Cybersecurity has always been a concern for businesses in the internet age, but with the recent rise of remote work it is now more important than ever. The numbers don’t lie – in 2019 cybercriminals exposed 4.1 billion records, with the average security breach costing a business $3.92 million.

These are risks that few businesses can afford to take. There is a lot you can do to protect your own interests, however. By establishing cybersecurity countermeasures at every level of your company, from the cloud down to individual employees, you can keep your data and your profits safe. Let’s take a look at some of the steps you can implement to prepare your company from digital intruders.

Cybersecurity at the Employee Level

Preventing unwanted access to your company’s sensitive information starts with individual employees and workstations. Equip every team member’s computer with antivirus and antimalware software such as WebRoot. These programs seek out and eliminate software that attackers use to gain access to proprietary information.

While these programs are effective in stopping the attacks, they depend on regular maintenance and updates to be useful. This is one of the most important reasons that companies must ensure they have upgraded from Windows 7 to Windows 10, as the older version reached its end of life cycle and no longer receives security updates.

Another important piece of keeping your company’s information safe at the employee level is to implement password protection at Wireless Access Points (WAPs). Making sure that your network and employee workstations are password protected using unique access codes helps establish a culture of security that will keep your business safe.

Cybersecurity at the Network Level

The next layer of security to consider when identifying areas for improvement is the network level. Making sure that entry points are password protected is a great start but there is much more that your company can do to keep out malicious parties.

Make sure that your company has a trusted firewall installed, and like any other security solution, make sure that it is being maintained and receives regular updates. That firewall needs to envelop any computer that accesses that network, which is an even bigger challenge while employees or entire teams are working from remote access points.

Some of the most effective firewall software available includes real time dashboards that will send visual notifications of suspicious or even just irresponsible network activity. This helps your security team monitor potential threats and isolate behavior that may be putting your company’s data in jeopardy. The sooner your team identifies these threats the lower the risk of exposing your company to a data breach.

Cybersecurity at the Cloud Level

The final component of ensuring that your network is impenetrable to cybercriminals is to tighten the security protocols for data stored on the cloud. Cloud storage networks have become a new favorite target for hacker, but that doesn’t mean they are intrinsically vulnerable. In fact, 95% of attacks on cloud networks are only successful because of human error someplace down the line, such as configuration mistakes during the setup process. This is why is crucial that you have the most qualified experts available work on your cloud security.

A Domain Name System, or DNS, security helps stop unwanted data access by identifying staged domains set up by network attackers and blocking their request through and protocol or port. These methods are effective against both intrusion and extraction, keeping attacks outside of the network and preventing data theft in the event of a breach.

The best DNS systems utilize learning technologies that identifies patterns that predicts threats before they happen. Using statistical modeling functions, it isolates anomalies and outliers giving your security a chance to survive against brand new threats.

Elevate Your Cybersecurity From Top to Bottom

Don’t wait until your company becomes the prey of an expensive and disruptive security breach. Take steps at each level of network security and keep your data where it belongs. To learn more about what your business needs to do to enhance its security download our free guide.