Security Measures Solopreneurs Need to Protect Their Business

Around 50% of solopreneurs experienced a cyber incident within the last year, Forbes reveals. That means you can gain an advantage over many of your competitors simply by prioritizing security.

Solopreneurs can be an easy target for cyberattacks and data breaches as you’re solely responsible for your own security with no IT team to fall back on. The median cost of a cyber attack for small businesses is $16,000, and that’s on top of the time spent notifying affected clients and reassuring people.

All of this, although necessary, takes you away from growing your business. Fortunately, secure cloud storage, a properly configured VPN, and account audits are simple security measures that can help you give clients the confidence that their data is safe and keep your business running smoothly without costly breaches setting you back.

Use the right cloud storage

Cloud storage makes it easy to store, access, and collaborate on files from anywhere which makes it easier to run your business remotely. But not all cloud storage is equal as many options encrypt your data in transit, but then leave it accessible and readable to the provider.

This also leaves your sensitive client data, financial information and business files exposed to potential hackers. In fact, over 80% of data breaches involve data stored in the cloud, according to an MIT report, and so this means your files are more at risk than you may realise.

End-to-end encrypted storage is truly secure and means that only you (and anyone you share your files with) can decrypt and read them. So you definitely want to choose storage that’s “end-to-end encrypted” and not just called “secure” or “encrypted”.

Proton or Tresorit are popular options. Your clients will also be reassured to know that you use this, and it can help you build trust and stand out.

Secure your VPN

A virtual private network (VPN) protects your business data and privacy online, but it’s not enough to install and then forget about it as you do also need to keep it secure. Compromised VPN credentials were linked to almost 50% of ransomware attacks in Q3 alone last year. You can help prevent this simply by turning on multi-factor authentication for your VPN.

Multi-factor authentication prevents VPN compromise as it makes your credentials useless to attackers if they’re stolen. It requires a second form of verification like a code sent to your phone or generated by an authenticator app before access is granted, which gives you and your sensitive data extra protection.

It also helps to have the VPN kill switch turned on in case your VPN connection is disrupted at all. Your connection will be unprotected if the VPN connection drops (which it can do, even momentarily) and that leaves your data exposed.

A built-in kill switch prevents this as it cuts your whole internet connection until the VPN reconnects. You’ll normally find the setting in your VPN app’s preferences and is often disabled by default, so enable it manually if you haven’t already.

Also check your VPN provider has a kill switch before you purchase a subscription as not all of them do.

Audit account access regularly

It’s easy to forget about old folders or permissions you might’ve once shared with clients/contractors, or third-party apps that still have access to your accounts…and old or unused permissions can give hackers a way in. So, set a reminder at least every few months to check who or what can access your accounts.

First check shared folders for anyone who no longer needs to be there and remove their access. It’s best to limit access to those who really need it as otherwise you’re just increasing the security risk. Also review active sessions on platforms like Google and Dropbox.

You can find this in the security settings and it shows every device signed into your account. Remove any unfamiliar devices. Then, check which third-party apps have access to your accounts and remove ones you don’t use anymore. You’ll usually find this under your account’s security or privacy settings.

Secure cloud storage, a properly configured VPN and account audits are security priorities that make a big difference to how safely and confidently you run your business. Get these in place and you’ll be ahead of most.