According to statistics, a business is hacked every 39 seconds, what’s more, it’s not just large companies being targeted, 65% of cyberattacks are aimed at small and medium-sized businesses.
Attacks don’t just result in downtime, loss of productivity, theft of information assets and/or fines. They can cause significant damage to your reputation, resulting in loss of customers and potentially revenue in the future.
Cybersecurity Risks and Threats to Your Business
Compromised Data
Businesses rely heavily on data, whether for market research, website analytical data, account details or the personal information of its staff and customers. When a site is hacked, it’s not only the data that gets stolen, but the hacker can also use, sell, alter or expose sensitive customer information, including credit card numbers, intellectual properly, financial information, employee records and more.
Reputation
Customers don’t want to hear that a company they trusted to keep their details safe has been hacked. The obvious step for most people will be to leave the business for a competitor. This results not only in a damaged reputation but also in a loss of a revenue.
Financial Repercussions
Cyber-attacks not only put information at risk but also have devastating financial repercussions. Whether it’s in the form of a fine, system downtime, loss of productivity, acquiring new software or restoring lost data, the loss of both time and money can cripple a business.
People
95% of cyber security breaches can be attributed to human error. More often than not your employees make a simple mistake like visiting a malware-infected site, falling for a phishing attempt, or using compromised USB drives or unprotected personal devices on a work machine.
How do you minimise cybersecurity risks from people:
- Provide cybersecurity training, obvious but very effective
- Limit their access to only the specific information and resources they need to do their job
- Use malware scanning software to quickly identify potentially dangerous malware files in email attachments and on websites
Passwords
Weak passwords give hackers an easy way to attack your business. It’s important to ensure that any accounts associated with your website and online systems are secured by strong passwords and where possible two-factor authentication. Make it clear to your employees as well as to your customers that they should not reuse passwords from other online accounts.
Patch management
Patches in software and apps can also make your online platforms vulnerable. Make sure that all technology you use is running the latest software version and that you create and maintain a rigorous patch update schedule.
Conclusion
Cyber attackers are constantly finding new ways to access your data. You can’t afford to ignore the importance of online security, especially when there’s so much at stake, including employee and customer data, reputation, revenue as well as sensitive company information. Take steps now to assess your current online security situation and take action to protect your business against any future cyber-attack.