Improve your small business cybersecurity with Business Central

 With the rise of malware, phishing and various cyberattacks, cybersecurity has never been a more critical priority for businesses than it is today. One in three UK and US businesses have already been victims of cyberattacks and this number continues to rise as threats increase. Although hackers and scammers are becoming more sophisticated, with social engineering tactics often tricking ordinarily savvy people into giving data away, we have 10 cybersecurity tips for small businesses to discover how you can better prepare for cyberattacks.

The Microsoft Security survey[1], conducted by research company, Bredin, recently took a look at the current cybersecurity risks faced by UK and US SMBs and their current level of readiness in response to these threats. Here’s what they found:

1. One in three SMBs have been victims of a cyberattack.
2. Cyberattacks cost SMBs more than $250,000 on average and have cost up to $7,000,000.
3. 81% of SMBs believe AI increases the need for additional security control.
4. 94% consider cybersecurity critical to their business.
5. Less than 30% of SMBs manage their security in-house.
6. 80% intend to increase their cybersecurity spending, with data security and protection as top area of spend.
7. 68% of SMBs consider secure data access a challenge for remote workers.

10 small business cybersecurity tips

Microsoft recommends the following 10 tactics to help small businesses stay protected from cyberattacks:

1. Always use strong passwords and consider implementing a password manager.
2. Make use of multi-factor authentication in order to limit data breaches and email disruption.
3. Learn to recognise and report phishing attacks.
4. Make sure to keep software updated.
5. Conduct a cybersecurity risk assessment to best understand gaps in security and determine steps to resolve them.
6. Introduce data security measures such as labelling and encrypting documents and information. This will mitigate the change of restricted information being reference in AI prompts.
7. Establish a consistent data governance framework in order to best manage, understand and ensure data security.
8. Train and educate your staff on key security topics such as fraud and social engineering tactics used by cyber attackers. Resources are available on Microsoft’s Cybersecurity Awareness site.
9. Consider hiring a managed Service Provider (MSP) to provide expert advice and guidance on security policies and how best to deal with security incidents.
10. Implement measures to ensure data security on mobile devices. This should include installing software updates immediately, ensuring mobile applications are downloaded from legitimate app stores and refraining from sharing credentials over email or text.

How can you improve your small business cybersecurity with a move to Business Central?

Microsoft’s leading ERP solution for SMB, Business Central, has a built-in security system that includes data security features aimed at protecting your database and the information within it. This means that, by moving to Business Central for your ERP functionality, businesses automatically get to take advantage of Microsoft’s leading cybersecurity protection – the same technologies that protect their largest or most high-risk businesses, also protect users of Business Central. Plus, security features are regularly updated with two planned major updates every six months and additional hotfixes or security patches when required. Since October 2024, Microsoft has also strengthened its data security system by enforcing multi-factor authentication (MFA) sign in for the Azure portal, Microsoft Entra admin centre, and Microsoft Intune admin centre.

Want to learn more about the wide range of data security features available within Business Central? Check it out, here.

How can TVision Technology help your small business cybersecurity become bulletproof?

If you’re a small business who wants to improve your cybersecurity and data security system, we can help you navigate how to maximise the implementation of cloud-based ERP system Business Central, not only to protect your data, but to more efficiently run your back-office functions, saving money and time. As one of the largest and most experienced providers of Business Central and NAV in the UK, we’re passionate about helping businesses succeed by adopting Business Central. We are currently offering FREE demos to show you how it can keep your business data more secure.

Our team takes real pleasure in working with our clients to develop, implement and support the best possible ERP implementation for their needs, and it’s this enthusiasm for our work which sees us keep our relationships with clients long after the initial implementation is complete – supporting their whole business journey as trusted partners. If we can help you and your business in any way, please contact us today.

[1] An online survey of 2,000 IT Security product decision-makers/influencers at U.K. and U.S. businesses from September 10-26, 2024. Data in this report focuses on SMBs with 25-299 employees.