How to protect your car wash business from hackers

With many car wash businesses moving toward online and mobile app payments, as well as continuing to utilise point-of-sale and customer management software, it is more important than ever to implement cybersecurity measures to not only secure your customer information but also your bottom lines.

Fortunately, you can protect your business from hackers right now. Here are a few ways to increase your business’s cybersecurity:

Change your passwords

One of the simplest ways to start protecting your business is to change your passwords on a monthly or weekly basis and ensuring you choose your passwords wisely. It is also important to ensure that you do not use the same password more than once, by using the same password everywhere, eventually one of those sites will get compromised and someone will know your password.

Keep your software up to date

Keeping your software up to date is necessary if you want to reduce your chances of an attack as using out of date software may increase your risk of being hacked. Software developers are continually adjusting their code and improving the security of the system therefore not staying on top of it will put your business’s security at risk.

Back up your files

Get into a habit of backing up your files and systems at least once a week. Make a copy of your files on another device for added security and peace of mind.

Anti-Malware and Anti-Virus programs are a must

E-mail phishing, spoofing, and apps that access social media accounts are popping up with increasing regularity. Loading anti-malware and anti-virus protection programs on your devices and running the programs after every software install can help to reduce these threats.

Implement a workplace internet policy

An internet policy helps your employees to understand their role in protecting the technology and information assets of your business. When you prepare your policy, ensure it guides your employees on:

• the type of business information that can be shared and where
• acceptable use of devices and online materials
• handling and storage of sensitive material

Create a risk management plan

It is important for every organisation, no matter the size or industry, to develop a cybersecurity risk management plan. Creating a risk management plan will help you to identify potential risks, assess the impact of those risks, and plan how to respond if the risks become a reality.