Having a cybersecurity strategy in place is the first step in presenting an attack.

Jeff Kennedy, Chief Information Security Officer for Regions in Birmingham, Alabama, offers the following steps every small business owner should consider when it comes to cybersecurity:

Educate employees on potential cyber threats and scams, raising the level of awareness across the board.

Equip all computers associated with the company with anti-virus and anti-malware software, and enroll in automatic updates to always have the latest versions.

Require dual authorization—a system where two employees must approve and sign off on a particular transaction before it can be executed—when it comes to payroll and other financial transaction services.

Question anything and everything that seems unusual, such as email requests for money transfers or unsolicited business inquiries from overseas.