Cybersecurity is an essential aspect of business
In our modern world, cybersecurity is important to account for and devote resources to in your business.
The rate that cyber-attacks are occurring as well as their cost has only increased as time has gone on, with the costs of cybercrime having an expected increase of 15% over the next five years and in 2020 cyberattacks in the United States doubled in number, making up about 47% of cyberattacks worldwide.
While having robust cybersecurity may seem like something that only large businesses and organizations would need, cybersecurity threats are just as if not more of a risk for small businesses. Cybersecurity is essential to small businesses to protect sensitive data and prevent financial loss and loss of customer trust. Accenture’s Cybercrime study states that nearly 43% of cyber-attacks are at small and medium-sized businesses and on average the costs of these incidents ranged from $826 to $653,587. This means that not only are small businesses facing the same cyber threats as large corporations, but they are facing them with a lack of resources.
So how can a small business prevent from becoming victim to cyber-attacks?
Data Encryption
One of the most common attacks is on sensitive data which can result in financial and legal consequences as well as losing customer trust. Data encryption is essential to protecting sensitive data, with Varonis’ World in Data Breaches report stating that seven million unencrypted data records are compromised every day. One method of encryption is by ensuring strong password policies and multi-factor authentication. Around 80% of hacking incidents are due to compromised passwords or credentials so ensuring that access to sensitive data is secure and not easily accessible to those who do not need to see it.
Securing Wireless Access Points
Another common target for cyber-attacks are wireless access points. The vulnerabilities in wireless access points can lead to various risks such as unauthorized access to sensitive information, malware infections, and network downtime. An unsecured wireless network can be used by anyone within 150-300 feet indoors and up to 1,000 feet outdoors, meaning that people can easily use your network for illegal activities, web traffic monitoring, and theft of human resource files. So, ensuring that your wireless network is secured protects both the sensitive data from customers and your employees from cyber-attacks while they are using your wireless network. This can be done by simply having strong passwords, disabling unnecessary features, and regularly updating the firmware.
System Security
System Security is another important part of preventing cyber-attacks and is essential for any small business to have. Having antivirus software and firewalls is crucial to protecting your systems, with antivirus programs alone detecting 350,000 viruses daily worldwide. Regular system updates and patch management are also vital to having secure systems. Unpatched vulnerabilities are the target of 95% of all cyber-attacks and vulnerabilities that have had a patch available for over a year are exploited in 68% of cyber-attacks. Ensuring that your systems are updated regularly and that patches are patched in quickly.
Tips from TMPC
- Have strong password policies in place and ensure that access to sensitive data is not easily accessible to those who do not need to see it.
- Secure any wireless networks and make sure employees know to use secure wireless networks when working.
- Have antivirus software and firewalls and make sure that your systems are up to date and patches are implemented.
Implement a professionAL cybersecurity program
For more information, visit our site where you can find out more about the ways we can help stave off ransomware attacks to help keep your business on sure footing.
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