Like I always say, your business is your baby.
You need to protect it.

I’d bet that if I asked you if your business was worth protecting you’d say, “Hell yeah!” I know you put a lot of work into it. You’re proud of it.

What’s missing, I suspect, is knowing how to protect your business online. We are at our most vulnerable when we don’t know what we don’t know. 

Small business owners tend to shrug their shoulders and give up when it comes to the “unsexy” parts of running an online business, believing only the “big guns” have to worry about taking cyber security measures to protect their businesses. Not true. Small business owners are just as vulnerable (and Internet thieves know that!).

Here are 7 steps to take to protect yourself and your business against a security breach.

1. When providing answers to security questions designed to protect your password, make up arbitrary answers. Don’t use your mother’s real last name… that’s easy enough for someone to find out and use against you. This is one time where it’s not necessary for you to tell the truth.
2. Don’t use Facebook or Google to log into other accounts. Create a new, unique, and complex password for every site that requires you to log in.
3. Update your software regularly and be sure to run a reliable anti-virus program to detect malware that’s behind an estimated 50% of cyber attacks. Do the same for your mobile devices… they’re becoming increasingly vulnerable to attack.
4. Protect your Wi-Fi when you’re in a public location (“hot spot) by using a “Virtual Private Network” (VPN) application. This shields your browsing activity from “peeping Toms” who might otherwise be able to steal personal information you enter into your browser using programs like “Firesheep.”
5. Use encrypted versions of sites like Facebook or Instagram and other social outlets. You’ll know you’re on an encrypted site because there will be an ‘s’ following the ‘http.’ For example: https://facebook.com. If there’s no ‘s’, add it yourself.
6. If you’re ever worried that someone else may have accessed your Gmail account, open your gmail, and scroll down to the very bottom right corner where you will see information about the latest account activity. Click on the “details” link to see a listing of all the IP addresses that have accessed your account. If you usually sign in to Gmail using a the same computer(s), your IP addresses should be the only ones you see. If you see anything suspicious, change your password immediately. Read more HERE.
7. Delete your browsing history frequently, along with your session cookies. This will delete any stored information on those sites.

We are at our most vulnerable when we don’t know what we don’t know.

Cyber stalkers and hackers are clever. That’s why you have to make sure you stay one step ahead, regularly scheduling time to implement the 7 steps outlined above. Along with doing everything you can to avoid getting sued, you also have to take all possible steps to avoid getting hacked.

Want to “cover your assets online” but don’t have money to spend on legal fees? Did you know there’s so much you can do yourself without having to hire a lawyer. That’s why I created the DIYLegalToolkit. Check it out, and save thousands of dollars by doing it yourself. Learn more HERE.