Small and medium-sized businesses require multiple lines of defense against ever-evolving cyber threats. A layered approach to security is critical to safeguarding your data and assets. But, as an SMB, you may not have the resources or expertise to navigate complex security setups and policies.

We’ve compiled a list of cybersecurity best practices to create a more robust cybersecurity ecosystem within your organization. To learn more about how you can implement advanced protections and simplify security management, check out the Electric IT Hub.

12 Cybersecurity Best Practices for Small to Midsize Businesses

1. Follow Established Frameworks

Cybersecurity best practices can be adapted to most work environments, and developing a plan does not require you to start from scratch. Many IT security experts recommend following the guidelines established by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in its Cybersecurity Framework. It consists of five “core” functions that organizations should perform continuously:

• Identify – Understanding the current state of your assets and data and who has access to them.
• Protect – Creating the safeguards necessary limit the access and release of sensitive data.
• Detect – Implementing tools and actions that can detect breaches or suspicious events.
• Respond – Developing protocols that allow you to quickly take action in the result of a data breach.
• Recover – Developing protocols that allow the organization to resume normal activity in the case of an incident.

For an assessment of your unique needs, connect with our team of experts to develop your free security plan.

2. Consider Zero Trust Architecture

Zero Trust is a cybersecurity best practice that is centered on the assumption that no person or device inside or outside of a network can automatically be trusted. Users and devices must be authenticated and authorized to access multiple, smaller perimeters to access data. The concept of trust is usually divided into five main pillars:

• Device
• User
• Session
• Application
• Data

Once trust has been initially established, then the system will grant or deny access. In addition, it is important to regularly re-verify all of the pillars. Zero Trust architecture is maintained through a combination of protocols including multi-factor authentication, privileged access, and real-time monitoring.

In a time when many employees are accessing company data from everywhere but the office, it is particularly important to have best practice cybersecurity solutionsin place to address this change.

3. Educate Employees About Cybersecurity

Conversations about cybersecurity best practices for employees need to happen more than just during onboarding. Consider scheduling regular educational sessions explaining why security is important, how to identify threats, and what to do if a breach occurs..

It’s important to discuss how cybersecurity is the responsibility of everyone in a company, not just IT or management. Some employees—especially those who do not work with sensitive information as part of their jobs—may not be aware that they could be vulnerable to hackers or malicious actors.

In our recent Cybersecurity Report, 71% of respondents indicated an employee at their organization had succumbed to a social engineering attack attempt. As part of the Electric IT Hub’s layered approach to cybersecurity, businesses can effortlessly roll out phishing protections, password management, and more to prevent critical human errors.

4. Develop A Remote Cybersecurity Policy

If you have not done so already, now is the time to develop a remote work cybersecurity policy to specifically target the vulnerabilities of working from home. Here are some recommendations for what it should address:

• Company-issued device usage for non work-related activities
• Limitations on what can be accessed from personal devices
• Securing home wireless networks
• How to notify IT of a possible attack or phishing scheme
• A response plan that allows employees to quickly get back to work.

5. Use Secure Wifi

Common mistakes that employees make that could compromise their security include not updating firmware regularly, not encrypting their wifi configuration, and not changing the router login and password from the default. These risks are further heightened in remote and hybrid work environments.

While most office wifi networks are well encrypted and secure, home and public wifi networks can have a host of security issues. Ensure employees use a VPN to protect and encrypt their connection. With the Electric IT Hub’s network security solutions, you can effortlessly secure the connections between employee devices and the company network.

6. Use Secure Devices

As part of employee onboarding through the Electric IT Hub, you can implement a default set of best practice cybersecurity policies that improve the security posture of employee devices. Rather than manually setting up each device with individual protections, you can roll out a standardized selection of solutions from an employee’s very first day.  These safeguards include automated security patching, full disk encryption, automated screen lock, cybersecurity applications, firewalls, and much more. We’ll explore them as their own best practices in further detail below.

7. Automate Patching

As a cybersecurity best practice, quick patching of critical vulnerabilities reduces the risk of security breaches that can be costly to your business.

Consider the simple fact that unpatched devices are more susceptible to cyber attacks. A ServiceNow survey found 57% of cyberattack victims reported that their breaches could have been prevented by installing an available patch.

Automated patching also saves IT professionals the many hours it would take to manually scan devices to assess for a latest version and then  manually push out the latest update. Automation therefore enables patches to be applied across multiple vulnerabilities simultaneously which dramatically accelerates the process and eliminates the risk of failure.

Patches can be released between five and twenty times a month. When you consider all of the applications on a given device, getting these patches installed in a timely manner has never been more critical as it is today.

8. Enable Full Disk Encryption

When every hard drive on every device in your organization has  Full Disk Encryption (FDE) enabled, your company’s entire security posture is stronger. A stolen laptop is no longer an existential security threat. Any sensitive data on the device won’t be accessible to the thief without another vector of attack like stolen credentials.

Without a centralized cybersecurity solution  in place,  SMBs might struggle to enact FDE across the organization’s devices. With mobile device management (MDM) within the Electric IT Hub, you can easily manage the remote implementation of device configurations and security policies.

9. Automate Screen Lock

One key cybersecurity best practice we recommend is automating screen lock. This involves activating a computer’s sleep mode after being idle for a specified amount of time, and prompts the user to re-enter their password upon returning. This helps ensure devices are not accessible if left unattended.

As mentioned previously, employee workstations have a lot of valuable and sensitive information on them. Someone leaving a device unlocked while away from their desk leaves all of that sensitive information available to whomever walks past. If they gain access to your computer, they may be able to share, modify, and remove data from your computer.

To take this cybersecurity best practice to the next level, ensure you have a cybersecurity solution that facilitates remote screen lock and data wiping if a device is lost or stolen.

10. Enable Firewalls

Another best practice for cybersecurity that might seem obvious, but is still important to reiterate, is ensuring that all company devices have a firewall enabled. A firewall is a type of software that monitors inbound and outbound activity from your network for suspicious activity, blocking items that are considered dangerous based on a set of security rules.

Firewalls prevent unwanted applications from accessing endpoints by controlling connections on a per-app basis. Per-app protection adds a layer of security for vulnerable network ports that must remain open.

11. Implement Multi-Factor Authentication

As a cybersecurity best practice for small businesses, multi-factor authentication (MFA) should always be used so it is harder for hackers to access your sensitive information. With MFA, hackers need an additional factor such as a fingerprint or security code to log in to yoursystems. For example, when employeesenter their usernames and passwords, a unique code is sent to each smartphone. That code must be entered into the system before access can be granted.

Given that 63% of data breaches can be traced to weak password security, adding the additional authentication factor of MFA is one way to strengthen security.

12. Reinforce the Use of Strong Passwords

Employeeswho opt to duplicate their passwords in their personal and work accounts place your organization at risk of a breach . There is a clear need to reinforce the importance of using strong, complex passwords as they are essential in stopping hackers from accessing your company’s sensitive information.

For SMBs, password management solutions prevent employees from using repeat or inadequate credentials when logging into your network and applications. Password managers also make it easier for employees to access the resources they need, without remembering or writing down complex passwords.

Best Practice Cybersecurity Solutions for Small Businesses?

Robust cybersecurity requires a layered approach that covers your devices, applications, and network. For many SMBs, these cybersecurity best practices can seem beyond the reach of their budget or expertise. Unfortunately, this makes small businesses a particularly appealing target for threat actors.

The Electric IT Hub overcomes these challenges by centralizing all of the cybersecurity solutions you need to protect your business in a single platform. With this comprehensive, cost-effective approach to cybersecurity, SMBs can implement advanced protections while enjoying greater efficiencies and a more streamlined employee experience.  Connect with our team of experts today to build your free security plan.