Why is Cyber Security important?

Did you know that cyber security is ranked as one of the greatest threats to businesses, year after year? Believe it or not, fewer than half of small businesses have cybersecurity measures.

With the proper knowledge and understanding on your side, you can keep your business’s cyber security in top shape. Here’s what you need to know.

What Is Cyber Security?

Cyber Security is the process of securing your online data from potential theft, crimes, or other wrongdoings. This may take different forms depending on the specific threat. However, you’re trying to prevent criminals from accessing your sensitive data.

Unfortunately, there are thousands of common cyber threats that may affect everyone. For businesses, that’s a severe threat. Fortunately, plenty of digital security tools, educational resources, and more help keep your business secure.

Who Is Most At-Risk?

Small to medium-sized businesses are at the highest risk for potential security threats. If you don’t believe it, think about it from an attacker’s perspective.

As a cybercriminal, you don’t want to go after the elderly couple down the street, even though it would probably be easy to enter. They may not have any digital assets worth your time.

Conversely, most hackers and cybercriminals wouldn’t stand a chance of trying to infiltrate Apple or the US government. Of course, these would have the most significant “prizes” to steal, but the security will be tight.

Unfortunately, that leaves smaller enterprises. They tend to have the best of both worlds. On average, they will have enough money or resources worth the attacker’s time and weak enough security to make it relatively easy. 

Why Is Online Security For Businesses So Important?

We’ve already established that small businesses are the most likely targets. This is the number one reason why cyber security is so important. Here are some of the other most important reasons.

Protecting Your Data

In the modern world, business data is essentially everything for most companies. No data, no business. To some extent, your business relies on data for:

• Customer experience
• Customer security (credit card numbers, personal info, etc.)
• Employee security (social security numbers, tax information, etc.)
• Company data (bank accounts, etc.)

The list goes on. Specific industries have even more critical data to protect. Healthcare and education workers have plenty of patient and student data.

Also, contractors and B2B companies are likely to partner with other enterprises, which could cause a ripple effect without the proper security. Taking cyber threats seriously is critical to protecting these essential elements with a target on your back as a small or medium-sized business.

Protecting Your Business

A few years ago, it was discovered that 60% of small businesses failed within six months of a cyber attack. Now, the problem is only getting worse. Attacks have sharply risen since the pandemic’s start, and businesses are forced to pay large sums.

Did you know the average ransomware attack costs small businesses over $200,000? There are other expenses, even if you have that to spare, which many small businesses don’t.

For example, your company may lose business or stock value after a breach is announced. You may have to pay fines for negligence depending on your industry and attack. If you have to invest in new networks and systems afterward, you could be looking at a large payout.

Your Entire Network Is Vulnerable

It isn’t just your account to worry about. If your staff uses your network, there are plenty of potential doors for criminals to find your sensitive data. Even if your passwords are strong, attackers need to infiltrate the network.

Do your staff use your WiFi on their unsecured smartphones? Do they all follow the same cybersecurity protocols? If not, there are plenty of loose ends to tie up in your business.

You Can’t Trust Any Source

Unfortunately, you can’t trust any source online, no matter how reputable it is. People can infect any website or application, no matter how harmless.

If you have 100 employees each visiting 100 web pages a day, 5 times a week, that’s 50,000 websites per week on your network. The chances of one of them containing harmful software are pretty high.

Cyber Crime Is More Common Than You Think

Another critical reason to mention is that this isn’t a theoretical threat. In the year 2020, cyber attacks rose exponentially. Last year beat that new record set the year before by September.

Unfortunately, 2022 is on track to beat it again. If you think it’s an uncommon issue, it’s essential to understand that there are over 2,200 attacks daily, and at least 30,000 websites are hacked daily.

Basic Protection Isn’t Enough

You may run an antivirus sweep automatically once a week and encourage staff to change their passwords twice a year. Okay, but what about unsecured devices on the network? How often do you update your antimalware software?

While antimalware and other protocols are essential, they are not enough to deter an experienced hacker. If your systems are outdated, these attacks can go undetected until it’s too late. 

Most Common Cyber Threats

To understand how to prepare for cyber security threats, we must first understand the threats themselves. Here are some of the most common types of attacks in 2022.

Social Engineering Attacks

Social engineering means using psychological manipulation for a specific desired effect. The most common type of social engineering attack is called a phishing scam. However, there are plenty of others.

The classic example of a phishing scam is getting an email from a prince who needs $10,000 wired to him. He’ll pay you back 10x over if you help him out of his situation.

Fortunately, most of us know not to bother with these emails. Unfortunately, some of them are becoming quite sophisticated. An email seemingly from a coworker is less easy to recognize.

On top of that, deep-fake technology has made it possible to appear as if you’re a coworker asking for a file sent over, which is hard to detect. It doesn’t stop there.

At a less involved level, there are other scams like “watering hole” scams. Almost every industry has a forum, chatroom, or online resource regularly. In this case, attackers may try to leave software around at this “watering hole” to infect your network.

Password Attacks

Believe it or not, one compromised password led to the significant Colonial Pipeline breach in 2021. If a password is compromised, there’s little you can do. An attack may go undetected, which is why prevention is essential.

Creating complete passwords is a critical step in the process. We know it’s annoying to add a symbol, capital letter, and number to your password, but it makes an enormous difference. However, we’ll discuss other steps to take in a moment.

Ransomware

Ransomware can infiltrate your system through a password attack, social engineering scam, and dozens of other ways. Once it’s in, there’s little you can do.

Moreover, ransomware is software that holds your business data, networks, and systems for ransom. You cannot access any of your data until a ransom is paid. Unfortunately, nearly all businesses pay for this, and attackers are rarely caught. 

Again, prevention is critical for ransomware. This is one of the most devastating types of malware, so keeping your systems secured and running frequent sweeps is essential.

How to Protect Your Business Data

Protecting your data means protecting your business. One attack is all it takes to sink a business, no matter how stable. Here are some simple steps that go a long way!

Educating Staff

The only way to prevent social engineering attacks is through education. Not just for yourself but your entire team. You can have the best systems in place, but if an employee is tricked into divulging sensitive information or opening doors for attackers, there’s little to do.

Of course, having managed detection and response will limit the risks of attackers infiltrating your system, regardless of how they got in. However, if the information is sent directly to them, there’s nothing to do. Therefore, educating staff is an essential part of any cyber security strategy.

Moreover, this should include which networks to use with which devices, how to spot a potential threat, where to report suspicious activity, and more.

Protect From Physical Theft

Protect your physical hard drives and systems from physical theft or tampering. Always lock your business and try to increase security measures (alarms, cameras, etc.) in the office if possible.

Setting the Right Automated Systems

Automatic reminders to change your passwords, automated antimalware sweeps, and more can go a long way. These come with little to no investment and are often as simple as changing a few settings. However, they can have a powerful impact on your overall security.

More importantly, this includes digital forensics tools and incident response. These require professional assistance, but they’re still crucial for protection. Implementing Cyber security is vital in today’s world. Organizations are implementing DevOps for their automation without considering the security implications that the automation systems might be vulnerable.

Using Two-Factor Authentication

We mentioned the devastating effects of a compromised password. Fortunately, there are ways to prevent compromised passwords from compromising your data.

Whether or not you realize it, you’ve probably used two-factor authentication. This is when you must use biometrics, a secure code from your email or SMS message, a PIN, or some other security measure. Even if attackers have the password, they will still need to get past this other security measure. Attackers can leverage vulnerabilities in Two-Factor Authentication, which could compromise your Cyber security posture.

Secure Backup

Backing up your most sensitive data is arguably the best thing you can do to protect your business. If ransomware attacks your network, you don’t have to give in to secure storage.

Secured cloud storage is the best solution for safe, secure file sharing and easy access. This way, your data is not attached to a hard drive or network. You can access it anywhere, so set two-factor authentication for your cloud system. Participate in a more frequent practice of performing a Cyber security assessment in your organization that helps reduce cyber risk.

Use a VPN

Virtual private networks (VPNs) are the best friend for businesses with remote or hybrid workers. A VPN will ensure that everybody in your business operates with the same security standards. This way, file-sharing, and communications can remain safe even when workers are spread out.

Keep Systems Updated

Regularly updating browsers and antimalware software is essential for cyber security. We know it can be frequent, but these systems update so often to respond to new threats. Any application that connects to the internet should be updated as often as possible.

If you’re reading this and see a red “update” button in the upper right corner of your Chrome browser, take 2 minutes to update it. It will make a big difference.

Hire Managed Services

Managed cyber security services are the best solution to your cyber security needs. You can constantly watch your network for immediate detection and response at a flat rate. It’s cheaper than hiring an in-house IT team, but it’s just as effective.

With the help of an expert IT team, you can start with some cyber security consulting to see where your systems stand. From there, you can make an informed decision about which services are right for your business!

Protect Your Business Today

Now that you know why cyber security is crucial for businesses, you can plan and protect your business. Cyber threats are everywhere; the longer you ignore them, the greater your chances of being attacked. Fortunately, there is help available to those in need!

Keep reading our blog for our latest cyber tips, and don’t hesitate to contact us with any questions or help with your strategy!