Some businesses wrongly assume they do not need to worry about cyber security as they are ‘too small’. Research from Aviva reports that in the UK, one in five businesses have experienced a cyber attack and a staggering 9% of these companies were small businesses.

The truth is, cyber criminals can and will find a way to compromise you and your business. In this blog we will look at 5 cyber security practices your business should implement.

While it might seem obvious, ensuring your staff receive regular training is paramount in making sure they stay refreshed with cyber security practices.

Using a Human Risk Management Platform such as Cybsafe, is a great way for all staff members to stay updated. Cybsafe sends regular monthly quizzes and updates, while also providing training and educational information to help bolster your teams' awareness. They provide different levels of programs, so you can decide which is best for your business.

It is good cyber hygiene practise to ensure your software is regularly updated. Software updates provide new and improved functionality while addressing existing issues, such as bugs and crashes.

As an IT Service provider, Gather ensures all our clients have regular software updates. It is worth asking your IT provider how often they run software updates and what the update entails.

Malware: Is code that can harm your computers, laptops and the data on them. Your devices can become infected by inadvertently downloading malware that's in an attachment linked to a dubious email, or even by simply visiting a compromised website. Malware can steal your data and encrypt it, so you can't access it, or even erase it completely. For this reason, it's important that you always use antivirus software, and keep it up to date to protect your data and devices.

Anti Virus : An anti virus product is a program designed to detect and remove viruses and other kinds of malicious software from your computer or laptop. Antivirus products (such as Bitdefender or Avast) work by detecting, quarantining and/or deleting malicious code, to prevent malware from causing damage to your device. Modern antivirus products update themselves automatically, to provide protection against the latest viruses and other types of malware.

Think of a firewall as a security guard standing at the door of a bar, checking the ID of everyone that tries to enter or exit. If your name isn’t on the list, then you can’t enter! A firewall is what controls what is, and most importantly isn’t, allowed to pass through devices.

There are several different types of firewalls, from Hardware Based, Software based and Cloud Based a.k.a Firewall - as - a - Service (FWaas).  Companies must work with their IT provider and find a solution that protects their unique IT assets everywhere protection is needed.

We would recommend that firewalls are not just for offices or network perimeter's but they should be enabled on your laptop/computer as well!

Passwords: Having a strong password for each unique service that you use, that most importantly is protected with multi-factor authentication is the best way to protect your accounts.

Due to people worrying about having to remember multiple passwords across all their accounts, there is a high probability that duplicate passwords could be used across several sites, making your business vulnerable to malicious attacks. One way to eliminate the need to remember multiple passwords is to use a password manger such as 1password.com which offer several different pricing plans to suit your user requirements.

Microsoft have listed some points to remember while choosing a password, some of these are: