When it comes to cybersecurity, many small business owners assume that hackers will not target them due to their small volume. Furthermore, they believe that hackers will target larger organizations or companies where they can easily find a lot of information to steal. Unfortunately, this is not the case in reality, according to Android Headlines based on Verizon research.
Hackers prefer to target small businesses more than large companies or organizations. According to a survey conducted by Verizon in 2019, 43% of cyberattacks were targeted at small businesses.
Therefore, small business owners must take some precautionary measures that allow them to protect their confidential business data on different devices such as desktops, laptops and smartphones.
Compared to other devices, the use of business cell phones among entrepreneurs and small business owners is currently increasing. They can easily access official data on their business mobile phones while traveling instantly. Further increasing the risk, SMEs tend to allow employees to use their personal equipment, commonly referred to as BYOD (Bring Your Own Device), particularly smartphones and laptops.
So, protecting your small business smartphone data, or your staff, from the prying eyes of hackers and other cyber criminals has become the immediate necessity. Thus, the tips described here, although addressing business equipment, can and should also be applied to personal equipment, because in the end, your personal information is as valuable as your business information to hackers.
Here are 5 simple ways, cited by Android Headlines, by which you can protect your small business smartphone data in 2022 and beyond, hassle-free.
Think twice before connecting to public Wi-Fi networks
Public Wi-Fi networks are an easy target for hackers and other cyber criminals. So, you should think twice before connecting to any free public WiFi network to carry out your important official tasks.
You’re better off using your mobile data connection if you want to surf the web or interact with your customers safely while traveling or on the go. Mobile data connection aside, there’s no harm in using a quality VPN . This way you can encrypt all internet traffic and spoof your online locations easily at no or minimal cost
Using VPN as a result, notorious elements like hackers, scammers and other cyber terrorists will not be able to monitor what you do on the Internet. Above all, you can proactively protect your company’s smartphones from hacking, data theft, phishing and other cyber attacks.
If you are satisfied with the VPN’s performance, you can subscribe to their premium packages depending on your budget.
Update your smartphones regularly
If you don’t update your Android business smartphones regularly, chances are that eventually you will become a victim of a data breach. Unfortunately, hackers are much smarter than we are these days, as they know how to detect and take advantage of security vulnerabilities that reside in cell phone operating systems.
So you better not give them a single chance or a tip to jeopardize the security of your business smartphones. Therefore, you should not ignore OS or application updates at any cost. Therefore, you should update your business smartphones regularly.
Download apps from Google Play Store only
Likewise, you should not download apps on your commercial smartphones from unknown sources. Otherwise, you could become a victim of malware or ransomware.
By prohibiting the installation of apps from untrusted sources, you can proactively combat and eliminate various security issues. Also, you should manage app permissions wisely.
For example, you can check the apps on your business smartphones to see if you’ve given them more permissions to get the job done. Likewise, you should examine what permissions you’ve granted to all your apps.
Fortunately, you can revoke additional permissions if it’s not necessary to adequately protect your business data. Have you checked what the Facebook app asks for?
If you haven’t, I suggest you check and see what these social apps ask for. I’m sure you’ll be surprised at the level of permissions they must have in order to work.
Provide cybersecurity training to your employees
As a responsible small business owner, you must provide basic cybersecurity training to your employees. By doing so, they can use corporate (or personal) smartphones safely without exposing their real whereabouts.
Also, you can encourage them to use various cybersecurity tools like password managers, email encryption software, etc. Also, you should inform them about the consequences of phishing email attacks in detail.
They should not click on any suspicious attachments or links provided in the email sent by unknown persons. If they click on suspicious links or attachments, hackers can easily attack them by injecting malware into your company’s smartphones to fulfill their illegal or unethical goals.
Also, your employees should create a backup of official data regularly. There should be no possibility of inappropriate and pornography on company’s issud devices. It is generally a good practice that your employees should follow as it adequately protects important business documents and other resources.
Lock your devices
Don’t leave your business smartphones unlocked at any time. Whether you are working in the office, at home or in any public place, you should keep your work phone locked at all times if not in use.
Also, you can enable passwords on your business mobile phones that will keep your official data safe even if it is lost.
Use a tool that allows remote access
If the equipment is lost or stolen, it is important that you are able to access, lock and delete the information stored on the device. Today there are several free and paid solutions, some provided by the manufacturer of the device, so that you can identify its location and send a command to reset the device and erase the information.
Some of these solutions also allow you to encrypt the device so that, even if remote communication is not possible, the storage area is not readable without the opening key.
Another feature that may be interesting, which is also available on the market, is that the software silently takes pictures of the user and sends them an email along with the location captured by the device’s GPS device.
In short
In short, protecting your small business’s crucial smartphone data from cyber criminals is still in your hands. However, you should follow the tips and suggestions as mentioned above to protect your business smartphone from various cyber threats including hacking, malware, phishing, etc.
In addition to the tips above, there are other more complete options, such as MDM – Mobile Device Management – solutions that can be acquired with a little investment and will enable even more effective control, including controls over specific areas in personal equipment, segregating corporate information. of the personal.
