Now more than ever, businesses in the UK need to stay safe. Physical security still matters, especially for high-profile office buildings and luxurious brands on the high street. But when it comes to modern commerce, online criminals pose arguably the biggest risk for businesses of all sizes.
By learning a few effective strategies, businesses can safeguard against a wide range of digital threats.
- Implement robust email filtering systems
Firstly, if your company has an in-house or agency partnered IT support team, this could be an essential layer of protection. Deploy advanced email filtering solutions to detect and block suspicious emails before they reach your employees’ inboxes.
These systems can identify a range of potentially harmful email content, including malicious links, data collection traps, and spoofed sender addresses. When a sender deliberately tries to steal sensitive information via email, this is known as phishing.
Blocking any phishing attempts reduces the likelihood of successful cybercrime against your business. The UK’s National Cyber Security Centre recommends implementing measures such as these to make things more difficult for attackers.
- Conduct regular employee training
It’s vital to educate your employees. They need to know how to recognise phishing attempts, including unexpected requests for sensitive information. A few of the tell-tale signs of a phishing email include:
- Urgent language
- Requests for calls to unknown numbers
- Addressed to someone else
- Incorrect spelling, especially in names
- Poor grammar
- Requests for sensitive information
- No personalisation
Carrying out training sessions will keep your team members vigilant. The risk is so widespread that around 84% of British business reported phishing attempts in the year leading up to April 2024.
Being able to report suspicious emails promptly could make the difference in safeguarding company details and systems.
- Enforce multi-factor authentication (MFA)
Implementing MFA adds an extra layer of security since it requires all users to provide at least two separate verification factors to access their accounts. When used alongside a secure VPN for business, two-factor authentication is an effective safety net against hacking.
This not only fosters a more security-conscious culture within your business but significantly lowers the chances of unauthorised access too, even if login credentials are partially compromised. Hackers won’t be able to log into individual accounts unless they have access to separate devices too.
Increasingly, key firms in industries across the UK are implementing MFA as part of their data protection policies.
- Report all suspicious activity
Finally, whether it’s a one-off phishing email or an attempted breach of access to physical premises, all attacks on your business should be correctly reported via Action Fraud.
Make sure that your staff are encouraged to be honest and ask for help, because fast action can improve the consequences drastically.
If your staff get caught out, do not discipline them harshly. Try to incentivise your team to report phishing attempts, rather than feel concerned about making the wrong move.