There are several effective ways to protect your tech startup from hackers in 2021. As of 2019, the average cost of a data breach was over $3.9 million. For startups, this is a significant cost. Potentially, a breach that early on could keep a young company from growing. Indeed, business owners would need to spend to fix the data breach and implement strong cybersecurity measures. Additionally, they could lose their clients’ trust if their data is leaked. As a tech entrepreneur, you need to implement the most effective ways to guard your data while laying the foundation for your company’s growth. Read on to discover the most effective ways to protect your tech startup from hackers in 2021.
Store Your Source Code
First, the most fundamental cybersecurity measure you can take is to store your source code properly. As a tech company, your application code is one of your business’s most critical assets. Indeed, it can be easy to steal if you are not mindful about how you store it. Ideally, you should use a secure software versioning system to store your code. These systems provide enhanced protection and convenient accessibility for your data. Some version control systems allow you to control file and directory access by your users as well. This way, only the team members who need the source code are permitted to access it. Compared to online file sharing systems, versioning software is a much more secure alternative to protect your application and website data. Definitely, storing your source code is essential to protect your tech startup from hacker breaches.
Encrypt Your Sensitive Data
Next, encrypting your sensitive data is another effective strategy to protect your new tech company’s digital information. Encryption is one of the most basic things to know about data storage. Undoubtedly, all client and employees’ sensitive information needs to be encrypted. This includes credit card numbers, addresses, and social security numbers. Consider encrypting less sensitive data as well. For example, your customer email addresses are valuable assets for your business growth. To secure this data, you should invest in encryption technology, such as authentication software. This can add another barrier of protection to prevent hackers from signing in under stolen accounts. Ideally, you should store your encryption keys on a separate server from your sensitive data as well. Certainly, it is crucial to encrypt sensitive data in your tech startup.
Install A Code Quality Scanning Tool
In addition, you can install a code quality scanning tool to protect your programs. Many code scanners static application security testing (SAST) to review your code and detect vulnerabilities. For example, Sonarqude code scanning software highlights program snippets that are vulnerable to a security breaches. In addition, the software automatically provides detailed descriptions of the issue, explaining why your application code is at risk. Often, it even provides insightful guidance, allowing your team to fix the issue efficiently. Additionally, you can install a Sonarqube Helm chart to improve your file management when deploying on the Kubernetes cluster. Once installed, you can adjust chart configuration parameters based on your application needs. Absolutely, a code quality scanning tool is a great way to identify vulnerabilities.
Dispose Of Your Data Responsibly
Moreover, it is also essential to dispose of your data responsibly. While you might just be getting your tech business off the ground, you will eventually need to dispose of some data. Importantly, it is nearly impossible to permanently erase files from USB drives, mobile devices, and external hard drives. Hackers can easily recover data from discarded drives. Therefore, consider investing in data destruction software when you have data you’re ready to dispose of. Some companies also offer data destruction services to help you overwrite the data properly. When discarding of hardware, remember that making your device unreadable by any machine is often the safest way to protect it. Absolutely, responsibly disposing of your data is a key piece of cybersecurity advice for startups.
Educate Your Team
Lastly, you need to educate your team on the best cybersecurity practices as well as your company’s policies. If possible, enforce a policy where work platforms can only be accessed on work devices. This may sound drastic to new employees. However, this is a good move for your business. Indeed, you do not have a way to know how secure your teams’ personal devices are. Therefore, consider investing in company devices for your team. Naturally, this can incur a higher initial cost. Of course, it can save you in the long-run by protecting your company from an expensive security breach. If your team is working remotely, educate them on how to secure their WiFi router by adding a password or even using a VPN. Surely, proper team education is key to strong cybersecurity in your tech startup.
There are several effective ways to protect your tech startup from hackers in 2021. First, you need to store your source code securely. Next, you should encrypt your sensitive data. In addition, install a code quality scanning tool to identify vulnerabilities in your application programs. Moreover, dispose of your data responsibly to prevent hackers from recovering your files. Lastly, educate your team on your company’s cybersecurity policies and practices. Implement these effective ways to protect your tech startup from hackers in 2021.
