In 2021, the cost of cybercrime is predicted to hit $6 trillion, and Cybersecurity Ventures expects that number to grow 15% every year for the next five years, reaching $10.5 trillion by 2025. To put that into perspective, cybercrime is more profitable than the global trade on all major illegal drugs combined.

Clearly, cybersecurity is a huge issue for companies across all industries, and it’s not just massive corporations and tech giants under attack. According to Verizon’s 2019 Data Breach Investigations Report, 43% of cyber-attacks target small businesses, and the threat of cybercrime isn’t going away anytime soon. However, there are ways companies can reduce the risk.

Setup Online Backup

The first step in securing your company’s data, and an important step at that, is to frequently back up your databases. That way, if an attack does occur, you aren’t left scrambling, you can completely wipe your systems and reinstall your data from safe backups. This will allow you to get your system up and running again in a fraction of the time it would otherwise take, and since you can continue providing services to your customers sooner, breaches won’t interrupt business as much.   

Use Stronger Passwords

Some things are best kept short and simple, but that isn’t the case when it comes to passwords. With passwords, the more complex the better, so it can be beneficial to utilize a password manager to keep track of them all. To add another layer of security, you can (and should) require employees to utilize two-factor authentication as well.

Update Your OS

Operating systems are constantly making improvements to their security protections, but those improvements won’t do you any good if you don’t have the update downloaded. Requiring everyone to use the most recent version of the operating system ensures that they have the best protections the system can offer. 

Implement Company-Wide Training

According to a study by IBM, human error was a major contributing factor in 95% of all cyber security breaches. The issue isn’t that companies lack cybersecurity policies, it’s that those policies are only as effective as they are followed, and people can’t follow something they don’t understand. So, to make sure everyone is clear on the best practices, companies can sponsor a company-wide training to help employees better identify security threats such as phishing, malware, and credential stuffing attacks (to name a few).

Invest in Safe Software (Like CompanyMileage)

The third-party software you use could leave you vulnerable to cyberattacks, too. The solution on this front is fairly straightforward: make sure you invest in certifiably secure solutions. With CompanyMileage, you can rest assured that you did. Our platform is not only HIPAA compliant and PCI certified, our data is backed up daily and always encrypted, our servers are hosted by data centers with 24/7 management and monitoring, firewalls are in place to prevent unauthorized access to the system and we’ll never share client data without explicit permission. 
When you use CompanyMileage’s suite of products, you’ll always know your data is secure. To learn more about how our software automates and protects your expense management processes, request a demo today!