Preventing Domain Hacks: A Guide for Business Owners
One precious possession a person can own is their name. It identifies who you are—everything from private to financial to legal matters requires this information. As we all know, a business domain name is a vital representation of the company on the Internet. That is why we must do our best to prevent domain hacks.
Unfortunately, domain security is one vulnerability that businesses face in the current IT landscape. Your ‘simple’ online address does so much more than guiding prospects to your website. An impactful domain name enhances your visibility and brand reputation, boosting your company’s credibility.
The issue is that criminals can seize and desecrate your domain name. Are you vulnerable to domain hacks? Does your strategy include protective measures to guard your website? How capable is your cybersecurity team that you need to prevent domain hacks?
This guide gives you valuable information regarding IT domain protection and what you can do to secure your business.
Why Domain Hacks Happen on Business Domains
At first, you might think, it’s just a name – what can hackers do with it?
Well, a lot. Some hackers target business domains mainly for the fun of it. Absurd as it may sound, this type of cyber theft is a fun challenge for some malicious attackers. More serious hackers, however, practice domain hacks for money.
When a hacker gains control over your domain name, the negative effects can snowball into irreversible losses. They can get into your communication network, send fake emails to your customers, and even access confidential data. Some hackers do domain name transfers, where they redirect your traffic to a different website, usually one that has offensive content.
Domain hacks typically also engage in phishing. After gaining control over your communication channels, they send phishing emails to your customers. They can freely obtain passwords, credit card information, social security data, and other sensitive information. Isn’t it a nightmare to think that you could lose your business because of inadequate domain security?
Effective Ways to Protect Your Domain from Hacks
Seeing how damaging this issue is, you need robust IT domain protection right now. However, how do you identify which domain security measures to implement? Are you aware of any methods to prevent domain hacks? Protecting your DNS is not as difficult as you might think.
Choose a Secure Registrar
When registering a domain name, most business owners just look at cost and privacy. The more important element, though, is security. The registrar you choose should use multi-factor authentication and have a responsive support team you can reach 24/7.
Use Separate Accounts for Domain and Web Hosting
Do you use the same account for domain and web hosting? You may need to create these accounts separately to protect your business, much better if you get different hosts. Managing multiple accounts for your domain is a challenge, but not if you have co-managed IT solutions in place.
Always Renew on Time to Prevent Domain Hacks
When did you last check the expiry of your domain name? Hijackers are always looking out for expired domain names they can easily get with no need to steal them. If a hacker successfully registers your domain under their name, it’s difficult for you to reclaim it.
Co-Managed IT Services Can Help with Domain Hacks
Lucky for businesses, there is a host of other methods for IT domain protection. If you want to leverage them all for your security, the best way is to sign up for co-managed IT services. With this IT strategy, an MSP can work together with your internal IT team to ensure that your business domain name will never fall into the wrong hands.
We can tell you more about domain security if you call us. Also, you can download this free Cyber Risk Infographic. It contains a wealth of information about domain security and other ways of protecting your business from cyber threats. Remember, knowledge is power!
How Co-Managed IT and Cybersecurity Insurance Protect Your Business
Cyberattacks pose a real threat to businesses, potentially inflicting irreversible damage and leading to bleeding losses. Gaps in your IT protection can cause a loss of data, downtime, irate customers, and stain your reputation. Ultimately, it could make your finances crumble if you are unprepared. Based on your current setup, how would you rate your company’s cybersecurity insurance?
Following the loss of clients and decline in sales, the terrifying thought of applying for bankruptcy is more real than ever. Can you bounce back from these financial mishaps? More importantly, does your company have business security solutions to make sure these nightmares never happen?
Effects of a Cyberattack on Business Finances
If you experience a cyberattack, your company’s finances will suffer without cybersecurity insurance. How do you go from having it all to scrambling to protect your business? It’s not like the hacker will walk into your bank account and directly take your money.
Ransomware is one of the most common vehicles that cybercriminals use to extort money. By unleashing this horror, they can gain control over your data and hold on to it until you pay a ransom. They don’t ask for loose change, either. The biggest pay-out recorded so far is $40 million back in 2021.
Financial loss can also occur during the recovery period following an attack. You would have to pay for the investigation, legal services, damage control, customer refunds, and other expenses during this period. Do you have cyber liability (cybersecurity) insurance to cover this incident?
Benefits of Having Cybersecurity Insurance
Cybersecurity insurance serves as protection for your business in case it becomes the target of a cyberattack. Depending on your policy, the provider can shoulder the costs directly or indirectly resulting from the attack.
This coverage may include system repair, data recovery, data breaches, ransom demands, and legal fees. A cybersecurity insurance policy also typically includes the cost of contacting clients and recovering stolen personal identities.
Even with a modest attack, the financial impact could cost more than what a small business can afford. Imagine if you have no active cybersecurity insurance—can you still hope to get back on your feet?
How Co-Managed IT Solutions Can Help
When handling the IT infrastructure of a business, many owners now opt for a co-managed IT. This strategy combines the convenience and familiarity of an in-house team with the expertise and resources of an MSP.
Co-managed IT is strongly recommended because it provides cutting-edge business security solutions across different areas, including cybersecurity insurance. The vast pool of resources available to an MSP can dramatically enhance cybersecurity for your business.
Our Final Thoughts on Co-Managed IT and Cybersecurity Insurance
Partnering with an MSP reduces your risk of becoming the next cyberattack victim. Furthermore, these providers have valuable tie-ups with the best cybersecurity insurance providers so they can easily get you a policy that meets your needs and fits your budget.
This is just the tip of the iceberg. Do you want to learn a lot more about cybersecurity insurance and the entire cyber risk landscape? Start by downloading the Cyber Risk Infographic. This free resource will open your eyes to the risks you are facing. It also underscores the value of co-managed IT services for your business and why you should contact us about it today.
Give it a quick read and if you are ready to take the next step, please let us know. We can schedule you for a call so we can discuss your business cybersecurity needs in more detail.
How to Reclaim Your Data After a Loss
Data is one of your business's most valuable assets; losing it can be disastrous. Whether it's client information or sensitive business assets, data loss can result in a significant setback. Unfortunately, it's common to experience data loss after a hardware failure, accidental deletion, or, most commonly, a cyber attack.
When this happens, the most important thing is to remain calm. There are ways to recover lost data; we'll explore how you can reclaim your data after a loss and how to prevent it from happening altogether.
1. Identify the Source of the Data Loss
The first step in reclaiming your data after a loss is to determine the source of the problem. Identifying this is crucial in determining the best course of action for data recovery. Several common sources of data loss include hardware failure, accidental deletion, and cyber attacks. Troubleshooting options include running diagnostic tests on your hardware, using software tools to recover deleted files, and investigating suspicious activity on your network.
Your trusted MSP (Managed Service Provider) team can assist you in identifying the source of the data loss and guide the best recovery options based on your specific situation. By partnering with an MSP, you can benefit from their expertise and support in safeguarding your data and minimizing the impact of data loss events.
2. Check and Restore from Backups
The next step is to check in on your data backups. Backups provide a way to recover lost data quickly, and we recommend keeping multiple data backups in different locations to ensure you always have access to a recent copy.
Restore from Backups
It's important to note that restoring data from backups can vary depending on the type of backup solution you are using. Some backup solutions may have automated restore processes, while others require manual intervention. If you are unsure about how to restore data from your backups, it's recommended to consult with a data recovery specialist or your trusted MSP team for guidance and support.
Restoring data from backups typically includes the following steps.
- Identify the backup source: Determine where the backup is stored, whether on an external hard drive, cloud-based storage, or another location.
- Verify the backup: Before restoring data, it's essential to verify that the backup is valid and contains the data you need. Check the backup file to ensure that it is not corrupted or damaged.
- Select the files to restore: Identify the files or folders you need to restore from the backup.
- Restore the data: Using the appropriate software or tool, restore the selected files or folders from the backup to the appropriate location on your computer or server.
- Test the restored data: Once the data has been restored, test it to ensure that it is working correctly and that there are no further issues or errors.
Implement Data Backups Before a Breach
Services, including data backup and disaster recovery solutions, can help protect your data and minimize downtime during a breach. With regular backups, your data is stored securely offsite and can be easily restored in an emergency. Additionally, MSPs can help you develop and implement cybersecurity measures to prevent breaches from happening in the first place.
3. Contact a Data Recovery Specialist
If you do not have a backup or cannot recover your data from a backup, it's time to call a data recovery specialist. A data recovery specialist is trained and skilled in recovering lost, damaged, or corrupted data from various storage devices such as hard drives, solid-state drives, USB drives, memory cards, and other media. Data recovery specialists use specialized software and tools to recover lost data. They may be needed in situation due to hardware failure, accidental deletion, formatting errors, or malware attacks.
We work with a variety of clients, including individuals, small businesses, and large corporations, to help them retrieve important data that may be essential to their business operations. We also provide consulting services to help clients prevent data loss and implement backup and recovery strategies.
Protect Yourself in the Future
Secure your Log-ins, Passwords, and PINS
In today's digital age, cyber-attacks are becoming increasingly common. If your data loss was due to a cyber attack, changing your passwords is crucial. According to Aura, a cybersecurity company, only 50% of people change passwords regularly.. Changing your passwords regularly and using strong, unique passwords can help prevent future cyber attacks.
Use Cloud-Based Solutions
Finally, Intuitive Networks recommends using cloud-based solutions to store your data. Cloud-based solutions offer several benefits, including easy access to your data from anywhere, automatic backups, and enhanced security. With cloud-based solutions, you can rest assured that your data is safe and secure.
Data loss can be a devastating experience, but it's important to remember that there are ways to recover lost data. By identifying the source of the problem, checking backups, contacting a data recovery specialist, changing your passwords, and using cloud-based solutions, you can reclaim your data and get back to business as usual.
Need help recovering your data? The INI team is here to help! Click the link below to connect with our team of experts today.