startups
SEED STARTUPS

Cybersecurity essentials for seed-stage startups

Pallavi Vishwakarma
July 2, 2023

Creating a new startup requires creativity, bravery, and planning. The importance of the preliminary planning stage for new firms cannot be emphasized enough. With improper resource allocation, even the best concept could fail. When launching a new company, cybersecurity is routinely disregarded, which can be disastrous. These emerging businesses, no matter how little they may be or how recent they may be on the startup scene, frequently face the same cyber hazards as big, well-established businesses. 

As a seed-stage startup, Your work list is expanding every day and everything is so fast-moving and processes are not in the proper place due to this it is the right time to concentrate on something you might not have considered just yet: your cybersecurity posture and that failing to incorporate cybersecurity from the outset can impede a startup's growth. As it makes a good impression on investors that an early-stage startup is focusing on the security of their company and that will help to raise higher funding

You must focus on cybersecurity from the very beginning of the startup, and must build a culture where everyone in the team knows that security is important you don’t need any security personnel to focus on security every employee must be responsible for it and this steps will definitely pay off you in future by preventing a hack that would take place 3 years later. 

Secure Coding

We can see how vulnerable software code can be through security vulnerability exploitation. The foundation of your application's functionality is its source code. Your entire program could be subject to hackers if your code contains security flaws.

Secure coding techniques can assist protect your applications while improving team collaboration and the output of high-quality, secure software and makes it simpler for programmers and developers to identify typical flaws. 

  • For developing and managing your code you can use Linters to improve the quality of your code. 
  • Proper review and testing of the code must be done before merging it into the master branch.
  • Make sure that developers are not storing any sensitive data directly in the code. 
  • Follow well-established secure coding standards such as OWASP and SEI Cert. 

Cloud Security Configuration Management

As nowadays every startup uses cloud services and this public cloud is enabling thousands of startups in multiple industries to run quickly. Although many startup owners and teams might not be aware of the security threats associated with the cloud, this can be terrible for their budding enterprises. Startups like yours should therefore pay more attention to cybersecurity and cloud security issues.

          a. Choose the Right Cloud Provider:

Finding the best cloud service provider is essential, but you must first consider the requirements of your business. Examining providers' security compliances and certificates is the first step in the selection process. In order to compare them to cloud providers' services, you must first comprehend your company's security objectives.

          b. Configure and monitor the cloud storage access control:

There are several different access control models used by cloud data providers like Amazon S3 and Google Drive. Every subscription to a cloud service or other third-party service exposes your company to new security dangers. To identify and address these risks, set up automated security workflows and cloud security posture management services.

          c. Configure Data Encryption for your cloud data:

All cloud service providers offer the option to store your data on the storage discs supporting their infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) services in encrypted form. As an early-stage startup, you must explore these settings for securing your data.

Use simple tools for vulnerability management

As a seed-stage startup, you cannot invest your resources a lot in security so instead, you can use simple tools for security which will help you to stay updated with your vulnerability regularly. To do this, develop a strategy that highlights the startup's biggest risks at each stage and sets goals and actions for resolving them.

You can invest in security startups to perform audits on your software and monitor your application for any vulnerabilities and inform you about them at the early stage so it's easier to fix. These investments will definitely help you to strengthen your application at an early stage and will save you from future attacks. 

And also performing an infosec audit on your application will definitely boost the confidence of your investors in your application also security audits are required for venture capitalization. 

Password management and multi-factor authentication

A growing startup should store all confidential company information behind a password. However, password management is frequently overlooked. 

Never using the same password more than once is crucial. To generate several complex passwords and store them in an encrypted vault, we advise utilizing a business password manager.

But it should also be noted that a strong password shouldn't be viewed as a panacea. It might be preferable to investigate multi-factor authentication (MFA). When someone tries to log in, this depends on a number of variables.

Storage Encryption

Data breaches are expensive and can harm the reputation of any firm. You should secure the security of the confidential client information that your company manages. People typically choose different businesses to work with after learning that their private information was exposed online.

Take into account purchasing more encryption software. Data in transit will be encrypted using Virtual Private Networks (or VPNs). Any internet thief trying to keep tabs on your actions won't be able to decode it.

SecOps Solution is an award-winning agent-less Full-stack Vulnerability and Patch Management Platform that helps organizations identify, prioritize and remediate security vulnerabilities and misconfigurations in seconds.

To schedule a demo, just pick a slot that is most convenient for you.

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