Every 10 minutes a cybercrime takes place, and this number is only rising. Good for you only other hair and beauty stores will fall victim. Right?
Wrong! Too bad, this is not true, you run the risk to lose all your client data, your bookkeeping system and analysis and agreements with your hair suppliers. In only one moment of carelessness.
Open the email from Great Lengths with an interesting offer, attached with an Email, but this turns out to be a fake mail. Or you pick the phone because you are ready to talk hair and the person on the other side claims to be a Microsoft employee. Guiding you with an excuse about a system error into a straight hack.
There are 1,001 ways to trick you, the people behind cybercrime learn from every step you take. Because small and medium sized businesses often do not have a dedicated IT security team or officer, they are more vulnerable. This means your hair store can become very easy a victim of Cybercrime.
10 Steps to Keep Your Hair Store Protected from Cybercrime
Please, it is better to avoid all the damage and pain of lost data, locked computers or all your communication on the street. See ten steps to be smarter than criminals, or at least until they found something new to trick you. We have put some steps everybody can take, even if you think you have no feeling for computers at all.
Want a webstore that increases your hair sales?
1. Keep your operating systems updated and regularly patched.
In many cases you only must turn on the switch for automated updates. No need to put this on your to do list, except for the first time, or when you have a new device. People who commit Cybercrime often use securities flaws, vulnerabilities of the system. With every update, the latest flaws are solved by the software manufactory.
2. Have a firewall plus software that opposes virus, spyware and phishing attacks.
This is a clear example of penny wise pound foolish, to save money on a lock on your door and to give burglars free access is not smart. Most often the expenses of a firewall and anti-virus software are tax deductible. So, no reason to cut your expenses here and purchase a good anti virus program.
3. Keep your browsers updated always with the latest version of the software.
4. Keep all system software updated.
This is the same as number one and three. Use this moment to check if you have the latest version of your system software installed. This is the software that handles the performance of your device it self.
5. Encrypt your wireless network.
Overwrite the standard default password and security settings of your WIFI network. It might cause some inconvenience because you must re-activate the network on your phones and other devices. But baby it’s worth it, because we work more and more wireless.
6. Restrict software and set up administrative rights so that nothing can be installed on company computers without authorization.
Use the restriction as administrator on your computer only for yourself or dedicated staff members. Give limit access rights to others. Be aware the cybercriminals aim at access at the level of administrator. This will allow them to control all other systems of your hair store
7. Block access to restricted sites with Internet filters to prevent employees and hackers from uploading data to storage clouds.
9. Remove or disable USB ports so that malicious data can’t be downloaded
The danger does not always have to come through the same door. Make sure you have your systems behind closed doors with limited access and reduce the number of USB ports people can use.
10. Implement strict password policies.
Selecting a password that cannot be easily guessed is the first step toward keeping passwords secure and away from the wrong hands. Strong passwords have eight characters or more and use a combination of letters, numbers and symbols (e.g., # $ % ! ?). Avoid using any of the following as your password: your login name, anything based on your personal information such as your last name, and words that can be found in the dictionary. Try to select especially strong, unique passwords for protecting activities like online banking.
Keep your passwords in a safe place and try not to use the same password for every service you use online.
Change passwords on a regular basis, at least every 90 days. This can limit the damage caused by someone who has already gained access to your account. If you notice something suspicious with one of your online accounts, one of the first steps you can take is to change your password.
11. Backup entire drives, folders and files.
Make sure you make a backup of your files, folders and drives. Keep the backup at a safe place and always make two backups. The father, grandfather system. Always replace the eldest backup (grandfather) when you make a new backup. By doing so you will eliminate the risk you overwrite the wrong data and keep a copy of your work. When you use WordPress / Woocommerce for your hair store you can use plugins to automatically create a backup.
Do not forget to practice how to restore a backup, to test it all works. You do not want to find out the backups are not complete when you need to restore your systems.
