When a natural disaster strikes, it’s easy to primarily focus on the physical safety of your employees and clients. After all, these are the most important aspects of any company. However, you also need to make sure that you, your clients’, and your employees’ data is secure during these events. Cyber-attacks can be devastating for small and mid-sized businesses, especially if they don’t have the proper security controls in place and/or a plan for recovery during emergencies. Here are a few tips to protect your data during natural disasters:

Protecting your business from cyber-attacks is important all the time, but during a natural disaster it is even more pertinent…

It’s important to take steps to protect your business from cyberattacks, at all times. It is especially pertinent for businesses during a natural disaster. Cybersecurity is one of the top risks that businesses face, as they operate in a digitally connected world and rely on technology to run their operations efficiently.

Cyberattacks can occur during any type of natural disaster, from floods and fires to hurricanes and earthquakes. The most common form of cyberattack is ransomware, which can be devastating for any business, because it leaves you incapable of operation until the attack has been resolved. In addition, if your company does not have sufficient cybersecurity measures in place before being hit by a major storm or other event that causes widespread power outages and/or damage, then hackers may take advantage of this opportunity by trying to infiltrate your systems while they are offline due to lack of power supply or internet access due to damaged infrastructure (such as roads and power lines).

Since a natural disaster can result in power outages and connectivity issues, cyber-thieves often see this as an opportunity to strike. In fact, during and after disasters, cybercriminals increase their attacks by up to 50%. Therefore, it is CRUCIAL that you take steps NOW to protect your business from cyber threats.

Plan Ahead

Planning, ahead of time, is the only way to be prepared for a natural disaster. You can’t predict when a tornado will hit or when flooding will occur, but you can prepare for these events by preparing your own systems beforehand. By assessing your risks and anticipating potential problems, you’ll be able to take action before they arise—and prevent them from becoming major problems in your business.

Being precautious allows you to be proactive rather than reactive when it comes to dealing with natural disasters and cyber threats alike. Rather than waiting for an incident to occur, planning ahead has the benefit of allowing businesses, that have been impacted by natural disasters or cyber threats, time to plan accordingly, before any harm is done. This gives them an advantage over those who haven’t taken such measures yet.

TRANSFORM your business’ processes with a disaster recovery plan.

A disaster recovery plan is a document that describes how you will recover from a cyber-attack. It’s important to have these plans in place so that your business can quickly bounce back after an incident.

Cyber-attacks can be caused by natural disasters and/or human error, such as malware infections and network vulnerabilities. Cyber criminals are always looking for new ways to steal private data, so it’s important for businesses to defend their networks against digital threats by being prepared and having a disaster recovery plan already in place.

PROTECT sensitive data.

When it comes to protecting your business from cyber threats, you must take every precaution. One of the most important things you can do is ensure that sensitive data isn’t stored on any unencrypted devices/networks. Sensitive data includes personal information like credit card numbers, Social Security numbers and even names and phone numbers of clients. You should not store this kind of information on laptops because they are easily lost or stolen. The same goes for USB drives—if employees use them to save work files or transfer documents between computers, it’s best not to let them leave the office except when necessary (which means keeping an eye on them).

If possible, don’t even store that type of information on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter; hackers often use these sites as a way into computers because they’re readily accessible by anyone with an internet connection.

Update your software.

Software updates are important, and they should be done regularly. Companies need to ensure they have all the latest security patches installed on their computers and networks, and that is true before natural disasters strike. Cyber criminals are always looking for vulnerabilities in software and hardware systems, so it’s a good idea to update regularly regardless of whether an emergency is underway.

If you’re not sure which updates apply specifically to your business equipment, contact the manufacturer or supplier that made it—they may have specific information about what needs updating when disaster strikes. If they don’t know where their products stand in terms of needing updates, look at their website or call them directly; many companies will offer this information online (or via phone) before a disaster strikes so customers can prepare themselves as best as possible before something bad happens.

EDUCATE your employees.

There are several ways that you can educate your employees about the risks of cyber-attacks and how they can best protect themselves.

Having a clear and concise plan in place, for a cyberattack, is vital to protecting your business during natural disasters or any other emergency. It’s important for employees to know what steps they should take if they suspect an attack, such as immediately shutting down their computers, copying critical data onto USB drives, and reporting suspicious activity to IT staff. Additionally, it’s helpful for them to receive cyber security training covering the risks of ransomware and phishing attacks and the proper response, so that they can recognize these threats quickly and avoid becoming victims of cybercrime.

Since many businesses will be closed during natural disasters due to flooding or power outages, it’s important for employees to know how long it might take before their work environment returns to normal; this way they won’t become frustrated because of being unable to access company resources like email accounts or documents stored on servers not readily accessible from home.

Conclusion

A natural disaster can be a huge threat to your business, especially if you rely on technology. You need to have backup plans in place for all your equipment and software, especially computers and phones. It’s important to protect yourself from both physical damages caused by storms, as well as cyber-attacks that could damage and/or steal you, your employees’, and your clients’ private data.

During times of crisis, such as a natural disaster, you should work with a cybersecurity company that understands what you need and can help implement solutions that will protect your company during these events. Contact the GoldSky Security team today and schedule a free consultation to discuss how we can help EDUCATE, TRANSFORM, and PROTECT your business before any big storms hit!