While most think cyber-attacks target large corporations, the scary truth is small businesses are the actual target of more than 40% of all cyber-attacks. While this information is very worrisome for small business owners, there are ways to safeguard your investment and save your business money and time.
The most important safeguard you can put in place to protect your small business is investing in a cybersecurity professional services plan. These plans exist to help both large and small businesses. Cybersecurity will do everything from identify holes in your security to building up your defenses to protect from attacks. Another vital step you can take to protect your business is to identify and understand cyber threats.
Here are 6 of the most common cyber threats:
1. Ransomware
Ransomware is a type of malware that limits or prevents users from accessing their systems. This type of software coerces its victims to pay a specific amount of money through e-payments for access to their systems or to retrieve their lost data. As a quick fix, most businesses may want to pay the fee to get things back to normal, but this puts a band-aid on the problem. Truly fixing the breach includes an antivirus software or a cybersecurity team to help patch the hole in your security. For more information about ransomware, you can also refer to the previous CPS blog: https://www.cyberprotection.com/post/how-to-protect-against-ransomware
2. Phishing
Phishing is a type of Internet scam devised to acquire user's sensitive data used for identification fraudulently. Tactics used include stealing passwords, credit card numbers, bank accounts, and other sensitive data. Safeguarding all your internal communications and setting up email encryption for all correspondence is a huge step towards securing your information. Enlisting the help of a cybersecurity professional to help manage the security of communications and data sharing is a surefire way of guaranteeing protection from phishing scams. For more information on phishing, you can also check out this post: https://www.cyberprotection.com/post/how-to-spot-phishing-scams
3. Inside Jobs
Unfortunately, one threat that businesses have is within their walls. Every employer does what they can to ensure they hire trustworthy and honest employees. Unfortunately, all it takes is one disgruntled employee sharing the information they have access to, and that employee could create a substantial data breach. The solution for this is less cyber and more interpersonal. Regular open lines of communication with your employees will give them the understanding and voice needed to prevent exposure of important and private information, hopefully.
4. Denial-of-Service
Denial-of-service (DoS) attacks are a type of attack that targets the small business' servers by overloading the website and slowing the performance to a halt. The fix for this type of attack is enlarging your server capacity. An enlarged size prevents the intentional overloading of the server and the possibility of diminished production and functionality for legitimate users.
5. SQL Injection
Structured Query Language (SQL) is a domain-specific language used in a database to program. An SQL injection attack occurs when a code is inserted into the SQL to alter the code and allow data retrieval. Your cybersecurity team should resolve this type of attack. They maintain specific training to identify and repair the corruption. To help the cybersecurity team, always make sure all your systems are up to date, and you are practicing all other forms of prevention from cyber attacks.
6. Email Based Attacks
Most of these cyber threats have originated from a lack of email security. It is vital to keep your email and communications completely secure. Email encryption software is a necessity to ensure cyber-attack protection. Company cybersecurity training is also an essential protection for your business' data.
Being aware of these risks and taking steps to mitigate them will save your small business time and money in the future. Invest in company-wide training and a robust cyber protection team to help you understand and protect your investment.