Sensitive information is stored and accessed digitally by businesses every day. While it’s a lot more convenient for companies to have data stored digitally, unfortunately this also means these files are more vulnerable to attacks from hackers. Malicious users can gain access to a company’s data in several ways, including phishing, a method which takes advantage of unsuspecting employees as a gateway.

However, there are also a number of ways companies can protect themselves and their data from such attacks.

Communicating regularly with your team about phishing attacks is critical. Most people in an organization learn from these mistakes, but it takes one compromised incident in order to put them on high alert. Having regular meetings about what a phishing attack might look like helps prepare your team in advance of a breach. You can reinforce these meetings by highlighting the consequences of these attacks not only for the company’s reputation, but also for the security of customer information. Phishing sites regularly use similar-looking domains that mimic popular online sites your company may be using.

A basic and simple method that many businesses neglect is to simply update their software. This can be your content management system platform, cloud-based tool or any other program you use. Software and technology companies are always adding security protocols to their products, but they won’t work if you aren’t updating your apps and tools. You can choose an auto-update feature in your tools’ settings that will automatically update the solutions you use. If you’re more tech-savvy, you can create manual updates too. But the key is to stay on top of these changes and to update your entire suite of tools to keep your data safe from hackers.

The best way to keep your company safe from cyberattacks is to have your employees use multi-factor authentication. In other words, new sign-ins require a phone, email or code verification before account information is provided. Use this strategy to stop hackers in their tracks since it’s unlikely that they will have access to the secondary device.

A password management tool can help you boost the security on your website or plugins that you use. It makes it easy for us to share passwords without actually revealing what they are. You can also establish control over who can use a password by enabling or disabling access or by changing the password itself. A good password management tool will auto-generate complex passwords that are unlikely to get hacked. It will encrypt your username, email and password so that it can’t be accessed by outside parties. This is a simple tactic that any business can use to protect their business data right away.

Companies that want to protect themselves from phishing attacks and hackers can use an anti-phishing toolbar. An anti-phishing toolbar is a web browser extension that protects against these attacks when you visit a malicious website. Anti-phishing toolbars check everything that you click on in real time and block any possible threat or attack. They’re especially useful for people who aren’t knowledgeable about cybersecurity and want to ensure that their information and data is protected no matter what site they visit.

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