What Small Businesses must know About Cybersecurity?

Getting your business to be part of the online world has a lot of benefits. You get to connect with customers, and you can get more sales. The online world is a valuable place for any business to grow, especially for small business owners.

However, as advantageous as it may seem, getting your business online also has disadvantages too.

The biggest threat or disadvantage faced by small business owners is cyberattacks.

Small to medium-sized businesses don’t recognize these threats. They don’t focus on protecting themselves from cybercriminals. In fact, one study has shown that 43% of data breaches are from small businesses.

Once your business becomes a victim of this crime, it will cost you a lot of money. Therefore, if you are a small business owner, you must create a plan and budget to secure your business.

If you are still not convinced, here are things you need to know that might change your mind.

WHY ARE SMALL BUSINESSES VULNERABLE?

Here are some reasons you need to know why small businesses are often the target of cybercriminals.

• They don’t include cybersecurity in their business plan.
• They pay only little for services, like IT professionals, to help them in the protection of their system.
• They don’t have any backup plan if an attack happens.
• They don’t train or educate their employees about cyberattacks. Therefore, they accidentally give away information about the company.
• They don’t invest in excellent security software to protect their data.
• Their network and computer are unsecured.

Running a small business doesn’t make you unnoticeable in the eye of a cybercriminal. In fact, hackers often target small businesses because they don’t focus on security.

After getting to know why small businesses are prone to attacks, let’s see what hackers do to steal data from these vulnerable businesses.

DIFFERENT CYBERATTACKS

There are different ways cybercriminals can get to your business. They have multiple methods to attack and steal data. Let’s take a look at each of these threats commonly used by hackers.

Malware: This is a harmful file download into your computer. Malware can be a virus, Trojan horse, or spyware. They function by either stealing or deleting your data.

Phishing: This is one of the most common attacks, yet a lot of people are still victims of phishing. Attackers create email or text messages that look like an official message from a user’s provider (such as bank or hosting provider). The email will prompt users to log in to a link provided. Without knowing, the link will redirect all login credentials to the attacker’s site.

Social Engineering: Attackers will try to gain the trust of their victims to get information out of them, particularly their username and password.

DDoS: The attackers send fake traffic to a website causing the server to overload. This attack will make your website difficult for real visitors to enter, and it will deny them access.

Getting to know the different ways cybercriminals can get to your business give you a clear picture of what you can do to avoid them.

HOW TO AVOID ATTACKS FROM CYBERCRIMINALS

Train your Employees

In 2018, 60% of small businesses reported that data breaches were due to employees’ negligence. That’s why it’s important to train your employees in cybersecurity.

You can implement simple policies such as:

• Do not allow employees to connect their devices on your company’s network.
• Avoid downloading of uncertain apps.
• Update software
• If a suspicious email is received, train them to report it first to their manager before clicking on the link.
• Avoid connecting with a public or free WI-FI when entering a business’s portal or site.

Make sure to include new policies if needed.

Install Antivirus and Anti-malware

Using paid security software is better than a free one. Paid security software has more features that can alert and clean your system if any viruses or malware is detected.

There are different security software in the market that don’t have to break your bank account.

Update all Apps and Software

If your online business uses software or apps, you need to update it whenever there are updates available. These updates will patch vulnerable parts of the software or app.

If you use outdated apps, hackers will utilize this as a gateway to gain access to your business’s information.

Use Firewall Security

It will provide protection to avoid external sources to get into your system. This is important when transferring data.

If you run an online business where online payment is required, a firewall can secure your customers’ data.

Use Strong a Password

Weak passwords are often the reason why most businesses experience cyberattacks. Hackers can easily guess the password. Therefore, using a strong password to secure all your data is important.

A secure password must not be recycled and must not be based on any private information of an individual. It must contain a combination of upper and lower case, symbols, and numbers. Also, it should contain more than ten characters.

Use Two-face Authentication

After implementing the use of a strong password, it’s time to use two-face authentication.

Aside from providing the password during entering your company’s site, you are required another way of identification. Sometimes it requires codes sent via text or email. For others, it requires biometrics like facial recognition or fingerprint.

Using two-face authentication will increase the security of your business’s account.

Limit Access to the Company’s Data

Only provide the login credentials and information to your trusted employees. Don’t allow everyone to have access to your business’s data.

Do Regular Backups

Ransomware is a form of malware that locks the person out from their data or files, and then the hacker will demand money.

If you don’t want to be a victim of this threat, it’s a good practice to back up your files regularly. You can save your files on an external drive, or you can save it on a cloud-based software. 

Include a Mobile Security Plan

Mobile devices are also prone to attacks like desktops. It is even more vulnerable to threats as compared to computers. 

Implement policies that will secure mobile devices like installing security software and using a strong password.

CONCLUSION

It is better to implement the tips mentioned above than to fall into the hands of cybercriminals. You’ll not only lose your company’s data, but you’ll also lose your customers’ trust. It is also expensive to retrieve all information once stolen.

Remember that no business is too small for a cybercriminal. Therefore, it’s better to protect your company from cyber threats.