by CyberSecure Canada
In an increasingly digital world, small and medium-sized businesses are doing more business online. This has many advantages, but it can also increase your risk of exposure to cyber attacks.
Cyber criminals are always looking for ways to take advantage of potential weaknesses in your business’s cybersecurity. This can have devastating effects not only on your business, but also on your employees, partners and customers. The best way to protect your business is by putting security measures in place to prevent cyber attacks from being successful. Luckily, there are various free government resources available to help you along the way.
Preventing cyber attacks
Getting your business cyber secure takes time and effort, but the investment is necessary to ensure your business and your customers are protected – regardless of the size of your organization. If you do business online, you’re at risk of being targeted by cyber criminals.
CyberSecure Canada is led by Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) and is a Government of Canada cybersecurity certification program for small and medium sized organizations. It also provides free resources and tools to help your businesses improve its cyber security and helps prevent cyber attacks from compromising your systems.
CyberSecure Canada’s eLearning series is a free, self-paced, online course that will help you protect your business by walking you through how to implement essential cybersecurity practices and controls. You may already be familiar with some of the security practices presented in this course, but some may be completely new to you. The course is designed to be accessible for learners with minimal technical knowledge, making this resource particularly helpful for smaller organizations without dedicated IT personnel.
Other valuable resources include the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security (the Cyber Centre) that provides advice and guidance to SMBs to help protect their cyber resiliency. Their Get Cyber Safe national awareness campaign offers a variety of practical resources to help protect businesses and their employees from cyber crime.
Why get certified?
Once you put in place all the security controls outlined in the eLearning series, your business will be eligible to apply for CyberSecure certification. Getting certified is voluntary, but has many benefits, including: 
- equipping your business to be better prepared for a cyber incident
- enhancing your competitive advantage and attracting new business
- reassuring your customers and investors that their information is protected
- improving your cybersecurity knowledge
Learn how to get started by visiting the CyberSecure certification webpage.
You may be eligible to receive funding to help offset the costs of implementing cybersecurity controls and getting certified. Visit the Canada Digital Adoption Program web page to learn more.