By Ron Hill, Founder and Principal Consultant, Hill Tech Solutions
When I talk to business owners about cybersecurity, I often hear some version of the same thing:
“I know we should be doing more, but I don’t know where to start.”
I get it. Cybersecurity can feel complicated. There is always another acronym to learn, another security product being promoted, another scary headline, or another company telling you there is something else you need to buy.
But improving your cybersecurity doesn’t have to start with a major investment or a complicated project. In fact, some of the most effective things you can do are surprisingly simple.
Here are five places I recommend starting.
1. Turn On Multi-Factor Authentication
If your business hasn’t turned on multi-factor authentication, or MFA, for important accounts, make that a priority. MFA adds another layer of protection by requiring you to verify your identity in more than one way, typically using a combination of something you know, something you have, or something you are. In everyday use, that might mean entering your password and then verifying the login with an authenticator app, security key, or other verification method.
That extra layer matters because passwords get stolen. People reuse them, they get caught in phishing attacks, and sometimes they’re simply too easy to guess. MFA puts another obstacle between an attacker and your business.
Start with your most important systems, especially email, financial accounts, remote access tools, and administrator accounts. Is the extra login step occasionally annoying? Sure. But it’s a lot less annoying than dealing with a compromised account.
2. Stop Putting Off Those Updates
We’ve all done it. A message pops up telling you that your computer needs to restart to install updates, and you click “Remind me later.” Then you do it again tomorrow.
The problem is that many software updates aren’t just adding new features. They’re also fixing security weaknesses that could leave your business exposed.
Your computers, servers, phones, web browsers, and business applications should all be kept up to date. Even better, automate updates wherever it makes sense so you aren’t relying on every employee to remember.
Think about it like routine maintenance on your car. Ignoring the warning light doesn’t make the problem go away, and the longer you put it off, the greater the chance that a small issue becomes a much bigger one.
3. Make Sure You Really Have Backups
Most businesses I talk to believe their data is backed up. The more important question is: Could you actually recover from it?
Imagine coming into work tomorrow and discovering that the information your business relies on is suddenly unavailable. Customer records, accounting information, contracts, project files, email. How long could you continue operating?
Every business should have reliable backups of the information it cannot afford to lose, and those backups should be protected and tested periodically. Don’t assume that simply because your information is stored in the cloud, you have everything covered.
Someone in your organization should be able to confidently answer three questions: What are we backing up? Where is it backed up? How would we get it back?
If those questions are difficult to answer, it is probably time to take a closer look at your backup strategy.
4. Teach Your Employees to Pause
One of the most effective cybersecurity tools you have is already sitting in your office: your employees. They don’t need to become cybersecurity experts. They simply need to develop a healthy sense of skepticism.
If an email unexpectedly asks someone to change banking information, click a link, open an attachment, buy gift cards, reset a password, or take some other urgent action, teach employees to pause and verify the request before acting.
Call the person making the request, send them a separate message, or ask your IT provider. Taking 30 seconds to double-check something can prevent a much bigger problem.
There’s another important part of this that businesses sometimes overlook: make it easy for employees to tell you when they think they made a mistake. If someone clicked something suspicious, you want them raising their hand immediately, not spending an hour worrying about getting into trouble.
The sooner your IT or cybersecurity team knows about a potential problem, the sooner they can respond to it.
5. Know Who You’re Going to Call
Here’s a question every business owner should be able to answer: If we had a cybersecurity incident at 9:00 tomorrow morning, who would I call first?
If you don’t know the answer, figure it out before you need it. Maybe that person is someone on your internal IT team. Maybe it’s your managed IT provider or cybersecurity partner. Whatever the answer is, have a basic plan for what happens next.
Know who handles the technical problem, who makes business decisions, who contacts your cyber insurance provider, and who communicates with employees or customers if necessary.
You don’t need to start with a 50-page incident response manual. Start with names, phone numbers, responsibilities, and a basic understanding of what everyone should do. Trying to figure all of that out while your business is dealing with a ransomware attack is not a great plan.
Start With the Basics
Cybersecurity has become an incredibly complicated industry, but protecting your business doesn’t always have to be complicated.
Start with the fundamentals: turn on MFA, keep your systems updated, back up your data, teach your employees to slow down and think, and know who you’re going to call when something goes wrong.
Doing those five things will not eliminate every cybersecurity risk but doing them consistently can put your business in a much stronger position. The goal isn’t to make your business perfect or turn everyone on your team into a cybersecurity expert. The goal is to make it harder for something bad to happen and make sure you are better prepared if it does.
At Hill Tech Solutions, we help businesses cut through the confusion and turn cybersecurity into a practical plan. If you’re wondering whether your business has the right protections in place, don’t wait for an incident to find out.
Contact Hill Tech Solutions to explore practical cybersecurity resources and discover the next steps you can take to reduce risk, protect your data, and strengthen your business.
