Natural disasters and cyberattacks are always lurking around the corner, waiting to jeopardize your business continuity. Without an effective disaster recovery plan (DRP) in place, you’re risking the safety of your software and data, which can be dangerous for your enterprise.

2018 saw over 600 data breaches and 22 million exposed records, according to the Identity Theft Resource Center. You might be surprised by how many of those breaches could have affected you. This is why you must take your business’s cybersecurity to the next level and follow these six tips to develop a more efficient cybersecurity plan in 2019.

#1 Start with understanding your risks
Cybersecurity tools are used to reduce or eliminate risks and to identify cyberthreats early so you can continue with your work while keeping your IT systems safe and sound.

From baby monitors to smart refrigerators, Internet of things (IoT) devices have been taking households and businesses by storm. These grant greater convenience in our everyday lives. However, they also pose a danger to you, your family, your colleagues, and your business.

Cyberthreats and natural disasters are always just around the corner, waiting to jeopardize your business operations. Without disaster recovery (DR) measures, you can experience major data loss that can be detrimental to your company’s survival.

In a 2017 report by Nationwide, it was revealed that 68% of small-business owners don’t have a written disaster recovery plan.

When the Cambridge Analytica Scandal broke in March 2018, the public was shocked to find out that the private data of more than 50 million Facebook users were collected without their knowledge or consent and used to target political advertisement during the Trump presidential campaign.

When we say virtual computers, we’re not talking about virtual reality or anything spooky like that. It’s simply a way for office employees to do work at their cubicles using something that approximates a typical desktop computer, but is fundamentally different.

A robust disaster recovery (DR) plan will ensure you have a structured method available for dealing with unplanned issues that interrupt your office IT network.

It will take into account how to rescue your computers, software platforms and applications, and networking hardware, as well as how to get your business processes and employees back in good order after a storm, flood, fire, or office break in.

Small-business owners have a lot on their plates, but one of their main responsibilities should be to ensure their company’s data is secure and always available.

Without those two things, a whole lot of problems can occur: customer information can be compromised, employees will be unable to work productively, and your profits can take a hit.

Sometimes businesses find themselves with a problem that’s good to have: they’re growing too fast to continue operations in their current location. That means it’s time to either expand their facilities, or find a new location and deal with the challenges inherent to moving office.

Hosted IT services can be delivered in a few different ways, but first things first: When IT support providers say they offer small businesses an array of “hosted IT services,” what they’re really talking about is “The Cloud.”

The Cloud is familiar to most small business owners because all the ways it makes their technology easier to manage, saves them money, and improves their employees’ output are well advertised.