How to protect your business from cybercrime

A cyberattack is likely your company’s worst nightmare. Cybercrime has been on the rise in recent years and many small to medium-sized businesses have been significantly impacted by the increased risk. Preventing a cyberattack may seem hopeless, but luckily, there are many ways to shield yourself and protect your business from incidents.

In this post, we will discuss how to protect your business from cybercrime with ten tried and true methods, as well as some tips for responding to an attack.

What is cybercrime and how does it affect businesses?

Cybercrime is a relatively broad term that refers to all types of illegal criminal activities that occur online. Cyberattacks have skyrocketed in recent years and have become more and more damaging to businesses. There are a number of reasons that cybercriminals attack businesses, including financial gain, reputational damage, and gaining access to sensitive data, just to name a few.

Cyberattacks can have major negative impacts on businesses. In extreme cases, when a company is not properly prepared to face an attack, it can be almost impossible for them to bounce back. A cybercrime can disrupt standard business operations, leading to loss of revenue and significant damage to a company’s reputation. Additionally, if a business does not have cyber liability insurance, it may be unable to recover any financial losses due to the cyberattack.

Types of cybercrime

Any illegal activity that occurs primarily on the internet can be considered cybercrime, so if we were to list all types of cybercrime, this would be a very long blog post. That said, here are a few of the most common types of cyberattacks that businesses face.

• Malware: Malicious software designed to disrupt, damage, or gain unauthorized access to computer systems, often spreading through email attachments or infected downloads.
• Social engineering: A technique cybercriminals use to manipulate individuals into revealing confidential information, often through deceptive emails or phone calls. Phishing is a common type of social engineering.
• Ransomware: A specific type of malware that encrypts a victim’s files and demands payment (ransom) for the decryption key, effectively holding the data hostage until the ransom is paid.
• Identity theft: Unauthorized use of someone’s personal information — for example, Social Security Numbers or credit card details — to commit fraud or theft.
• Data breach: An incident where unauthorized individuals access sensitive data, such as customer information or proprietary business secrets.

10 ways to protect your business from cybercrime

Cybercrime is everywhere in the modern era, and unfortunately, more businesses are facing cyberattacks each year. However, this doesn’t mean you should just sit back and wait for a cyberattack to occur. There are quite a few ways to strengthen your cybersecurity and prevent an attack.

1. Enforce a strong password policy

You’d be surprised just how effective using a strong password can be at protecting your business from cybercrime. You should avoid using weak passwords at all costs. Steer clear of using easy-to-guess passwords that include your date of birth, name, address, or other public information. A good rule of thumb is if a password is too easy to remember, it is likely easy for a cybercriminal to hack.

We recommend enforcing password policies and require the use of encrypted password managers. This ensures employees are creating complex, secure passwords without writing them down or storing them in vulnerable locations.

Here are some tips for what to include in a company-wide password policy:

• Passwords must be at least 12 characters long.
• Passwords must include a mix of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and special characters.
• Employees must change their password every 60-90 days.

2. Use multifactor authentication

Another way to ensure that unauthorized users aren’t accessing your company’s system is to enforce multifactor authentication (MFA) on all devices. MFA forces users to complete an extra verification step after entering their password before granting access to the internal system. This can include either sending a unique code by SMS or email, or through biometric methods using fingerprint or facial recognition.

While MFA is not a foolproof security measure, it can stop 30 to 50% of attacks stemming from a compromised account. When combined with other measures, it is one of the most effective ways to protect your business from cybercrime.

3. Secure networks with firewalls and encrypt data

Firewalls essentially function just how they sound: as a barrier (or wall of fire) between your company’s internal network and cybercriminals. They monitor and control incoming and outgoing traffic based on predetermined and preset security rules. Firewalls help protect against attacks by blocking unauthorized access and preventing hackers from infiltrating your systems and accessing sensitive data.

Data encryption is another equally crucial protective measure that transforms your information into an unreadable format that can only be deciphered with a decryption key. Even if cybercriminals manage to intercept your data, encryption ensures that they can’t misuse it. 

4. Keep your software up-to-date

Cybercriminals are always adapting and exploiting gaps in security systems. In order to fend off attacks and keep devices as secure as possible, tech companies constantly update and patch software.

This is why you should always keep your company’s software up-to-date to avoid leaving your system exposed. Outdated software can open the door to malware, data breaches, and other cyber threats.

5. Don’t allow employees to use personal devices

With the rise in remote or hybrid work in the past few years, it has become increasingly common for companies to allow BYOD (bring your own device) policies. BYOD systems are attractive to businesses because they are convenient and more cost-effective, but they also come with an increased risk of cybercrime.

Personal devices lack the same level of security as company-owned devices, making them more vulnerable to cyberattacks and data breaches. Unlike business-issued devices, personal devices may not have up-to-date security software, encryption, or firewalls in place. This is why it’s always better from a cybersecurity standpoint to use company-owned and protected devices, as you’ll have full control of security protocols.

6. Audit your security with penetration testing

Many businesses don’t realize that they are at risk of cybercrime until it is too late. One of the best ways to test if your company’s cybersecurity system is airtight is to hire an “ethical hacker” to conduct a penetration test. A penetration test is essentially a simulation of an actual cyberattack, during which a hacker will attempt to break into your system using the same methods as a cybercriminal. This is an effective way to put your security to the test and allows your business to address any vulnerabilities that a real-life malicious hacker could exploit.

7. Train employees to recognize cyber threats

According to a recent 2024 study, more than 90% of cyber attacks begin with social engineering. This goes to show that training your team to recognize cyber threats is one of the most effective ways to prevent an attack from occurring. Employees are often the first line of defense against cybercrime, and simple mistakes like clicking on a malicious email link or sharing sensitive information can lead to devastating consequences. Regularly train staff on cyber hygiene to help staff stay up to date on the latest threats and reinforce best practices for protecting company data.

Here are a few important things that you should include in employee cybersecurity training programs:

• Different kinds of cyber threats and how to avoid them
• How to recognize phishing emails and suspicious links
• How to safely handle sensitive information and data
• How to report suspicious activity or potential security breaches
• The importance of strong, unique passwords and the use of password managers
• The dangers of downloading files or software from untrusted sources

8. Limit access to sensitive data

Another effective way to protect your business from cybercrime is to limit and restrict sensitive data. Remember, a high percentage of data breaches occur due to employee errors or social engineering, so if you place a tighter seal on sensitive information, you’ll minimize the potential risk of data breaches.

The best way to do this is to implement a least privilege access model. This only allows employees access to the information they need to perform their job functions, reducing the chances of accidental exposure or misuse of sensitive data. This strategy minimizes the risk of a damaging data breach by placing extra “locks” on data and preventing it from being widely accessible across your organization.

9. Create a plan for responding to incidents

While the ultimate goal is to avoid cybercrime altogether, with incidents on the rise, it is almost inevitable that your organization will face a cyber threat or data breach at some point. That said, with the right incident response plan in place, you can drastically minimize the damages. A strategic incident response plan will allow your business to respond quickly and effectively to cybercrime. The plan will provide you with a road map for managing the event and minimizing the damages that occur. This helps keep your team organized during a cyberattack, which typically results in a faster response and more efficient disaster recovery procedures.

10. Invest in cyber insurance

While there are many ways to protect your business, the bottom line is that, in today’s digital landscape, cybercrime is hard to avoid. Training your staff to recognize threats, creating effective response and auditing procedures, and implementing company-wide cyber hygiene policies can help your cause, but these methods will only go so far. 

You should always have a cyber liability insurance policy as a backup.

A cyber insurance policy is coverage specifically crafted to protect your firm if confidential client data and work products are stolen or lost, resulting in significant financial losses. In essence, the policy protects your business in the worst-case scenario. Cyber liability insurance policies vary, but they generally cover financial losses from:

• Data losses and recreation
• Business interruption or loss of revenue
• Cyber extortion
• Computer fraud
• Loss of transferred funds
• And much more

However, the best cyber insurance carriers do more than give you a policy. They also help you identify the strengths and weaknesses of your current approaches to safeguarding data, and then work with you to improve security.

How to respond to a cybercrime?

Protecting your business from cybercrime doesn’t stop at preventing an attack from occurring. You should also be prepared to respond to an attack to prevent criminals from wreaking havoc on your company.

Let’s take a look at some of our top tips for responding to a cyberattack.

1. Inform law enforcement and your insurance company right away

Your first course of action after identifying a cyber incident is to notify your insurance company and your local law enforcement about the attack. Both law enforcement and your insurance company will then immediately start assisting you in your response.

2.  Identify the source and scope of the attack

Your company’s response team should then determine the scale of the cybercrime and work out how the crime occurred (social engineering, malware, etc.).

3. Contain the breach to prevent further damage

To minimize the damage of the incident, you should ensure that any data breaches are contained and that the cybercriminal does not still have access to any sensitive systems or information. During this time, the authorities will likely conduct an investigation to determine the cause of the event and will help to confirm if the breach is contained.

4. Notify affected parties

In all 50 states, businesses are legally obligated to notify customers or third parties that were affected by cyberattacks and data breaches. While each US state has differing requirements, most require companies to disclose information about a breach immediately to customers and in writing.

5. Restore systems and data from backups

Backups can be a saving grace in the case that a hacker has stolen or deleted sensitive information or essential software. After containing the incident, restore clean versions of your files from secure backups. It’s important to store backups in multiple locations, including off-site or cloud-based systems, to ensure they remain safe and unaffected by an attack.

6. Conduct a post-incident investigation and audit

After containing the attack, it is time to complete a thorough audit to assess the full scope of the damage. This investigation should involve internal IT specialists or a third-party cybersecurity firm to analyze and identify vulnerabilities and document the attacker’s methods. An audit of your systems and processes will help uncover any weaknesses that were exploited and ensure there are no remaining threats. This will also help you determine the exact impact of the losses stemming from the attack.

What to look for in a cyber insurance policy

We really cannot stress enough the importance of cyber liability insurance in today’s day and age. Let’s take a quick glimpse at some of the most important things to look out for in cyber policies.

Pay attention to the limits

Your policy limits dictate how much money the insurance company will cover for claims. For example, if you choose a $500,000 policy limit, your insurer will only cover $500,000 in cyber insurance claims. And your business will have to pay out-of-pocket for any amount over $500,000.

Coverage for all types of cybercrime

Look closely at what your cyber policy covers. As cyber insurance is a relatively new type of coverage, some older policies may not include all types of cyberattacks. This means if your business faces a threat that is not specifically mentioned in your policy, you may not be covered.

Loss of revenue coverage

Another important type of coverage to look for in your cyber policy is loss of revenue. This helps pay pack losses in the event that your business operations slow or cease due to cybercrime.

Consider investing in tech errors and omissions insurance 

Cyber insurance may not cover your losses if an insurance investigation resolves that the cyberattack occurred due to negligence in your company, such as an IT misconfiguration. In the case of employee mistakes or negligence, you should consider investing in Tech E&O insurance.