6 Simple Ways To Help Your Company Stay Secure

By Dave Warner, Systems Engineer at Cenetric

Whether you’ve been in business for 50 years or just 50 days, it’s important to safeguard against data theft and cyberattack. Cybersecurity can get complex, but there are a few simple steps today to beef up your security and better prevent threats to your data.

• Always lock your computer

The first and simplest way to stay secure is to set your computer to automatically lock whenever you’re not using it. If your computer gets stolen and you haven’t locked it, your personal (and business) information will be ripe for the taking.

Thieves can easily gain access to things like your work email (exposing your entire business to harm) or any websites that automatically fill in your username and password when you’re logged in. If your computer is always locked, bad actors won’t be able to access any of that data.

• Use a VPN while traveling

A VPN is an excellent tool to maintain privacy. When you’re working outside your office, you’re often forced to use Wi-Fi that lacks the security features you’re used to. There are two types of VPNs to help you stay safe: remote access and anonymizer.

For your business, you want a remote access VPN, which lets you securely access company systems like email and servers to get your work done. Anonymizer VPNs don’t give you that access, but they will encrypt the traffic of the device you’re using if you have to use public Wi-Fi. (We’ll tell you again, though: We still don’t advise airport Wi-Fi for any reason.)

• Don’t open attachments from strangers

Never open unexpected email attachments from sources you don’t know. These can be used to execute disguised programs such as malware or a virus that can steal your data. If the person emailing you isn’t in your contacts, then you should leave the attachment unopened.

Bad actors are getting sneakier all the time, and while PDFs are the most frequently used methods of attachment-based phishing (24.7%), according to 2025 Hoxhunt data, SVG files are becoming more prevalent. In 2024, Hoxhunt found they accounted for just .1% of malicious attachments, but in 2025, that number rose to 5% and spiked to 15% in March.

SVG files are vector image files that are typically used only by designers, so most employees in most businesses wouldn’t need to access that file type anyway. Train your team to only open attachments from people they know and that they are expecting to receive.

• Enable multi-factor authentication

We used to recommend two-factor authentication (2FA) as a quick and easy way to layer up on security, but even that’s not enough anymore. Today, the safer way is multi-factor authentication (MFA) . 

Unlike 2FA, MFA uses an authenticator app to verify who you are, using more than two factors:

• Something you know (a password)
• Something you have (a security token or your phone)
• Something you are (biometric data, like face or fingerprint recognition)

While you’ll have to go through an extra step when logging in to apps or websites, enabling MFA will make your accounts more secure. If an account offers MFA as an option, always enable it.

• Protect your password 

Passwords should always be difficult to guess, different for every site, and frequently changing. Unfortunately, this also makes them hard to remember for the average person. 

This is where a password manager can be a valuable tool, storing all of your passwords in one location for you. With one master password, you can access all of your usernames and passwords for various sites. It also generates new passwords for you so you don’t have to come up with complicated configurations.

• Set up automatic software updates

Out-of-date software is incredibly vulnerable to cyberattacks. Hackers will often scan networks or sites to determine which version of software they’re running on and whether or not they can exploit it. Make sure all your software is up to date, and set up automatic updates to prevent anything from slipping through the cracks.

Trust Cenetric to help you with complex security issues

We listed practical, simple steps here to make it easy for you to implement them. (Today, preferably!) A cybersecurity incident can disrupt your business, cost you expensive regulatory fines and harm your reputation — taking these small steps will go a long way toward preventing one. 

But when it comes to the complex tasks like setting up that VPN or training your team on cybersecurity best practices, you need an expert to help. The Cenetric team can do exactly that. We have the experience to get — and keep — you covered when it comes to cybersecurity. Let’s talk about your needs today.