Cybersecurity Awareness Month 2025: Top 10 Security Tips to Protect Your Business
Cybersecurity Awareness Month 2025 serves as a timely reminder that businesses of all sizes and industries need to prioritize cybersecurity. As attacks grow more advanced, protecting your IT infrastructure becomes more crucial than ever. From costly ransomware to realistic phishing scams, businesses face daily threats that could threaten their long-term success.
Fortunately, there are many ways to protect your IT environment, employees, and customers. In this blog, we will share the top 10 cybersecurity tips to strengthen your defenses and build resilience.
Improve Cybersecurity with an MSP
Implement these top 10 cybersecurity tips with the help of a trusted MSP partner who can offer guidance, advanced technology, and proactive strategies.
Secure Your Business and Avoid Attacks
As businesses continue to depend on digital tools and technology, securing your IT environment is increasingly critical. Organizations of all sizes and industries should prioritize comprehensive cybersecurity strategies; however, many lack the essential protocols needed to counter evolving threats. In fact, a survey conducted by MasterCard revealed that 46% of participating businesses experienced a cyber attack, and 1 in 5 of those affected had to file for bankruptcy afterward.
Cybersecurity involves more than fixing small daily problems; it’s about establishing a proactive strategy to prevent your business from failing. With new tools like AI and machine learning, many hackers are becoming more skilled at targeting sensitive information. If your company operates with insufficient or outdated cybersecurity systems, it’s crucial to develop a plan that safeguards your business, employees, and customers.
10 Cybersecurity Awareness Tips
Cybersecurity begins with awareness. Once your business recognizes its importance, implementing these protocols becomes simpler. As noted earlier, many businesses face cyber attacks, and that number is only expected to grow. Relying on digital solutions makes it essential to ensure your business has no vulnerabilities that could lead to a costly attack.
Follow these 10 tips to enhance your cybersecurity for years to come.
1. Update Software
All software used in business operations should be regularly updated to prevent security vulnerabilities. Additionally, your third-party vendors or partners should prioritize updates to strengthen their IT defenses and address vulnerabilities. While some software updates need manual intervention, others can be scheduled for automatic updates as necessary. Check all your technology tools to ensure they have been recently updated or have plans to update when needed.
2. Deploy File Backups
Implement a backup system that automatically copies your files to your storage. In case of a data breach, you can use your backups to restore all your files and prevent a complete data loss. When choosing a backup program, look for one that allows you to schedule regular backups in advance so you don’t have to do it manually. Remember to store backups offline to prevent them from becoming encrypted or inaccessible during an attack. All devices, from laptops to work phones, should have backups.
3. Create a Secure Wi-Fi Network
If your employees currently use a WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) network, you should upgrade to WPA2 to ensure your company operates on a more secure network. You can also protect your Wi-Fi network from cyber criminals by changing the name of your wireless access point, router, or SSID. When doing this, be sure to use a pre-shared key (PSK) passphrase for added security.
4. Conduct Third-Party Audits
When working with a third-party vendor or an outsourced partner, it’s essential to ensure they adhere to a strict cybersecurity strategy. If they are granted access to your systems, they could unknowingly introduce vulnerabilities that compromise your security. Ask your third-party partners about their cybersecurity measures and gain a clear understanding of the protocols they follow that could impact your business. This not only helps protect your organization from unexpected damage but also holds them accountable in the event of a breach.
5. Provide Corporate Security Awareness Training
One of the most effective ways to protect your business is to educate your employees. Since human errors are one of the leading causes of cyberattacks, they can be reduced if employees know exactly what not to do online. Teaching them about phishing scams, AI scams, and security measures will give them the skills needed to use technology safely. Regular training sessions and resources can cover the fundamentals, evolving threats, industry-specific rules, compliance regulations, and best practices. Make sure every employee understands your company’s guidelines and adheres to protocols to strengthen security throughout the organization.
6. Lead Online Risk Assessments
Assessing potential risks to your networks, IT systems, and sensitive information provides proactive insight into where your security strategy needs improvement. Identify areas with security gaps that could allow threats, understand how data is stored, and evaluate the risk levels of breaches and their potential impact on your business. If you use cloud storage, you can ask your provider to help with the risk assessment. Use this information to develop a strong, tailored cybersecurity plan. Regularly review and update your strategy, and conduct ongoing risk assessments to identify any vulnerabilities that could be exploited by emerging threats.
7. Implement the Latest Antivirus Systems
Choose an antivirus solution that will protect your devices from viruses, spyware, ransomware, and phishing scams. Make sure the system offers protection and technology that cleans devices and restores them to their pre-infected state after an attack. As mentioned above, updating your antivirus software is essential to ensure it functions properly and can detect the latest threats and patch any vulnerabilities.
8. Use Encryption Protection
If your business handles data such as credit card details, bank accounts, or other sensitive customer information, encryption is essential to keep all data protected. Especially in the financial sector, encryption helps reduce the risk of attacks and lessens the damage a cybercriminal can cause. Encryption works by transforming information on a device into unreadable code, so even if a hacker successfully breaches the data, they cannot interpret what they’ve stolen.
9. Administer Access Controls
When implementing your cybersecurity protocols, it’s helpful to first gain a clear understanding of who in your company has access to specific tools. Make sure that each user with access to critical tools actually needs it, and reduce access controls for those who don’t. Limiting access to sensitive information will lessen the impact of a data breach and decrease the risk of malicious actors inside the company. Develop a plan for access control and implement it quickly to eliminate any unauthorized access.
10. Use Strong Password Guidelines
One of the easiest ways to protect your business from cyber threats is to implement strict password guidelines for all employees. Whether it’s using a certain number of digits or capitalization, changing the password every few months, or using multifactor authentication, it’s essential for all businesses. The more complex a password is or the more often it changes, the harder it will be for a hacker to crack.
Following these 10 cybersecurity tips will help ensure your business is prepared for any situation and actively protects your employees, customers, and partners. If this all feels overwhelming, we understand—cybersecurity is a complex effort that requires ongoing vigilance. To help implement these tools or improve your cybersecurity, an outsourced partner can assist. Our fully managed services allow businesses to focus on growth while we handle security. Regardless of how you approach it, cybersecurity should always be a top priority when running a business.
Improve Cybersecurity with an MSP
Implement these top 10 cybersecurity tips with the help of a trusted MSP partner who can offer guidance, advanced technology, and proactive strategies.
Build Your Cybersecurity Strategies with Applied Tech
Cybersecurity should be a proactive element of your business strategy, with layered defenses that protect your business, helping you mitigate common risks in today’s digital environment. Following the ten cybersecurity tips outlined in this blog will give your business a more secure IT structure.
At Applied Tech, we understand that managing and maintaining all these strategies while handling business initiatives can be challenging, especially if resources are already stretched thin. As your outsourced MSP partner, we can provide fully managed IT support to help you not only implement these 10 best practices but also explore your business’s specific needs, challenges, and goals. As an extension of your team, we will strengthen your security posture, provide support, and enable you to focus on your core business. Contact us to discover how outsourcing your IT responsibilities with an MSP partner can benefit you.
About Applied Tech
Applied Tech is a leading IT and cybersecurity services provider dedicated to helping businesses protect their digital assets. Our proactive and strategic services include cloud management, security, productivity, and IT growth strategy. With a team of experienced professionals, we provide unique solutions tailored to your IT needs.
Protect your business with Applied Tech’s fully managed IT services, co-managed support, and security assistance. With IT services focused on your business goals, keep your team productive and your data secure.
