The 5 Biggest Cybersecurity Risks for Small and Medium Businesses

Cyber_Security

Cases of data breaches from major corporations around the world are becoming more and more frequent, much to the dismay of business owners all over the world. Every few weeks, there is a report about a big corporation’s data being leaked on some website, causing the company huge monetary losses as well as irreparable damage to reputation.

Although the alarming frequency of such high-profile data breaches would lead one to believe that the hackers must really have it in for large business owners, the fact still remains that small and medium business owners are just as susceptible to data breaches, if not more. Even if small and medium businesses realize that they are under threat as well, they might wrongly think that they would need to spend a large amount of money to keep the threat at bay.

The reality is anything but this. The major factor that decides whether you fall victim to such attacks is your level of negligence. Therefore, this article aims to make you aware about the 5 biggest threats your business might face.




The 5 biggest threats

1. Stolen laptops and mobiles
It is astonishing how much data is stolen or compromised when the devices used by employees are stolen. The one who has access to the systems can access the company data and use it as he or she wishes. Therefore, it is absolutely essential for businesses to encrypt all data that is transferred on portable device of an employee. This would ensure that the data remains protected in the event that the device is stolen.
2. Unsecured Internet Networks
This is a blatant overlooking of your business’s security. Wireless networks are used by all businesses, and even small businesses today require off-shore and remote employees to access corporate data from elsewhere. Therefore, having a secure network is important to prevent unauthorized personnel from entering your network and causing problems.
3. Spear Phishing
This is another term for email scams. Email scams are one of the oldest tricks of the trade of gaining access to a user’s system. Hackers quite often send such tampered emails to all employees of a company in hopes that one of them falls for it. These attacks spread like fire, so if one employee system is affected, the entire network could be done soon enough. This is something employees should keep an eye out for as well, for such emails are usually simple to spot.
4. Malware
Malware is any code that has malicious intentions and has the capability to cause serious problems in your system. Malware are of different types, but they can be warded off by keeping a good anti-virus and anti-malware software on hand. It is also important to regularly update your anti-virus.
5. Insider Threats
This is something that is not always the case but is always a possibility. An employee holding a grudge against your company might take things further by mishandling your sensitive corporate data. To prevent such a thing from happening, make sure employees have differing access to corporate data according to their rank in your company. It is also wise to record the activity of all employees, big or small, to know if something is amiss.
Conclusion
We saw in this article how small and medium businesses can be targeted. The amount of money to be spent on security systems is by no means huge. All it takes is a little background knowledge to invest right in opposition to investing big.

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