Cyber security mistakes that are leaving your small business at risk
Cyber security is something that all businesses need to be concerned with today. Hackers are getting more sophisticated by the day, and it seems that not a week goes by without news of several data breaches – and these are just the high profile ones. It is predicted that data breaches cost micro and small businesses an average of £1,380, although this figure can significantly rise depending on the nature of the breach. To ensure you do not have to suffer these costs, read on to discover the mistakes you need to stop making…
Assuming that your business is not a target
A lot of small business owners assume that they are not targets. They think that data breaches only happen at big and high profile businesses. While these companies may present a more lucrative hack, they also present a more difficult one. A lot of cyber criminals view small businesses as easy paydays, which means you are most definitely a target. Believing you are not is one of the biggest mistakes you can make when it comes to cyber security.
Not getting your employees on board
Did you know that a large portion of breaches are employee attacks? While some of these may be malicious breaches, the vast majority happen because of an error. If you do not educate your employees in cyber security, you are leaving your business wide open to a variety of attacks, from ransomware to email attacks. So make sure you implement a security policy and that your workforce is aware of it. You also need to teach your workforce about everything from developing strong passwords to spotting a suspicious email.
Outdated security systems
Unfortunately, cyber security is not something you can simply attend to once and forget about. It is an on-going process. You need to address your security policies and systems on a regular basis to ensure they are suited to today’s cyber threats. As mentioned in the introduction, cyber criminals are getting more and more sophisticated all of the time, and so the threat landscape is constantly changing. If you installed security methods two years ago and you have not addressed them since it is likely that they will be outdated.
No back-ups or disaster recovery plan
Last but not least, it does not matter how effective your cyber security plan is, there is always the chance it could be breached, although you have greatly reduced this chance. Nevertheless, you do need to be prepared for the worst. This means having back-ups of all of your files and a disaster recovery plan so you can take swift action.
