Have you taken any measures to ensure that your company doesn’t become a victim of a cyber-attack? Most small business owners don’t. Yet, a report by Symantec indicated that 43% of all cyber-attacks in 2015 targeted small businesses. That figure has been consistently rising since 2011.

The irony is that criminals are targeting small businesses more and more because they don’t take any measures to protect themselves, unlike the large corporations you would usually associate cyber-attacks with. There are a variety of other factors aside from crime that can result in data loss including user error, power outages and corrupted software.

These things can happen at any moment, so it’s crucial to protect your business.

When it’s Too Late

While prevention is better than the cure, you may have already experienced an event that resulted in the loss of important data that your business needs to have access to in order to operate. Your best bet would be to consult a professional data recovery service such as Secure Data Recovery, as manual alternatives tend to cause more harm than good.

They can repair everything from corrupted hard drives to entire servers and databases. These resources are very important considering the vital need for some of the data out there at the moment. There are no upfront fees and you can verify that your data has been successfully recovered before paying. To prevent the need for this moving forward, here are four effective measures you can take to keep your business data safe.

Secure Your Wireless Network

Ensure that your router has a both a username and password/passphrase that is a mix of at least 15 different letters, numbers and special characters. Change this frequently and only share it when necessary. Stay up to date with your router’s firmware and use WPA2 encryption. Also, be sure to use a firewall on each device connected to your network.

Update Software Automatically

The older your system and application software, the more vulnerable it is to attacks. Prevent this by setting up automatic updates for the programs, operating systems and security settings of all the devices in your business. For employees who use personal devices at work, be sure to set up a policy that also protects their data.

Use Cloud Services

Staying up to date with security issues is often a resource-intensive process. It’s worth considering moving certain applications and services to the cloud, where the security of your data is automatically maintained by the provider. This is a good approach for small businesses as you can save money on server maintenance and security measures.

Perform Background Checks

A study conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers found that employees were responsible for 52% of fraud cases in small businesses. Therefore, you should take extra precautions when hiring new employees and be more observant with those who already work for you. Perform background checks and monitor any suspicious activity to prevent security breaches.

When it comes to the safety of your data, being vigilant and staying on the ball with what’s happening will go a long way in preventing costly situations. Update your software regularly, use caution when sharing information and find modern alternatives such as cloud software to keep your data safe.