Why Cyber Security Is Still Important for Small Businesses
Cyber attacks of recent years have grown in number and size, making it crucial to alert the computing world at large of the need to protect data assets and network infrastructure. Large corporations, small businesses, and even private individuals are all subject to attack from criminal-minded hackers who are bent on profiting from illegal penetration into your computing system. Many of the most high-profile cyber attacks of recent years targeted large corporations, simply because of the potential for extracting more substantial sums of money from them in exchange for the safe return of business assets (ransomware). While attacks against small businesses (SMB’s) have not garnered the headlines nor the high visibility of major attacks against big corporations, that doesn’t mean they aren’t taking place. In fact, small businesses now are being hit much more frequently because hackers have realized that, all those small profits from SMB’s do add up to big money in total. Statistics show that over the past several years, more than half of small businesses have had network security breached in some way by hackers. This alarming development should clearly point out the need for small businesses to be on the alert, small business cyber security should be taken seriously.
Managing the Risk of Cyber Attacks Against Small Businesses
In addition to the cumulative appeal of profits from small business attacks, there is another reason why criminals have been turning their attention to SMB’s. With fewer resources allocated to cybersecurity, and less formalized training and education against the potential for cyber attacks, small businesses often present very inviting targets for the criminal-minded.
It’s also true that limited budgets make small businesses cyber security not as readily accessible. However, even with limited resources, there are at least a few necessary steps that all small businesses can take, which will reduce the likelihood of an attack, and at least provide some measure of security for valuable business assets.
For instance, at least one person in every small business can be designated to stay abreast of all known cyberattack threats, so that it’s at least possible to take preventive measures against specific threats and risks. This would typically be an I.T. person who’s also responsible for keeping system software updated with any security patches made available by vendors. Soon after the newest cyberattacks appear, software gurus are at work developing fixes to patch whatever weakness allowed the attack to take place, and these should be applied to your software system as soon as they are made available.
It’s also imperative to take regular backups of business-critical data so that in the event of an attack like ransomware, there is always a safe and current version of data to fall back on, without surrendering to the demands of a hacker.
Education and Training on Small Business Cyber Security
It’s fair to say that the biggest vulnerability for small business cyber security is the lack of employee education and training. This, of course, is not limited to SMB’s, because even corporate giants are frequently exposed to cyber threats by the weakest point in their networks, which is the actions of employees.
Hackers are naturally aware of this, and much of their time and effort is spent trying to dupe unsuspecting company employees into providing them with crucial information like passwords or account data which will allow them to carry out attacks against the company network. All this should make it clear that one of the top priority investments in small business cyber security is to properly educate and train employees about cyber threats, and how they’re carried out and resolved.
Every employee needs to be aware of the potential for cyber attacks and should treat anything suspicious with extreme caution. At the bare minimum, all employees should be educated about the necessity for safeguarding passwords, credentials, and account information. Such attacks can be carried out through email phishing scams, or possibly social media, where cyber attackers are known to be listening, and waiting to exploit unsuspecting employees to obtain vital security information in a seemingly harmless environment.
Hackers can also obtain business details information from employees via social engineering, wherein cyber attackers manipulate employees by pretending to be clients, banking institutions, or other characters of authority or importance. Some of these attacks are made through phone calls where a supposed colleague requests to know changes made to account information need to be reminded of specific passwords to gain access to system software. Hackers posing as managers from other departments have also exploited unwary employees with phone calls asking for similar information, which can then be used to breach the computing system and hijack valuable company data assets.
Some small businesses in the country have gotten the message, and have taken whatever steps they can to prevent cyberattacks, or at least reduce the potential for them. If awareness is the first big step toward improving your small business cyber security, educating employees about cyber attacks can be said to be an essential second step. Hackers these days are determined to victimize small businesses as well as corporate giants, and that means SMB owners and managers have to be just as committed to preventing those attacks.