Cybercriminals can launch sophisticated attacks. Most breaches occur due to lax cybersecurity practices. This is especially relevant for small and mid-sized businesses.
Small business owners tend to overlook cybersecurity. Perhaps they are focused on expanding their company instead, thinking they are less at risk from data breach and believe it to be too expensive an expense.
Cybersecurity is not only a concern of large corporations; small businesses are just as vulnerable. Cybercriminals see these vulnerable organizations as attractive targets due to their perceived vulnerability.
Cyberattacks have had an adverse impact on at least half of small and midsize businesses (SMBs). Over 60 percent of SMBs affected by a cyberattack go out of business as a result.
Cybersecurity doesn't need to be costly. Human error is the leading cause of data breaches and this means that improving your cyber hygiene will significantly lower the odds of becoming the target of an attack.
Do You Make These Cybersecurity Mistakes?
In order to address a problem, first it must be identified. Teams within SMBs often make errors they're unaware of, leading to cyberattacks against their companies. Here are the main causes and here is how these attacks occur - take a look and see if you recognize any of them in your own company!
1. Underestimating Threat
Underestimating threat landscape is one of the most frequent cybersecurity mistakes committed by SMBs. Many business owners mistakenly believe their company doesn't pose enough of a threat - this misconception should not be disregarded!
Cybercriminals view small businesses as easy prey for cyberattackers. They believe these firms lack the expertise or resources necessary to defend themselves effectively against an attack from criminals; cyberattackers will target any company regardless of size, making it essential that proactive steps be taken in terms of cybersecurity.
2. Neglecting Employee Training
When was the last time your employees received cybersecurity training? Unfortunately, small businesses often ignore cybersecurity training sessions, thinking their staff will automatically act responsibly online.
Human error can also pose security threats; employees could unwittingly click on malicious links or download infected files without intending to. Staff training programs on cybersecurity provide essential protection.
Recognize Phishing Attacks
Password strength is of vital importance.
Cybercriminals use social engineering techniques to manipulate their victims.
3. Weak Passwords
Small companies are at increased risk from security breaches due to weak passwords used by employees, who often choose easily guessable or duplicate passwords across multiple accounts - providing hackers with easy access to sensitive company data.
64% of people reuse their passwords.
Encourage users to employ strong and unique passwords. Multi-factor authentication offers another layer of protection.
4. Ignoring software updates
A common misstep made by small businesses is failing to keep their operating system and software updated, leaving cybercriminals open access. For this reason, they should regularly upgrade all their operating system software (operator's package, browsers, antivirus etc), browser plugins and antivirus protection software as soon as security holes have been identified and fixed.
5. No Backup Plan Is Available
Small businesses often lack formal plans in place for data backup and recovery, leading them to mistakenly believe they won't experience data loss; however, cyberattacks, hardware malfunction, human error and human oversight all present risks to data integrity that should not be neglected.
Back up all of your critical company data regularly and test backups regularly so that they can be restored successfully if a disaster should occur.
6. No Formal Security Policies
Many small businesses operate without clearly defined policies and procedures for security matters, leaving employees unaware of critical information due to no formalized security policies being in place that outline how sensitive data should be managed or how best to respond in case of security incidents.
Small businesses must create formal policies and procedures for security. All employees should be made aware of them. Such policies could include:
7. Neglecting Mobile Security
As more employees utilize mobile devices for work purposes, security becomes ever more vital for small businesses; yet many disregard this aspect of cybersecurity.
Implement mobile device management (MDM) solutions. MDM enforces security policies for company-owned and employee-owned mobile devices used for work activities.
8. Watching television daily is not good practice Small to midsize businesses (SMBs) often lack the necessary IT staff to monitor their networks for suspicious activity and detect security breaches as quickly as possible, which may result in delays when trying to detect security breaches.
Install network monitoring software or consider outsourcing it, to quickly identify and respond to potential threats facing your organization.
9. No Incident Response Plan*
Without an incident response plan in place, SMBs could find themselves disoriented in the wake of a cyber-attack and react inappropriately.
Create an incident response plan. A plan outlining all the steps to take in case of a security breach should include communications plans, isolation protocols and an effective chain of command.
10. Think Managed IT Services Aren't Necessary
Cyber threats are constantly evolving, creating new attack methods regularly that small businesses find hard to keep up with and afford managed IT services.
Managed services come in all shapes and sizes for every SMB budget. Managed service providers (MSPs) offer essential protection against cyber attacks while optimizing technology solutions that save money.
Gain more knowledge of Managed IT services
Don't risk the success of your small business due to hackers; Managed IT services can be more affordable than you think for small enterprises.
Contact us immediately to arrange a meeting!
