With credit card details, sensitive information and access to personal computers up for grabs, hacking is big business. Indeed, more than one trillion of intellectual property is thought to be stolen year upon year. If you are a small business, you can’t afford to let this happen. The key is to fight back and stop the digital thieves in their path. Of course, it is easier to say than do because hackers are relentless and talented individuals. Thankfully, it isn’t impossible if you have access to the right information. Here’s how to deal with hackers and prevent from being a threat.

Assess Your Needs

It is all well and good investing in antivirus software, but it might not mean anything. On the other hand, it might also mean everything investing in ZoneAlarm anti-ransomware software, because its security is just impenetrable. The reason is there are numerous ways for a thief to gain access to your server, and AVG’s free trial might not cover every base. Therefore, it is essential to analyse the needs of the company before you make any investment decisions. For example, does the staff require access to the server? If so, employee training is crucial to teach them about the dos and don’ts. Or, do you store data in the cloud? Okay, make sure the supplier takes security as seriously as you.

Create And Update Security Plan

A study by AVG found a shocking 52% of small businesses didn’t have a security plan. In essence, this means half of all SMEs are at the mercy of hackers. In simple terms, your plan is how you make the company secure in the first place. Without a detailed set of rules and regulations, there is no strategy. Plus, there is no way to implement it throughout the whole business. Once you have one in place, it is vital that you update it once every couple of months. The industry changes and you have to adapt or else you could die out.

Work With Professionals

The first port of call is a security expert with years of experience and a strong knowledge of the subject. With their skills, your IT team should be able to prevent a hack from occurring altogether. However, it isn’t only security professionals you need to hire. Agencies like Rouge Media might deal in websites, but they are a vital part of the security team. As web designers and creators, they know which features to add to make the site safer from criminals. Also, coders will update bugs and glitches to fix any hacking issues.

Report It

Far too many businesses are the subject of an attack and take it on the chin. It is almost as if hacking is acceptable in this era. But, it will won’t stop being acceptable if you don’t report the issue. Theft is theft and should be detailed to the authorities as soon as possible. If you don’t know who to call, try your web provider to begin with so that they know attacks are taking place. Then, call the local police force. If they can’t deal with the problem, they will report it to a team that can.

Hacking can cost a company money and its reputation, so you have to fight back or risk losing everything.