No matter what kind of business you run these days, you certainly need to have a strong online presence. And when you have an online presence, you need to take steps to make sure that you keep it safe and protected.

Otherwise, you could find yourself at the mercy of hackers and other people who wish to steal the riches of your company. Keeping safe online is a complicated process that requires a strong policy in place, but we will take a general overview of how you can do this in this blog post.

Put Your Online Safety Policy into Writing

Even if you are only running a business which isn’t very big, you should still put your online safety policy down in writing. If you have any employees, you need to teach them all about your security requirements. Strong passwords are a good starting point – complete with symbols, numbers and capital letters. Clearly set out which applications can be loaded on company computers and which are considered to be too risky. And make sure that you enforce consequences if the policy is not clearly followed.

Shut the Door to Malware

You wouldn’t think about leaving your front door open at night, would you? If you are not properly protected against malware, you are doing the online equivalent of this. Your first line of defence should be to have a strong firewall which you keep updated on a regular basis. You should also choose a trusted antivirus provider to protect you against the online threats out there. Even something as simple as a decent spam filter can play a big role in making sure that you keep the door firmly shut against malware.

Work with Trusted Individuals and Businesses

One of the main ways that fraudsters will gain access to your business is by posing as customers, so you need to make sure that you verify their identities as much as possible. One of the best ways of doing this is by using systems such as Netverify from Jumio. You should also watch out for any suspicious orders such as ones which seem unnecessarily big, ones coming from unusual places and ones without clear delivery addresses.

Deal with Social Media

If there is one thing that is for sure, it is that social media is here to stay. Therefore, you can’t afford to be complacent when it comes to issuing best practices and guidelines. Only publish information which you are comfortable being shared on a wide basis. Only add people who you trust to your contact list. Avoid clicking on unexpected links when you don’t know where they are coming from. These are just a few of the basics which you should think about putting into your policy.

Keeping your business safe online is a big and complicated process, but these are just a couple of the main points which should provide you with a decent starting point.