Keith Fletcher, chief operating officer of Speros, a business technology solutions firm located in Savannah, will speak to small business owners on the five most important ways for small business owners to safeguard their digital data on Wednesday, April 27 at a luncheon meeting of the Savannah Chapter of SCORE, Counselors to America’s Small Business. The event will take place from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at SCORE’s conference room, 111 E. Liberty Street, in Savannah. The lecture is free and open to the public, however, attendees are asked to RSVP to SCORE at 912-652-4335.

“You might be thinking if large corporations can’t seem to avoid cyber crime, there’s little you can do to prevent the same thing from happening to your small business, especially with today’s sophisticated hacking schemes,” said Fletcher. “But there are a number of effective safeguards that will help protect your online data.”

Fletcher’s advice for small business owners attending the SCORE luncheon will include how to watch for the telltale signs of being hacked, and what steps to take to recover compromised data. He will also outline the most effective measures to tighten security to prevent breaches from happening in the first place.

“There are five, generally low-cost, security measures that every small business must take to minimize the risk of a cyber attack,” advised Fletcher. “These include installing a good, true firewall, making frequent and multiple backups, and ensuring your systems are protected with reliable anti-virus and anti-spam software.”

His presentation will include additional details on those security measures, along with the emergency procedures small businesses need to enact immediately if digital data is hacked, plus advice on how small businesses can protect their reputation and best retain customer confidence, if a hack does occur. For more information about SCORE or to register for the luncheon event, please call (912) 652-4335 or visit https://savannah.score.org/