• Online business

    Get, set and go for Digital Marketing

    Growing Your Digital Presence While Building Security 

    Introduction

    Digital marketing is essential especially for those who are doing online businesses today. The rise of social media platforms transformed the way people advertise their product. To become a successful advertiser and marketer online, you should have a lot of followers, and you are also required to engage with your followers to ensure that they know what your product is all about and how it will help them. There are tips and tricks on how to increase your followers online to build up your presence; however, there are risks that one should face if they decide to build their audience. Hackers are known to become a headache once they messed up with the things that you’ve created, and they can even erase everything that you’ve made out of hard work, so it is vital that you build a following while protecting everything that you have done.

    Tips to Build Your Following

    There are many ways on how to increase your following for the brand that you are working on, and you only have to be creative on what approach you would like to choose. People would love to see content on your website or page frequently, and it is critical that you post regularly regarding your brand to make your audience engaged. It is also essential that the brand name is always mentioned in your post by putting a hashtag onto it. The people who are following you must also get something in return, so it is recommended that you create a small contest wherein the winner would receive the product you are representing. It is also essential that the “follow” links are visible to the website, so people would not have a hard time following you. After doing all of this things, your following will inevitably go up, albeit slowly. If you wanted instant popularity, you could seek the help from online influencers to boost the number of people who follow you.

    Tips to Increase the Security

    After building your following, you must also be aware of the threats from cyber-attacks. The number of cyber-attacks increases every year, because of the advancement of technology which the hackers also benefit from. Currently, no validated data will show the actual number of victims who experienced cyber-attacks, and this is a serious problem because no one knows if the number of attackers is multiplying. Hackers are trying to create their software to initiate the attack, like the ransomware for example, which infected hundreds of thousands of mobile devices from 2016 to 2017. As an individual who is only starting from your online marketing career, you should start investing in products that will help you block your accounts or your system from being a victim of cyber-attacks

    Experts believe that the reliable connectivity of devices today due to the Internet of Things, also known as the IOT, and even the excessive use of the cloud storage technology makes the attacks easier to perform. These technologies are being used in businesses today, and it is considered as the norm, but it exposes them to higher risks from hackers who can infiltrate one of their systems and spread the attack quickly due to their connectivity. These data that are being stolen can cost millions and even billions of dollars, and companies have already taken the battle into their own hands. They do not want to be victimized by any cyber-attacks, and it resulted in the rise in the demand for cybersecurity software and devices. The number of companies which are using cybersecurity software and tools that offer detection and monitoring services multiplied during the past few years, and it accounted for a significant percentage of expenses from corporations.

    The first methods being used by cybersecurity companies is penetration testing. It involves a series of tests that are being conducted in different areas. It includes penetration tests for the web application, mobile application, network, network infrastructure and SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition). It also involves the scanning of the system to determine its vulnerability, and a series of internal and external penetration tests. Penetration tests are also known as ethical hacking, wherein a company would pay an individual to try hacking into their system and check how vulnerable the system is. After the tests, a detailed report will be sent to the company authorities to give them an insight as to how the hackers can infiltrate the system. They are trying to uncover the flaws, and the weaknesses in their system before the hackers have the chance to exploit it, and they will also pay IT professionals to boost the company’s defenses. Penetration tests are proven to be effective, as it lowered down the number of systems that is vulnerable to hackers to an excellent 65%. Even if penetration tests could not stop all of the cyber-attack incidents, using them can boost the company’s security and could save them millions of dollars in damages.

    The second method is through a process called managed security vulnerability scans. This just means that the system will be scanned for its vulnerability. A detailed report is generated, stating where the flaws and the weaknesses of the system are. Some countermeasures will also be sent through a report, which a company can use for their defense. The final method being used by cybersecurity companies is what they refer to as managed scans for sensitive data. This would allow companies to detect which individual is posing as a customer just to breach into the system. This method is proven to be effective because of its ability to identify those who are trying to hack into the corporate network just to steal information or those who wanted to corrupt the database.

    Example Scenario

    Youi NZ is a New Zealand based vehicle insurance company with more than 900 Facebook page likes. If the company will try to follow the tips on how to increase their following, they could have tens of thousands of followers in a week. However, they would have to protect themselves from cyber-attacks to provide a safe platform for them to advertise and interact with their customers.

    Conclusion

    In our world today, building a massive following is essential especially for those who are making a living out of it. Marketers and advertisers keep on innovating ideas on how they can become successful online. Meanwhile, they also need to concentrate on protecting their system from cyber-attacks. Using the software and devices provided by cybersecurity companies would boost the defenses of business from hackers, and it can lower the incident of cyber-attacks. However, businesses should still keep in mind that the hackers are always changing, and they are also upgrading their systems to initiate severe cyber-attacks. Cybersecurity companies are stating that companies should remain vigilant, and they should keep on updating their systems to prevent any breaches. It is tough to accept that what we’ve built for the sake of marketing would just vanish in an instant.