Cybersecurity for small business

Nowadays, cyber-attacks have been a major issue for many small businesses. The small businesses have crucial information that cybercriminals always look for and additionally their security infrastructures are also very weak as compared to the large businesses and this is why they have become a common target.

Many small business owners can’t afford cybersecurity and many don’t even know where to start. Some small business owners don’t even get time to devote to Cybersecurity. This is why they always feel that their businesses are vulnerable to cyber-attacks. Sometimes the cybercriminals also tend to take out information by breaching details about the staff and customers linked with the business.

As we speak, many cybercriminals are finding out new ways of launching cyber-attacks. Some of the most common cyber-attacks done on small businesses are:

Phishing:

Phishing is linked to emails of the businesses and they are known as phishing emails. Another term for this is BEC, aka Business Email Compromise. This method has caused some serious business losses for many small business owners in the past. According to a report, around 7700 small organizations are affected by this method every month.

Basically what the criminal does is that he tries to trick any person linked with the business into clicking malicious links or open a malicious attachment which could have the potential to download risky ransomware. Once the ransomware is downloaded, then it can easily extract out information about the company.

Watering Holes:

Watering holes are linked to those sites which have already been hacked by criminals and are converted into malicious websites without the understanding of the website owners. Once someone tries to access the site, then they try to install malware onto the accessing device and then attempt to steal valuable information. This method compulsorily needs some action by the user like clicking the link or downloading the file.

Drive-by downloads:

This is also a very common method for cybercriminals to steal information. Here the criminals attempt to install an application on the relevant devices without asking for any kind of permission. The PCs which have outdated software and operating systems along with weak security solutions are the primary targets for these types of attacks.

So how can we avoid these types of scams? Although cybercriminals are genius people we can stay ahead of them by following some best Cyber Security tips for small businesses. They are:

• Training employees: Basic security practices and policies must be carried out for the employees. They need to have strong knowledge about Cyber threats and their solutions. Focusing on passwords and reading internet guidelines would also help a lot. Proper rules must be established to protect customer data and other vital information.

 

• Latest tech and software: The small business owners must also focus on getting the latest security software along with other updates applications like web browsers and operating systems. Also, they need to keep track of running scheduled security scans and the latest antivirus software updates.

 

• Firewall Security: Owners also need to focus on firewall securities for their businesses as they prevent strangers from accessing data on a private network. They also need to make sure that the firewall is enabled at all times and updated regularly.

 

• Making backups & copies of important information: The owners also need to make sure that they regularly backup all the crucial data related to their company like word documents, databases, financial sheets, other accounting information, etc. Additionally, an automatic backup can also be a useful option in these cases where the data are backed up automatically in particular time intervals.

 

None of these Cybersecurity tips will be of any help until the Small business owners create awareness about Cybersecurity culture in the offices. Various kinds of compliance, rewards & Accountability programs must be carried out in the offices so that everyone stays aware of these possible Cyber-attacks.