Why Is Account Security Essential For Your Startup?
by Arnab Dey Business Security Systems Published on: 08 November 2022 Last Updated on: 12 November 2022
Many businesses have dealt with severe security threats in the past few years. This has made most business owners more concerned with protecting their businesses from unforeseen threats or disasters, which could hurt the brand, revenue, and productivity.
As of now, many businesses invest resources into security since not taking it seriously could quickly lead to their downfall.
We live in a cyber age, so securing your online accounts is one of the most critical actions to secure your business. The most effective way to do that is by choosing a strong password. You have to make sure you are not using passwords that cyber criminals can guess within seconds. If you’re unfamiliar with creating solid passwords that can endure modern cyber-attacks, use ExpressVPN’s guide on how to use stronger passwords.
Known Cyber-security Incidents
As many companies do transactions online, there has been an increase in cyber-security data breaches. Because of that, many businesses are looking for ways to protect themselves from making costly mistakes, which may lead to a breach of data.
According to Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report for 2022, phishing attacks account for around 65% of online engineering-related data breach incidents. In addition, phishing is among the top three actions malicious attackers use to cause breaches, along with ransomware and downloaders.
According to the same report, Twitter suffered a spear-phishing attack. Attackers compromised the social network’s admin panel, gained control over accounts of popular Twitter users, and staged fake Bitcoin giveaways. Posing as Twitter’s IT specialists, cybercriminals reached out to a few remote workers and requested credentials for their work accounts. This helped the cybercriminals gain access to the social network’s administrator tools and post scam messages after resetting the Twitter accounts of dozen public figures.
Another cyber-security data breach happened to Yahoo in 2013. At the time, Yahoo was in the process of being acquired by Verizon. But despite the attack, the deal with Verizon still pushed through.
The Importance of Securing Your Online Accounts
In this fast-paced world where many functions happen swiftly, there is more room for security disasters and threats. There are a lot of things to take care of as a business owner, from employee training to paperwork.
When carrying out basic tasks, concentrating on security can slip off your mind. But security measures are important, even if you are running a new business.
Prioritizing the safety of your online accounts from the start will allow your startup to deal with any security incident or data breach beforehand. Securing your online accounts will also enable you to do the following:
- Avoid unforeseen recovery costs
- Improve brand credibility
- Build customer trust
How to Protect Your Online Accounts
As online businesses grow, the number of cyber-security threats increases too. It is reported that more than half of companies don’t know how to protect their businesses against security risks, including ransomware, zero-day, advanced malware, and phishing attacks.
Protecting your online accounts effectively keeps your reputation, data, and money safe. Some of the ways you can use to protect your online accounts include the following:
1. Consider Using a Password Manager
Having a strong password is a bedrock of online security and is especially vital for your online business accounts. Unlike the most common passwords, strong ones use a combination of both numbers, lower/upper cases, and other characters.
But this can be a little complicated for your workers, especially those who need to switch between several accounts to finish tasks. In order to find a perfect balance between security and convenience, it is advisable to use a password manager.
Doing so means everyone’s password will automatically be saved. And better still, tools that come with password managers help to generate new passwords.
2. Update Software
A perfect way to keep your online systems secure is to consider updating all your business software once new updates are available.
Although those update notifications might be bothersome and, at times, even distractive, you may choose the remind me later option.
Final Touches
For startups, security is essential for success. It is simple for startups to fail, especially if doesn’t prioritize the security of online accounts. Following these tips can be a great start and may prevent your startup from cyber-security threats or attacks.
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