The world of eCommerce is growing faster than ever before. According to statistics gathered by AdWeek, the world of eCommerce generates roughly 1.2 million dollars every 30 seconds. While eCommerce giants like eBay and Amazon soak up most of the money, small companies can still make a lot of money online in today’s day and age.

Of course, starting a business is definitely not an easy job, no matter how small is it. And one of the biggest problems most first-time entrepreneurs seem to ignore is security. A recent CSIS report has revealed that every year, cybercrimes costs the US economy around $455 billion – and SMBs are often attractive targets for these kinds of criminals. “Why?” you may ask. Simply because they tend to have much weaker security than their major counterparts.

And that’s why you should focus your attention on preventing these criminals at the very beginning in order to prevent any problems down the line.

6 Essential Security Tips For Your Online Business

1. Human Error is a Big Problem

Before talk about any protection methods, you have to realize that human error plays a major part in almost every security breach. This means that in most cases, one of your employees will be the weakest link in your security chain. According to a recent IBM study, around 95% of all incidents involve a human error in one way or another. Most people download apps from untrusted sources and use personal devices for business purposes. More importantly, they are ignorant about most threats.

2. Cultivating a Security Culture

Naturally, if you want to reduce errors, your workforce has to completely understand the importance of security. This, of course, applies to companies of all sizes. You have to work with your team and make an honest effort to educate your employees on the importance of security policies. Usually, you also need to instruct them on how to use different security tools.

3. Organizing your Workforce

Even once your employees start learning about different protective measures, it still doesn’t mean they’ll share that information amongst each other. Recently, vArmour conducted a survey that revealed that more 50% of IT professionals don’t share any information with their co-workers. Making sure that every single person in your teams collaborates and works together on your protective strategies should be your top priority. You should also try organizing an intelligence sharing network of peers. Try to connect with as many companies as possible to exchange information about various problems and solutions.

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4. Establishing Management Strategies

As soon as you learn enough about cybercriminals, you’ll understand that practically every single attack is neatly thought-out, strategized, and executed. In fact, the United Nations estimate that 80% of cyber-attacks are run by well-organized crews with years of experience. If you want to be one step ahead of criminals, you need to have a plan for as many attacks as possible. You need to establish a strategic approach to your protection policies and tactics. Your office environment should operate as an integrated defense.

5. Working on Your Policies

Today, everyone uses a mobile device on a daily basis. More and more organizations are implementing mobile apps into their business processes. Because of that, you have to be extra-cautious about certain vulnerabilities. Recent Alcatel-Lucent research has shown that, at any given moment, 11 million mobile devices around the world are infected with malware, spyware, and ransomware. In addition, numerous other risks are associated with smartphones and tablets. If you want to have your company completely safe from malicious software that lurks on the Web, create a sound mobile policy that limits the dangers.

6. Choosing the Right Agencies

Last but not least, you have put a lot of thought into your security service provider. You need a company that provides inexpensive solutions with a seamless upgrade path. A company that demands ridiculous amounts of money for a single upgrade is simply unacceptable. You also need to have unlimited access to skilled IT professionals that can help you and your workers respond to any security issues they encounter.

Final Thoughts

Finally, keep in mind that most cybercriminals today are aware of all of these protective measures. They are always looking for new ways to attack you. For that reason, you have to be on your toes at all times if you want to successfully prevent any attacks on your servers and protect your intellectual property. So don’t stop learning about both the risks and the prevention steps you need to take.