If you are one of those enthusiastic and adventurous entrepreneurs who are on the verge of launching your own startup, here’s an important question for you: Have you secured your startup enough so that it can resist the security threats of today? Because if you haven’t, considering the security threats which are raining down on the digital world of today, you may in for a lot of trouble.
This post takes a look at some of the cybersecurity measures every entrepreneur should take in order to ensure their startup stays safe from all forms of hacking.
1. Benchmark Your Vulnerability: Even before you start thinking about enhancing your cybersecurity, get this into your head first. No matter how hard you try to secure yourself, you – just like the rest of the digital world – will always remain vulnerable to various security threats evolving each day. No plan you come up with is going to make you ‘foolproof’ against hacking.
Therefore what’s important is to find out your security weak points – maybe a cybersecurity expert can help you with this – and make a note of them for you. This will help you become equipped for the worst-case scenarios if they were to become a reality. Above all, it will help you create a benchmark for the security vulnerabilities that your startup will face.
2. Educate Your Employees About Security: Startups tend to contain a lot of first-timers. Therefore come up with a proper cybersecurity program for teaching your employees how to ensure organisation security by following the appropriate security measures. It wouldn’t be such a bad idea to make this program a part of the employee-induction plan itself. This way, they’ll get to learn about cybersecurity, even before they step into the organisation.
3. Build a Cybersecurity Community: Sometimes humans learn better when they are left to figure things out on their own rather than being spoon-fed. Therefore how about starting a cybersecurity community within your organisation and allowing employees to post whatever they learn within your intranet? This will keep them motivated, enhance your organisation security, and above all you’ll get to know what’s happening in the cybersecurity world without having to do much.
4. Consult a Cybersecurity Expert: The world of cybersecurity is tough to understand. Something which works today may not work well tomorrow. This volatile situation is not going to change as long as hackers are around. Therefore consult a cybersecurity expert. Doing so can help you with two things. One, you’ll be able to get an estimate of your startup’s security posture. Two, they’ll be able to offer valuable advice which you can use to improve your startup’s cybersecurity strength.
5. Get the Basics Right: No matter how good looking a building might be, it wouldn’t stand the test of time if its foundation is not good. The same applies for cybersecurity as well. You may opt for the most sophisticated cybersecurity programs and consult many cybersecurity experts. But if you don’t get the basics right – like using unique passwords, employing VPN connections, keeping applications up-to-date etc., – all would be lost.
Being an entrepreneur is all about taking risks. But cybersecurity is one area where even entrepreneurs wouldn’t want to experiment with. Because the losses can be too heavy to cope with. Therefore focus on the cybersecurity of your startup right now so that you don’t end up regretting it later.
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