With 5 billion people around the world active online, it is more important than ever to increase cyber security in your business. Thirty nine percent of businesses receive cyber-attacks every year, according to the National Cyber Security Centre, costing businesses thousands of pounds. For this reason alone, we have put together five key areas where you can boost cyber security in your salon, spa or leisure club.
Ensure cyber security with secure passwords logins
A simple way to increase cyber security is by using secure system logins. Business management software will often provide staff with a method of logging in securely through individual profiles and passwords. According to security.org, a secure password is 16 characters long, contain a combination of letters, numbers and characters, and not feature consecutive numbers. To ensure staff set secure, individual passwords, you can use the password strength tool by security.org.
Staff role access and automatic logouts
Once staff have logged into a system, it is important to set areas of access that are applicable to them. For example, you may not want your business receptionist to access the same areas that your spa or salon manager does. Through setting up areas of access for different staff roles in a system such as Core by Premier Software® for spa and leisure businesses, or Salon by Premier Software® for hair and beauty businesses, you make sure staff don’t have access to sensitive data they shouldn’t. When implemented alongside automatically logging staff out after a set time (such as 5 minutes of inactivity), you maintain the security of your system.
Regular backups ensure cyber security
It is vital to regularly backup important and sensitive data, to ensure their protection should anything befall your system. Cloud-based software provides an excellent method of backup, as it encrypts files and provides access using an encryption key. In particular, Acronis offers cloud-based backups for your data that can be manual or scheduled, which can then be downloaded should you ever need them. This can apply to any business management system, keeping client and business data secure.
Provide clients with secure Wi-Fi
If your business offers spa or leisure facilities, there is a high possibility you offer clients free Wi-Fi. However, it is crucial to take the right precautions so that your clients’ data remains secure. The first step is to create a guest network from your router, which is a separate network from those your staff access. Changing your network name (service set identifier – SSID) to something other than the default will help protect its identification against potential hackers outside the business. You can then place the name of your SSID around your facilities so that clients know which network to access onsite.
There are plenty more ways to ensure you’re the safety of client data. Make sure you implement these other top methods to keep your spa secure.
Implement cyber secure payments
Cyber security also extends to safety of monetary transactions. With many clients now paying for services online, it is vital to implement a secure method of payment on your website. Premier Payment Solutions complies with the highest security standards for card processing to provide numerous methods of payment. Clients can then pay online through Premier’s payment gateway or over the phone via its ‘Customer Not Present’ functionality which, when combined with its 2-step authentication, can keep transactions secure. Premier’s Payment Solutions also offer secure transactions via Chip and PIN terminals onsite, ensuring payments remain protected no matter what.
Core and Salon partners with Premier Payment Solutions, in conjunction with Monek Limited, to help maintain the security of transactions. To find out how Core and Premier Payment Solutions can help your business, book a free presentation below.