Cybersecurity is a hot topic right now and for very good reason. It might seem like there’s a new breach in the news every week these days, but the truth is that the situation is far more severe than just that. Hundreds of businesses every day are a target of a cyberattack, and small businesses are often the biggest targets for hackers and cybercriminals due to a lack of knowledge, loose security, and the general attitude that data breaches are something that only happens to big businesses. If you run a small business, these are some of the biggest cybersecurity risks that you’ll face. Melbourne weekly eastern can keep you update with any kind of business news.
Data Breaches:
Today, it’s difficult to run a business without storing some kind of personal data on your customers. Perhaps you only store names and email addresses, but if you have addresses, telephone numbers, passwords, credit card details and more, then your business is going to be an even bigger target. The truth is that if you hold any kind of data today, you can expect hackers to try and get at it at some point. It’s a question of when, rather than if, so tight data protection and security rules should always be in place. To get an idea of the type of data that needs to be protected heavily, use Nuwber to figure out which data is already publicly available.
Phishing Attacks:
Phishing attacks are on the rise once again – and this time they are more sophisticated and much more deceitful. Today’s phishing attacks are a far cry from the old obviously doctored emails that could be spotted a mile off. Anybody in your company might receive an email claiming to be from a trusted source and the sad truth is that these emails are often completely believable. Because of this, it is always best to verify any emails that ask for sensitive information, even if you’re completely trusting of the source that has seemingly sent it.
Ransomware:
Ransomware attacks are just what the name suggests. They occur when cybercriminals take your data hostage and only release it when a ransom is paid. A ransomware attack has the capacity to completely take down your business, and while they are not as commonplace as many of the other attacks we see today, it is always important to be prepared for this unfortunate event. Firstly, make sure that your business insurance covers ransomware attacks so that your business won’t go bust if you have no choice but to pay the hackers. But, you can never be sure they won’t take your data anyway, so it’s important to have tight security in place to prevent them.
Password Breaches:
Finally, some of the biggest cybersecurity risks today come down to human error and carelessness, and passwords are some of the biggest culprits. If you have employees who log into secure systems using passwords, it’s important to have a strong password policy in place as easily guessable passwords could put you at risk of a breach. Sadly, people don’t tend to be very creative when it comes to their passwords and using something like the name of a spouse, pet or child could mean that it’s easy to guess their login credentials by simply looking at their social media page.
These are just some of the biggest cybersecurity risks that small businesses will have to deal with in 2021.