Safeguarding Your Small and Medium-Sized Business

A Journey to Simple Security Setup Across All Employee Devices

Photo by Glenn Carstens-Peters on Unsplash

Years before, starting a business you didn’t expect success and public acceptance at once. It took ages until a small startup could get on a global marketplace. With the rise of digital technologies and the internet, small and medium-sized businesses got the opportunity to express themselves by skipping the long process of getting to know the audience and popularizing their product or service. The path from a newly opened company to a world-famous brand has been significantly shortened. Nevertheless, nothing comes easy.

Skinning the cream off of modern technologies, businesses have faced some new issues they have never faced before. I mean, cybersecurity. The digital realm presented a variety of security risks that could cripple a company if not operated appropriately.

In this manuscript, I would like to share my personal route from a startup to a medium-sized company and express my opinion on setting up a simple yet effective online security system without the need to hire very pricey cybersecurity specialists. I don’t underestimate their merits and do not say that they are not needed. But it all comes down to budget — small businesses just can not afford these services. So, let’s start!

Online Security for a Startup: The Initial Hurdles

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From the very beginning when I started my business journey, I realized the myriad of possibilities and roads opened for me by technological progress. I could create a selling landing page in two clicks, run some ads online, and get my first orders. And it’s for nearly a couple of hours. At that moment I didn’t realize that I have to protect my credentials, online banking, and business communication with some secure means. Of course, I didn’t have any budget to hire specialists to solve my privacy and cybersecurity issues, so I had to dive into the world of cybersecurity to ensure the protection of my venture on my own.

Sure, I couldn’t implement some difficult technologies without knowledge, but I guaranteed the basic level of cyber protection with a combination of best practices and policies. No absolute guarantees, of course, but I could significantly enhance my cybersecurity posture by following these steps:

1. I identified the most valuable assets, potential threats, and vulnerabilities.
2. I educated my small team about cybersecurity best practices, such as strong password management, phishing awareness, and social engineering prevention.
3. We implemented a firewall to filter incoming and outgoing traffic.
4. I also set up a Virtual Private Network (VPN) for secure communication and browsing.
5. Our security policies included regular updates of routers, switches, and other networking equipment.
6. We regularly backed up our critical data and systems to an offsite location and didn’t forget to test them to ensure data can be successfully restored.

Online Security for SMB: Scaling Up the Protection

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After my startup developed into an SMB, the stakes grew higher. More employees, more devices, and more data. All this meant increased vulnerability.

Due to the fact that human is the weakest link in cybersecurity, we decided to educate all our employees and the first step was instruction. I made it a point to educate my team about the importance of cybersecurity, ensuring that they understood the potential risks and their role in mitigating them.

Month by month our team was growing, and it became essential to establish a set of clear security and privacy protocols. All the practices we used in the startup we documented: the use of strong, unique passwords, regular software updates, and the practice of caution while clicking on links or downloading attachments. By creating a culture of carefulness, my team and I were able to improve the security posture of the company.

Establishing Company-wide Online Security

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The next step of our cybersecurity journey was when we decided to establish a company-wide online security system. Here’s how we’ve dealt with it:

• Comprehensive Security Policy: We’ve implemented a clear and detailed security policy. We’ve included all the dos and don’ts of using corporate devices for our daily work-related tasks. The document was binding and everyone had to comply with it.
• Device Management Solutions: Then we adopted device management solutions that allowed us to manage and secure devices remotely. As we understood the importance of regular hardware and software updates, this was useful for installing regular security patches and enforcing encryption on all devices.
• Antivirus and Antimalware Software: We’ve invested in reliable antivirus and antimalware software. We needed some software for real-time scanning and timely threat detection. As a result, we’ve minimized the risks of potential cyber threats.
• Virtual Private Network (VPN): We understood the significance of protected online communications, so we had to integrate VPN into our system and install VPN solutions on all corporate devices. VPN Unlimited encrypts internet connections, guaranteeing that sensitive data remains private. It is especially important when employees are accessing the corporate network from remote locations.
• Two-Factor Authentication (2FA): As an extra layer of security we’ve made two-factor authentication compulsory when accessing company accounts and resources. With this approach, unauthorized access was no longer a threat.

To Sum Up

When you start a small or middle-sized business, you have to consider all the risks that may arise due to your corporate presence online. But today it doesn’t require an army of cybersecurity specialists. While implementing basic security techniques, you may start with a combination of education, clear policies, and readily available security solutions. This will provide a robust security framework. This will also work when you have a team of employees and have to protect all corporate devices.

The key point is to encourage a culture of attentiveness, where everyone understands the importance of their role in protecting the company’s digital assets. And it’s all about adopting and constant improvement. The digital landscape evolves and it’s crucial to stay informed and proactive in your approach to online security.