Many expats start online businesses, seeing how this allows them to profit from something they’re already great at, such as belonging to two worlds at the same time. This way, they can keep earning a standard income for their homeland (and higher) while living abroad, keeping all the privileges and sacrificing nothing.
However, being an online entrepreneur is not easy.
For them, not taking care of their cybersecurity is the equivalent of leaving your physical store unlocked during the night in a particularly rough neighborhood.
To help you avoid this kind of recklessness, here are the top five cybersecurity mistakes that could easily ruin your online business.
1. Not using adequate cybersecurity tools
The bulk of your cybersecurity comes down to the set of tools you’re using. In other words, there’s this one super-specific tool that helps you resolve one hyper-specific problem or a set of problems.
For instance, how do you handle antiviruses? You install an antivirus. An antivirus provides passive protection, which means that it automatically detects threats, performs scans, and gives you notifications and suggestions. All you have to do is download the right software, pay for it (or register for a free plan), and let it do its magic.
Other than an antivirus, you also need a VPN. This way, you can avoid geo-restrictions but, more importantly, get access to additional encryption and keep your IP address safe. You would be surprised at the amount of unwanted attention entrepreneurs get online, which is why you need to put this requirement near the top of your priority list. It’s also why you don’t want just to pick a tool randomly.
Ideally, expat employers, digital nomads and expat employees will find something with features that excel at your intended use. Not only that, you also want something great for all your devices. According to tech expert Nick Saraev from Techopedia, most expats use a wide variety of devices (from mobile and tablets to laptops). It is, therefore, a priority that you pick a decent VPN for mobile devices – it’s important to stay safe when on the go on your mobile, not just when working from your desk on your laptop.
Also, as an online business owner, you’ll use so many different platforms and tools, and you need a strong and unique password for each and every one of them. The best way to get there is to start using a password manager.
2. Ignoring software updates
Speaking of software, cyber threats develop at an astounding pace, which is why your methods of protection need to evolve, as well. This is why updates matter so much.
This is especially important regarding your online presence (your extensions and site features).
The best thing that an antivirus or an anti-malware software can promise you is zero-day protection. This means that it can protect you against every threat that is known in the present day. In other words, the team is confident that their tools can protect you from all the currently known problems and that they’re updating at such a pace that, even if something new were to appear, they would patch it immediately.
Speaking of exploits, you must understand a few things. The longer they’re undiscovered, the longer it takes for malicious online parties to learn about them and develop methods that will let them take advantage of them. Now, with every new patch, you’re virtually signalling the problem to the online community (as a brag that you’ve fixed it); however, you’re also exposing the non-updated users.
The best way to avoid this problem is by automatically updating automatically but manually checking if all your software is up to date. This doesn’t take more than a few seconds at a time, and it can save everything.
Laying good foundations from the start and making all your solutions systemic is the key to resilience and longevity in the business world.
3. Poor employee training
When running a business, it doesn’t matter how much you know when every single employee you have is a liability. The slip doesn’t have to happen on your end or due to a fallacy in the software that you’re using. It can be as simple as your employee not having a strong enough password or giving their phone/laptop to someone who’s not trustworthy.
So, you need to invest more heavily in employee training and insist on testing and evaluating their preparedness. You need to have a lot of good onboarding material and constantly improve on what they already know.
The three most important things you need to teach them are to:
- Make strong passwords
- Always use proper channels for communication
- Recognize phishing
You also want to explain why this is important. Don’t underestimate your employees and take a position that they should do something just because you tell them to. Also, please don’t assume that it’s enough that you know. Their understanding of why something is important actually increases the chance that they’ll do it.
4. Lack of access control
In the previous section, we discussed how dangerous it is for someone else to make a mistake. Well, the gravity of their mistake will be severely limited if they don’t have access to absolutely everything. With that in mind, you need to start thinking about restricting some access to some of your employees.
One way to do so is with proper project management software. These tools usually have different projects and tasks that are visible only to the people assigned to them. This is the simplest way to give or restrict people access based on their position, expertise, and role in your company.
Most importantly, this makes granting and restricting access to your business feel natural. It’s the way things are, and no one will feel like you suspect or mistrust them. Simply put, by using this type of software, you’ll make restricting or granting access feel like a part of business and not like a paranoid response to a potential problem.
5. Device and network security
Running an online business is not a 9-to-5 job. This means that you won’t be able just to neglect your digital marketing and user analytics because you’re out of the office for a day. In fact, this is one of the quickest ways to sabotage your online business.
The problem is that this means that you’ll spend a lot of time working from home, in coffee shops, on park benches, etc. This means working from unsecured networks and from devices that you’re putting in scenarios where they can be corrupted.
This is why you need to learn a bit more about the art of network and device security.
First of all, you need to understand that unrecognized networks aren’t always dangerous; they’re certainly less safe than your home network. So, be extra careful and even use the VPN we suggested in the introduction.
Second, never give other people your device. It takes so little to install a keylogger, and you’ll never even know it. You can send the message in their stead (them dictating and you typing), or you can have them talk on the phone (you typing in the number and handing them the phone when it starts ringing), but even this is not a guarantee.
An online entrepreneur has no choice but to take cybersecurity seriously
While cybersecurity is important for everyone, the key thing you need to understand is that, for an online entrepreneur, it’s essential for survival. It’s the key to their livelihood. This is how you keep all your profiles out of the reach of those who would harm you, how you keep all documents confidential, and how you keep all the trade secrets… well… secrets. With the above-listed five methods, you’ll have a much easier time doing so.
