Nowadays, there are so many different types of fraud, leaving all businesses, large or small, vulnerable to it. Even though there are plenty of cybersecurity solutions available today, thanks to advanced technology, criminals are still able to develop new ways to attack businesses.
However, there are some measures you can put in place to help protect your business from fraud. Although it’s impossible to completely eliminate fraud, here are some practices you can put in place to help reduce the risk.
1. Ensure Protection On All Your Computer Systems
Hackers are capable of hacking into all kinds of systems. Hackers are experts at cracking computer systems. Installing a firewall on your network may help protect your business’s sensitive data. Antivirus software could also help protect your business from data breaches. A fraud management system can help protect your business from fraud. You should check out essential cybersecurity solutions or providers so the computer system your business utilizes is well protected against cyberattacks.
Aside from using cybersecurity solutions, you should also implement security policies for everyone in your business. You can set up a protocol wherein your employees must use a very strong password and have them change their passwords every month or 90 days.
You should also consider backing up all your business’s files and data on a regular basis and store them on a different network or server. This way, you’ll be able to recover your files quickly without facing significant downtime, in case your business is targeted by cybercriminals.
2. Protect Your Business Accounts
Experts recommend that you should create separate bank and credit card accounts for yourself and for your business. This is even one of the first things you’ll want to do when you’re starting your business. By doing so, hackers won’t be able to access your business’s bank or credit card accounts, in case your personal account was hacked. You might also want to check the security systems used by your bank for online banking and see if they’re indeed doing their part in protecting all your bank information.
If you’re going to give your employees payroll cards, make sure the bank providing the cards is using reliable fraud protection systems such as automatic alerts that’ll notify you or your employee if there are any suspicious charges to their accounts.
It’s also better if you pay your business’s bills online so there’ll be fewer paper bills lying around in your office. You can’t have a lot of paperwork unprotected in the office, as bills containing your company’s banking information could easily fall into the wrong hands. If you’ll still need physical copies of your bills, make sure to dispose of them properly when you don’t need them anymore.
3. Conduct Background Checks For Employees And New Recruits
It’s common for employees to gain access to the important documents and records of a business. This is why ensuring that you can trust all your employees is very important. Doing background checks can help verify the integrity and honesty of an employee. When you run background checks, you’ll have to look at your employees’ professional, employment, education, credit, and criminal (if any).
Running a background check is also essential when you’re looking to expand your workforce. It’s important that you hire people who are qualified and trustworthy. You need to conduct a thorough background check on every candidate and avoid relying on references and work history alone.
4. Protect Your Business From Email Scams
Business email compromise (BEC) scams are sometimes difficult to identify, which is why a lot of businesses have fallen victim to them. BEC scams are email scams that are designed to deceive you into making a fraudulent financial transaction. Most of the time, the target of these email scams are employees who are authorized to transfer money, pay bills, or have access to sensitive business information.
Fraudsters sometimes pose as executives, suppliers, vendors, or any identity they see fit just to deceive an employee to share access to confidential information or authorize financial transactions.
5. Protect Your Business From Phishing Scams
A lot of businesses have also fallen victim to phishing scams. That’s not a surprise since phishing is one of the most common tools used by cybercriminals to attack businesses.
Even if you think you’re very careful with the links and attachments you open on your emails, you’ll never know you’ve become a victim of a phishing scam. Cybercriminals have also become very sophisticated with how they create malicious emails that can look very authentic and official.
With that said, you need to be very wary of any links or attachments from your emails. Even if the email comes from a reliable sender and you’re expecting that email, it’s never safe to assume the links and attachments attached to the email won’t get you in trouble. It’s also important to educate your employees about phishing scams and be sure to remind them about the dangers of random clicking.
6. Limit Bank Access And Permissions
Giving bank access and permissions to a certain number of employees is common in many businesses, especially to accounting departments.
However, this can put your business’s confidential information at risk. You need to limit access or permissions to certain departments and only give them what’s needed to help prevent an outsider from gaining access to your confidential financial information.
7. Develop A Strict Data Security Policy
To help protect your business better from fraud, you should create a strict data security policy and implement it. One way you could protect your company is to teach your employees to be proactive and effectively identify fraud. Educate them about data security. Help them understand which actions are considered fraud, which actions should be done to respond to it, how to report it, and other ways to prevent fraud.
Your employees also play a critical role in protecting your business from fraud, especially since cybercriminals prefer to attack them.
Conclusion
All businesses are vulnerable to fraud. The good news is, fraud awareness can do a lot in helping businesses identify fraud and how to respond to it. Keep the suggestions in this post to help your business get a strong start in effectively developing new strategies in fighting against fraud.
