Running a business online isn’t an easy thing to do. You need to consider plenty of things, especially when it comes to your company’s security. While having an online business can provide you with significant benefits, there’s a higher risk for vulnerability as your system’s online, making it easier for hackers to gain access to your business.
Your top priority with your online business should be security. You need to ensure that everything you do is safe to keep people from hacking into your system and disrupting your business’s credibility.
Here are the ways you can stay safe when doing business online:
1. Keep Your Online Meeting Secure
Meetings are necessary so you and your team can better communicate with one another, especially in terms of strategic planning and business improvements. But, when it comes to online businesses, there’s a smaller chance of having face-to-face meetings, as there is no physical office. With that, you may need to use a trusted video conferencing software.
One of the most popular video conferencing software that you could use today is Zoom. While the use of Zoom is widely familiar, you might be wondering: is Zoom safe to use? When it comes to Zoom meetings, always keep your rooms secure with passwords and be careful with sharing your screens as you shouldn’t allow just anyone to see your confidential files and folders.
2. Choose a Secure Hosting Service
When running your business online, you may need to build your website from a hosting service so they can handle your products and orders. While you can always create one from scratch, it can be challenging, especially if you’re not technology-savvy and don’t have enough budget to hire someone.
A hosting service is a platform where a seller posts their products through a template and allows other people to purchase from their website and pay using their credit cards. Since a hosting service handles transactions and services, you need to choose a trusted one to guarantee the safety and security of your money, as well as the payments of your customers.
3. Educate Your Employees About Email Best Practices
If your online business has been growing strong and you’re able to hire employees to help you run your business smoothly, you should educate your employees on email best practices to keep your business safe online.
When you communicate with your employees through email, they might be receiving emails from other people containing attachments and links which they may click, thinking they’re from a valid sender.
If your employees receive an email from an unknown sender, they should check the complete email address first and verify if it’s from someone they work with. But, if it’s from an unknown sender, they should report the email to you and warn other employees about the email.
4. Use Stronger Passwords
Since your business runs online, you can anticipate that you’ll be needing passwords to log into your accounts. While you may have your favorite password to use, it’s a great practice if you use stronger passwords and avoid using common words and phrases.
When choosing passwords, you should select the ones that aren’t related to you, such as your name, a spouse’s or family member’s name, and birth date. Ideally, you should choose passwords that are a combination of letters, symbols, and numbers. It’ll be a smart move if you change your code every 30 days just to be sure.
If you have too many passwords to remember, you can use a password manager so you can keep track of your password changes and be able to log into your accounts successfully each time.
5. Back Up Files Frequently
Even if your files are easily accessible over the Internet, you still shouldn’t rely on every data being on the cloud, as you need to have an offline copy of your own. That way, you can have a backup file just in case your online files have been corrupted or hacked by cybercriminals.
If you have enough time in your day, it’ll be smart to back up your files after every shift so you have updated files at the end of the day. However, if that doesn’t seem to be realistic, you can always back up your files every week on your hard drive or USB, and avoid using the cloud so you have a copy accessible only to you.
Conclusion
While it’s convenient for everyone to do business online, your privacy and security can be at risk since anyone with a network and a computer can hack your system if you don’t have proper security measures. As such, you should always prioritize your security by keeping your online meetings safe through the use of a secure hosting service, educating employees on email best practices, using strong passwords, and frequently backing up files.
