For several years now, cybersecurity in companies has become a key pillar for all companies, whether they manage personal data or not! No one can do without it, especially since the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into force a few years ago. Protecting our clients' data is one of our main concerns, and that is something we are trying to educate our clients about, especially when they send marketing communications.
At SMSFactor, thousands of personal information such as names and phone numbers of many consumers are transmitted every day. We must treat this data with the utmost care to protect our customers, and theirs.
Over the years, our team has perfected its cybersecurity actions, and we decided to list the learnings we've gained!
Discover the 5 cybersecurity tips for businesses that we give to our clients so that they can communicate with peace of mind!
Secure your infrastructure!
Start with the basics! Invest in securing your servers. Whether they are hosted internally or by a service provider, make sure you always have a backup. If your company is European, they should also be hosted in the European Union to comply with the GDPR. Remember to mention this in your privacy policy!
Then secure your backend! Any attack can have irreversible consequences on your business and greatly impact your turnover. Opt for a good antivirus and digital protection insurance. This way, you can protect your company, its employees and, above all, its customers. There is a wide range of insurance policies on the market that will allow you to operate with complete peace of mind.
The little extra: make sure you have a secure https site thanks to the SSL certificate! This will authenticate your site and increase your visitors' confidence on the web. This is your showcase website, the one that your potential customers consult before buying. Protecting this communication axis is therefore essential!
Raise awareness among your employees!
Your infrastructure is adequately secured, you are trained, but have you thought about communicating with your whole team about cybersecurity in the company? 47% of remote workers are victims of phishing! With phishing on the rise in recent years, the danger is there! The first step is to democratize the use of a password manager, an essential tool for cybersecurity in companies! Next, educate your employees about good security practices.
An employee who is aware of the risks will be your company's best advocate. Do not hesitate to organise regular seminars, and why not even workshops to make sure everyone is up to speed? Also, conduct regular phishing tests to identify any gaps. Also, encourage everyone to report any suspicious emails.
This will allow you to be aware of the techniques used at any given time, but also to be able to communicate on a large scale internally. When you identify a suspicious email, alert your employees quickly with a SMS notification . Good news, you can easily test them, we offer you 10 SMS for every subscription!
Also stay up to date with new techniques used by hackers! About 35% of attacks use new techniques. And to go further, conduct regular penetration tests. This means having a group of white hackers test your infrastructure, try to penetrate your system and send you a detailed report of potential vulnerabilities to be fixed.
Opt for reliable subcontractors!
Many of you use third-party applications for your daily work needs. Plug-ins on your CRMs, software integrated into your applications via APIs, and more! Set up a checklist to perform a thorough verification when selecting your third-party tools. This way, you can avoid the installation of rogue software that can corrupt your tools and even steal some data!
SMSFactor shares its checklist for a well thought-out selection:
- Find out more about the company. Look at the date it was established and any reviews it may have received on reputable websites. A fraudulent company does not usually go unnoticed for very long.
- Choose a company that regularly updates its tools. This way, you can be sure that you are dealing with a company that investigates and manages its small vulnerabilities through security updates.
- Don't skimp on data protection! Check that the companies you deal with are GDPR compliant, it is your responsibility to your customers. Choose a partner that is transparent about its privacy policy!
- As a bonus: don't hesitate to choose companies with 24/7 technical support in case of emergency.
Be prepared for all eventualities!
Despite all the protection in the world, it happens that some attacks get through your shield. Don't panic! If you monitor your infrastructure regularly, you will be able to identify the problem quickly, and therefore adress it and fix it. If possible, make sure you have an IT team on call to be there at the slightest concern.
Also think about setting up crisis communication as a preventive measure! In the event of a problem, be transparent with your customers! Inform them in a timely manner, from the beginning to the end of the crisis. If it is a high-impact incident, do not hesitate to publish a feedback document attesting to the actions taken and detailing the lessons you have learned. This way, you will kill two birds with one stone by raising awareness among your customers, employees and contacts!
To quickly warn your employees and customers in this case, there is nothing like an SMS alert! Fast and efficient, it will allow you to reach all your contacts in just a few minutes. Prepare your messages and distribution lists in advance, so you only have to press "Send". That way, save time so you can focus on solving the problem! You can even set up automated messages with our SMS API to be sent automatically in the event of a service interruption or website downtime!
Write effective warning messages!
As you will have understood, SMS alerts can help you manage your communication around cybersecurity in your company, whether you need to warn your employees, partners or customers. In order to ensure their effectiveness, certain good practices should be respected!
- Check that the business texts to be sent are spelled correctly. An alert warning of an attack with spelling mistakes can quickly be mistaken for fraud and therefore ignored.
- Personalise the sender of your message, so that your customers recognise you and quickly consult its content.
- Use a professional company to send your messages. If you do not personalise the sender, a 5-digit number will be used for sending. Using a long number will not allow you to send a mass mailing.
- Never ask your customers to provide sensitive information by SMS!
If this article taught you nothing, or close to nothing, congratulations! You are armed to the teeth!
If you leave this page with a list of points to improve and you want to set up crisis communication quickly and intuitively, don't hesitate to consult our tools. Their use is free and unlimited with any SMS purchase!