Cyber Security And Your Small Business

Reducing the risk of a cyber style attack on your business (and ideally preventing them from occurring at all), is the job of effective cyber security, and protecting your business from the deliberate exploitation of systems, networks and technologies is of crucial importance.

What are some of the consequences of a cyber style attack on businesses?

These kinds of attacks are usually carried out with the intention of inflicting damage to a business, or expropriating information that may enable the criminal(s) to steal payment card data, customer details or company secrets and intellectual property. They may also try to gain unauthorised access to networks that enables them to compromise official records, or cause financial and/or reputational damage to the business they have targeted.

Naturally, these consequences are serious and can result in businesses being forced to close temporarily, or even permanently if the financial repercussions or reputational damage has been too severe.

Why are we seeing more and more crimes of this nature?

As with many criminals, they will target people or businesses who have weaknesses in their technological systems that they can exploit with minimum risk to themselves, and with the many millions of dollars being lost to such types of crime every year, it has become a huge and worrying industry. These criminals are also working relentlessly to evolve and improve their methods of causing misery to legitimate businesses, and law enforcement agencies are struggling to keep up.

Attacks of a cyber nature also come in many different forms and are intended to target weaknesses such as outdated software, or individual employees, such as those who may click on a malicious link sent to them in an email. With many victims from all walks of life, keeping up with the criminals is fast becoming a losing battle.

How can you protect your small business from a cyber style attack?

One of the best and safest ways of ensuring that your small business doesn’t fall prey to cyber crime, is to engage with the services of a professional company offering IT services, and have them set you up with a comprehensive cyber security system. As each small business will have a different set of cyber security needs, it’s important that these be addressed fully before any kind of system to protect the business, can be put into place. A retail business, for example, will have a whole set of completely different cyber security needs than a healthcare professional. An IT company will be able to assess your needs thoroughly and provide you with a system that protects what is most vital to you and your business, at a cost that can be negotiated.

With the potential for real financial and reputational damage when your business is attacked by cyber criminals, having a security system in place as quickly as possible, is the only way to safeguard your assets and/or valuable and sensitive data. Never underestimate the seriousness of this new wave of crime, and do your utmost to ensure that your business never becomes a victim of cyber crime.