Data loss can have a severe impact on small businesses. Unitrends reports that 94% of companies that suffer severe data loss do not survive for longer than a year. Furthermore, loss of data can damage the trusts your clients have in your business. It’s of paramount importance that your business’s data is kept as secure as possible.

It's not just large, national-scale businesses that are targeted by cyber-crime, however: in December 2021, Gloucester City Council suffered from a ransomware attack that damaged network and online services from Russian hacking group Conti. The incident was estimated to have cost the council £800,000. An attack like this could be a death sentence to your company.

At Pearce IT, we offer cyber security solutions to ensure you will never have to worry about having valuable data stolen. Here are some 4 steps you can follow to make sure your data stays as secure as possible.

1 - Encryption

Encryption is a way of protecting your data so that it can’t be viewed by anyone except for the intended recipient, such as a specific email address, IP address, or the user of a particular device. Sensitive data, such as about your clients and partners, needs to be stored securely.

At Pearce IT, we provide business grade encryption for your hard drives and portable storage to help your business’s data stay safe.

2 - Anti Malware

Perpetrators of cyber-crime use a range of malware (viruses) to target your data. For example, ransomware is used as a threat to make public or permanently delete or encrypt sensitive information, usually demanding a ransom fee to recover the data. Worms are a type of self-replicating malware that spread through a network, often causing damage to multiple systems, often becoming very expensive to put right.

At Pearce IT, we are partnered with Bitdefender, an award-winning cybersecurity provider designed to keep your data safe from malware. We also offer advanced email filtering that identifies malware in the form of phishing links and malicious programs, eliminating them before they reach your inbox.

3 - Data backups

One of the best ways to protect your data from being stolen or destroyed is with regular backups. Backing up your business’s data is absolutely essential in today’s age, not only protecting it against cyber criminals, but also ensuring your data is kept safe in the event of hardware failure, theft, or destruction such as fire.

Our online backup service is easy and simple to set up, while being ultra-reliable. You can work on files in the cloud 24/7, using any device able to connect to the internet, and what’s more, our hosting servers are encrypted so that none of your valuable data can be accessed by cyber attackers. Business grade backup doesn’t need to be expensive, which is why we offer solutions for as little as £3.50 per month.

4 - PASSWORD PROTECTION

Enabling password protection and two-factor authentication on your devices adds an extra level of security, preventing your data from being accessed by anyone outside of approved users. Using secure passwords longer than 15 characters and containing lowercase, uppercase, numerical, and special characters protects your business accounts or devices from being compromised through a brute force attack. Two-factor authentication ensures that only you can access your account or device, even if someone does get hold of your password.

Our friendly staff team have decades of experience and expertise regarding cyber security. If you’re looking to upgrade your security or need some help setting up two-factor authentication, get in contact with us today, either by giving us a ring on 01452 222000, or using the contact portal on our site https://shorturl.at/lAHY0.

Using all four of these steps ensures that your data is as safe as possible, meaning you can rest easy knowing your data won’t be stolen any time soon. We also offer cloud support, helping us resolve your IT security issues remotely, reducing your downtime and letting you focus on your sales or services.

If you’re looking to improve your business’s security with one or more of our security solutions, contact us today and we can let you know how we can help.