Network Security for Small Business: 4 Steps against Cyber Attacks

As a small business, you’ve got enough on your plate without having to worry about cyber threats. But with the growth of digital technology in today’s world, it is now more important than ever for businesses to strengthen their network security efforts against potential cyber attacks. Making sure your network and critical assets are protected from malicious actors can be overwhelming and complex, but it doesn’t have to be. Following these simple cybersecurity steps can help make sure all your resources remain safe and secure – allowing you to focus all of your attention where it belongs: finding innovative solutions, developing new products or services, and growing the bottom line.

In this guide, we look at network security for small business and discuss the four steps for protecting your small business network before cyber attacks.

Do small businesses need cybersecurity?

Yes, small companies require good security practices and hygiene. A report says that 43% of cyber attacks target small businesses and due to their limited resources, they often lack the technical knowledge to protect themselves effectively. Therefore, it is important for small businesses to be aware of the threats posed by cybercriminals and take action toward implementing robust security measures.

What is the impact of cyberattacks on small businesses?

How much does a data breach cost?

According to a recent report from IBM, the cost of a data breach to small businesses is between $82,000 and $148,000. This is an expensive price to pay for the lack of security measures which have been put in place by the business. The cost covers the technical forensic analysis, customer notifications and legal fees associated with a data breach.

How do I protect my small business network and Assets?

The cyber threats to small businesses are increasing, but knowing the type of threats to your network or office systems that if exploited can cause moderate to huge losses to your business is the first step of protection.

Identification of risk and apportioning an appropriate remediation or risk mitigation strategy is the key. This exercise is called Risk Assessment and should be done before any other activities.

What is Cyber Security Risk Assessment?

Cyber Security Risk Assessment is the process of identifying, assessing and prioritizing risks associated with cyber security threats. This method should provide a clear understanding of the threat landscape and its impact on an organization’s assets, services, processes and people. The assessment should also identify potential vulnerabilities to exploitation by malicious actors. Once identified, appropriate risk mitigation strategies can be developed to protect the organization and its customers.

Risk Assessment can help you answer the following questions about your computer network security:

• Is my business safe from cyber-attacks?
• What type of threats do I need to defend against based on my type of business, sector and assets?
• What is the cost to my business in case of an attack? – This could be tangential to reputational, regulatory and financial losses.
• Are my users’ data and systems secure?
• How can I prevent malicious actors from exploiting our network vulnerabilities? Do I have adequate security policies, systems and processes in place?

Security is not a one size fits all solution, so it is important to assess the risks your business faces and create a plan that best suits your needs.

What are four (4) basics actions to ensure effective network security?

Implement a Firewall

A firewall is an important component of your small business’s security infrastructure and should be implemented at all entry points to your network such as via internet connection, external storage systems or devices, home office or Wi-Fi networks. The firewall acts as a barrier between attackers and any sensitive information on your network, blocking suspicious or malicious traffic from entering.

Deploy and Establish a Virtual Private Network

A Virtual Private Network (VPN) is an encrypted connection that allows you to securely access a private network over the public internet. By utilizing a VPN, you can protect your critical or vital data and ensure that any communication between devices on your private network remains secure.

Please note that this is not a commonly sold VPN client service for browsing the internet anonymously, but rather a company-owned, configured and managed VPN solution to keep all your business applications and system within the secure networks. These can either be hardware or software-deployed VPN services which are usually part of your firewall features.

Moreover, a VPN tunnel must be prioritized if you have mobile or remote employee who needs to access your internal network outside the local area network.

Another important consideration for VPN is the need to create a secure connection between your office locations for instance between Branch offices to central processing facilities, Home Office to main office or even between on-premise IT environments to Cloud systems and so on.

Enable and Enforce Strong Authentication: Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)

To protect network infrastructure from malicious attacks, small business owners must enable and enforce strong authentication measures. Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) is one of the most reliable methods to secure network access controls and ensure that only authorized users can gain access to sensitive data.

MFA works by requiring users to provide additional authentication factors besides a static password, such as a physical device or biometric credentials. This helps protect against brute force attacks and unauthorized network access since hackers have far fewer chances to guess the correct combination of two or more authentication factors.

Furthermore, for network assets that contain particularly sensitive customer information, financial data and other vital data, it is essential to grant “need-to-know” level access rights instead of granting open access. Ultimately, with MFA in place, network administrators can rest assured knowing that their network security is enhanced with reliable authentication measures in place

Train employees on security protocols:

A successful security program involves People, Technology and Process. It’s important to ensure that all of your employees are aware of the potential threats they face and how to protect themselves from them. Teaching them about creating strong passwords, spotting malicious emails, and other essential security measures can help guard your business against cyber attacks. You are as strong as your weakest link, and having a security-trained workforce is essential to keeping your network secure.

By taking the time to implement these four steps and set up strong security protocols, you can help protect your small business against cyber attacks. Data breaches can be devastating for any company, but proper planning and preparation can make all the difference in preventing them

Critical Steps to Implement an Effective Network Security

Below are my step-by-step guidelines that small business owners can use to implement end-to-end highly efficient network security

Carryout a Security Risk Assessment – Learn more about common threats and how they can affect your business network.

People, Process and Technology (which I will refer to as PPT in this article) form the foundations of security for any small business as well as large enterprises, whether operating B2B or B2C.

In order to carry out a comprehensive security risk assessment, all aspects of the company’s PPT should be reviewed, from connectivity, application and provider integration all the way down to user permissions and access points.

Do not overcomplicate this process as a small business owner. You can risk assess critical business functions with PPT in mind by answering the following questions

1. What are the business operations? Examples – Access to customer or business vital data, Business Financial data, Contracts, Human Resources Files, Confidential Government Project data
2. Who, What are the systems responsible? People, Technology or Process e.g. ERP, CRM application, Storage e.t.c
3. What are the potential threats? – Hackers, Ransomware, malicious internal or external users steal the data, network failure or Denial of Service
4. What is the likelihood that threats in #3 can or will happen? i.e. Probability e.g. Ransomware, Business data sent to a competitor
5. What is the impact on the business when threats listed in #3 actually materialize? e.g. Financial, reputation, regulation or compliance impact including fees/fines. Try as much as possible to estimate the degree of negative impact preferably in financial terms
6. Is there anything in place to prevent this from happening? i.e. Current Security Controls, SafeGuards. e.g. Firewalls, MFA, Antivirus including user security training and insurance
7. If controls in #6 are unavailable or inadequate then list Potential controls. i.e. Mitigations to prevent compromise and reduce impacts on your business when there is a cyber-attack.

Going through this process with a clear mind and an understanding of potential risks will ensure peace of mind in knowing that you have taken every step necessary to protect your business.

If you however find Risk Assessment daunting or difficult exercise as a small business, I do understand. I will recommend that you take on a Security Profession especially experienced in GRC (Governance Risk and Compliance) to carry out this important task for your business. You can also reach out to us at Olayemis for consultation.

Prepare Your Network – Make sure you have the proper firewalls, antivirus software, and passwords in place.

Maintaining a secure network is critical for any organization. Firewalls are an essential tool to prevent unauthorized access and intrusion, and ensuring firewalls are properly configured is key to keeping the network safe.

Also, passwords should be strong, containing more than just letters and numbers. You can use a password manager to generate and manage strong passwords, especially for your network devices. Consider implementing two-factor authentication and password policies that require regular changes to reinforce security.

Furthermore, disabling unused services helps reduce potential pathways attackers can utilize. To take it one step further, next-generation firewalls can provide advanced protection, such as behavioural analysis of network traffic, Antivirus updates and regular virus/malware scans on the network, and automated updating systems that quickly respond to the latest threats.

Network Segregation and Isolation is highly important too, segmentation can be used to limit the scope of an attack. This involves placing different types of resources on different networks or subnets. For instance, if your company handle sensitive data or payments especially, you need to isolate payment systems or databases and apply additional security.

Another part of the assets that require separation from your data processing networks are your IoT devices e.g. security cameras (CCTV), physical access controls, TV, Alexa boxes and so on. IoT devices have broad attack surfaces and most have limited security controls. The best way to protect these devices is to keep them isolated from your main network with a separate VLAN or completely segregated from the business network e.g. on their own network or off-line storage systems.

These are good cybersecurity practices that can keep your organizations from cyber attacks

Below are the lists of recommended firewalls that are specially made for smaller organizations and are relatively less expensive:

• Cisco Meraki Security Appliances
• Firewalla Gold Plus
• SonicWALL TZ Series
• paloalto
• WatchGuard Firebox
• FortiGate Next-Generation Firewall
• Sophos XG Firewall

Create a mobile device action plan

Mobile devices have serious security risks, including their ability of them to access sensitive data and the company’s network in general.

Employing MDM (Mobile Device Management) software is a great way for businesses to gain control over access and content on mobile devices. Some MDM solutions include features such as encryption, remote wipe capabilities, policy enforcement, app management, and more. It’s important to keep in mind that each device has its own unique security needs, so it’s best to tailor your MDM plan to each device, if possible. Also, consider installing security software on mobile devices and requiring the use of strong passwords and separate user accounts or mobile profiles for accessing data.

Secure remote access – limit access from outside networks in order to reduce vulnerabilities associated with remote employees of your small business.

For small businesses that have employees regularly working away from the office, securely allowing them to connect remotely has become essential. VPNs are a good starting point, as they provide an encrypted tunnel over internet connection for remote access, but there is much more that can and should be done to protect corporate networks and ensure your business operates secure network access.

Adding an extra layer of protection with multi-factor authentication is highly recommended – this way, anybody attempting to access any system from outside the company’s internal networks requires extra verification before being granted access.

Furthermore, validating that your employee systems have minimal security hygiene e.g. up-to-date operating systems & applications, have active antivirus software or protection, free of malicious software are also important steps. Automating this control by employing Network Access Control (NAC) can help to reduce the security vulnerabilities associated with remote employees of small business as any non-compliant devices are automatically denied access to business systems or simply sent to a quarantined segment of the network. NAC also gives you the added flexibility to control what devices and users can access your company’s network and data assets, as well.

Enforcing some if not all of these network and endpoint security controls before allowing access to your corporate network or cloud-based systems will go a long in protecting your small business from cyber threats. You can leverage on solutions like Kolide or

Monitor user activity – maintain logs of user activity to help detect malicious behaviour and suspicious logins.

It’s essential for small businesses to monitor digital security, and one of the most critical tools in any cyber safety arsenal is logging user activity. Maintaining records of user behaviour and data access makes it possible to detect suspicious logins or malicious activity early on.

Logging user activity isn’t only useful for prevention- it can also help spot business-critical gaps in digital security that need filling, like when employees don’t follow proper protocols or access critical data assets without authorization or outside of business hours in a new location from an unauthorized device. The list goes on. This is sometimes referred to as User Behavioural Analytics (UEBA). Keeping tabs on users could save your business from a security breach!

Following the same cybersecurity strategy, implementing User Behavioural Analytics (UEBA) alongside a threat protection platform helps detect unusual unauthorized activity and keep business-sensitive information safe even when accessed from outside networks.

Educate Your Employees

Ensure that everyone knows how to recognize suspicious emails and understands basic security protocols

People often forget that people are your first line of defence when it comes to security risks. Training employees to better recognize suspect emails and understand basic security protocols is paramount in ensuring system security. Companies can cultivate an environment of cyber vigilance by training their staff with comprehensive security awareness training, focusing on topics like identifying malicious emails, learning how to use a password manager and creating or using unique passwords for each account. Furthermore, staff should also be familiarized with the company’s security policies as this serves as a reference point in times of confusion. You can employ solutions like Kolide that can help to instill cybersecurity practices and culture across your organization.

Ultimately, training and training refreshers are key in maintaining overall network security levels.

In Conclusion

With cyber threats against small businesses now so prevalent, the importance of having a secure network cannot be overemphasized. Aside from having all employees take proper safety precautions when using their accounts, it is vital to have solid security protocols in place to protect your data and resources. Firewalls, anti-malware programs, and encrypted communication are just some of the tools available for ensuring network security. But remember: there is no one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to network protection. It’s important to assess your particular needs and adjust how you defend yourself based on that information.

The key question here is “what kind of network security do you have?” Whether you employ state-of-the-art encryption or keep your data in highly secure locations, whatever measures you take should make sure that your business can continue operating safely if a security incident were to occur. Moreover, having a comprehensive security strategy – one that takes into account risk management and response applications best suited to your unique situation – can go a long way toward preventing any costly cyber attacks from happening in the first place. So what kind of network security do you have? What is your security strategy? Think about it ahead of time so that you’re prepared for anything thrown your way.