Why Small Businesses Are At Risk Of Cyberattacks
As a small business owner, you have a thousand balls in the air at once. The last thing you need is one more worry. Do you need to worry about cyberattacks? After all your business is small. You aren’t really going to be a target, right?
Wrong.
Small businesses are increasingly becoming the target of cyberattacks. In fact, 43% of all cyberattacks target small businesses. Why? Because small businesses often don’t have the same level of cybersecurity as larger businesses. They are an easy target.
How much time do you spend thinking about cybersecurity? Do you know your risks when it comes to being hacked, losing data or money due to phishing schemes, or securing your passwords? Chances are you don’t do any of these things. As we said before, you are busy.
So what can you do to protect your small business from a cyberattack? Here are a few tips:
• Educate yourself and your employees about cybersecurity. Make sure everyone knows the basics of how to keep your data safe.
• Invest in cybersecurity tools and solutions. This can be anything from a simple password manager to more complex firewalls and malware protection software.
• Stay up to date on the latest threats and trends in cybersecurity. This will help you keep ahead of the curve and better protect your business.
Cyberattacks are a real threat to small businesses. But by taking some simple steps, you can help keep your business safe. Cybersecurity is an important part of running a small business in today’s world. Don’t let yourself be caught off guard. Protect your business today.
Let’s break this down a little further.
Learning More About Your Risks
One of the things that makes a small business vulnerable to an attack is that its employees simply don’t understand the dangers. Let’s discuss some ways that an employee may put your company at risk.
Poor Password Hygiene
Password hygiene is more important today than ever. Unfortunately, we still see people using poor passwords, like Password123 or BusinessName! A good password can help protect your data.
That being said, a “good password” is only good if your employees store them in a secure place. Unfortunately, we have seen employees write passwords on sticky notes and post them on their computer screens. Recently, we even saw one of these on a TikTok Video. The employee was doing the video with the camera facing the computer monitor and the password was completely visible to 1000s of people watching.
Sharing passwords is also a problem. How are your employees sharing passwords? Do they text them to each other, email them in an unencrypted format, or shout them across a room?
We know these sound crazy but we see these things happening regularly. Do you know how your employees are handling passwords? Have you discussed password hygiene with them?
Falling For Phishing Schemes
Phishing schemes are getting more sophisticated and your employees are busy. They don’t have time to keep up with the latest schemes. That’s one of the reasons we offer a webinar to train employees. We want to keep your employees on their toes so they are less likely to put your business at risk. How well versed are your employees on the latest phishing schemes?
Credit Card Fraud
One area that came as a surprise even to us is the amount of money small business owners lose every year to credit card fraud that simply may start at your local gas station. If your employees have a credit card for gas purchases, we suggest they go into the station to pay for their gas. The problem is that skimmers are far too prevalent today and the pay-at-pump features are simply not secure. Although these transactions are often caught by the credit card company and the business owner doesn’t lose the money due to fraudulent transactions, they do spend time resolving the issue and, as the saying goes, time is money.
