

Doing small things to keep your business safe can save you a lot of money, time, and stress in the future. Even though the cost of security can seem off-putting when you have a limited budget, it's really an investment since most SMBs are unable to survive data breaches. We hope that these tips help you secure your business and your peace of mind.