The brutal reality is that any business that uses technology is vulnerable to a cyber-attack. Your business is at risk any time you connect to the internet.
Criminals have also taken advantage of the extra challenges businesses are facing with Covid-19, making data breaches an even bigger concern right now.
Most ‘at risk’ businesses
Businesses that handle sensitive information are most at risk. Things such as:
- Accepting payments online
- Taking instore credit card transactions
- Communicating with customers online (or over VOIP phones)
- Sending documents electronically
- Storing personal or sensitive business information electronically
But even if a business doesn’t handle this sort of sensitive information, they are still at risk. Cyber criminals will happily encrypt any device and demand a ransom before they will restore access to your data and client records. They don’t care what information a business has – they just know it is essential to that business.
Big corporations understand this risk and have teams of IT specialists on staff. They ensure they have the best layers of cyber security to protect their data.
But while some small businesses and sole traders have a level of cyber security in place, they rarely have enough, and often use sub-standard, or even free solutions, that don’t offer adequate protection. It is these businesses who are most vulnerable to a cyber-attack.
Why SMEs are most vulnerable to a cyber-attack
SMEs fall victim to the majority of data breaches because they tend to underestimate the importance of cyber security.
They:
- Believe it’ll never happen to them; that they are too small for a hacker to care about
- Think that their type of business doesn’t need to worry about it
- Assume that because they outsource payment processing, their data is not valuable to hackers
- Believe the cloud-based apps they use are secure, when in reality, very few software providers guarantee data protection or backups, only data storage. They see their job as ensuring you can access your data. Whether the data is “any good”, or even readable, is not something they worry about, let alone guarantee
Because they underestimate the importance of proper security, they:
- Look after cyber security themselves, instead of outsourcing to an expert
- Have nowhere near enough layers of security in place
- Poorly trained staff
- Use contractors and freelancers, who also have minimal security in place
- Store information on their computers, or browsers that hackers want (logins, credit card details, bank details)
- Don’t use reputable offsite third-party services to back up files and data – in fact they often have no backups of any data at all
- Have no cybersecurity protection or recovery strategy
Why that’s a problem
Firstly, for a starter, it doesn’t matter where their data is stored. Business owners are responsible for damages associated with a data breach. The liability still sits with them. Not having the right security layers in place compromises a SMEs finances, plans, employees and customers.
Secondly, hackers attack small businesses and sole traders constantly, with both mass attacks and targeted attacks. They are often the preferred targets for cyber criminals, due to their lack of protection and preparedness.
And most importantly, the
cost of a cyber-attack can be high enough to put a small company completely out of business.
Go back a few years and business owners understood the threats to their business. They purchased insurance to protect themselves against these threats. Today, our greatest threats are online. They are unseen, and rarely understood. SMEs and sole traders don’t realize that their data stored in cloud-based apps has probably already been exposed. Their information is most likely already being bought, and sold, on the dark web, and will be used against them in cyber-attacks.
How to stop being vulnerable to a cyber-attack
The IT Partners specialize in cyber security for small businesses and sole traders. Our fully managed
small business cyber security support package has been specifically designed to provide all the right layers. We use only the best security products, with 24×7 management and maintenance, at a price every small business can manage.
Protect your data now to ensure the long-term viability of your business. Get the right layers of cyber security in place before it’s too late.
Contact us today for a confidential chat.
