Large companies aren’t the only ones that need cyber security services, although they are much more likely to have them than small businesses. Recently, hackers have stepped up their game to increasingly target small companies for the specific reason that they don’t have cyber security protocols in place. If you’re the owner of a small business, you can’t afford to neglect cyber security these days, especially because of these three biggest cyber security threats.
Phishing attacks
All organizations, big and small, are facing an increase in phishing attacks. In fact, up to 90% of all cyber-attacks are from phishing attempts, accounting for more than $12 million in losses each year. A phishing attack is characterized by a fake email or text that appears to be from a trusted contact that usually includes a link or file to download that contains malicious software. These emails or texts might also trick you into giving a bad actor sensitive personal information, including bank account data.
While early phishing attempts were fairly easy to catch because of all the misspellings, unknown names, and other red flags, recent phishing attacks are much more sophisticated. They can often resemble legitimate companies down to the logo and email format. Some even appear to come from high-level employees at the target company itself.
Malware attacks
Malware attacks can result from phishing attacks, and as such, are the second-biggest threat facing small businesses today. Malware is the general term for any type of malicious code that is placed on a network or device that is designed to steal or destroy data. Malware can get on computers or a network by clicking on a link that triggers the download of the code, by visiting a website that has the code embedded in it, or by connecting to another computer that is already infected.
These attacks are particularly damaging to small businesses because they put their customer, employee, and company data at risk. One breach of customer data can completely destroy a small business and if you lose your data, it can cripple your operations for months, if not longer. Since small companies tend to hire employees who use their personal devices for work, they are more likely to become infected with malware because these devices are also used for non-work activities that can lead to unsafe websites.
Ransomware attacks
For hackers looking to make money off of stealing data, ransomware attacks are among the most lucrative. This malicious code encrypts the data it steals so that the company can no longer access it unless they pay the hacker a ransom to decrypt it. Companies that are ransomware targets have to choose between paying enormous amounts of money to get their data back or losing the data forever. And, unfortunately, sometimes companies don’t even get their data back after they pay the ransom.
Conclusion
Just because you aren’t a huge company doesn’t mean you aren’t going to be the target of hackers and cyber crimes. Small businesses can no longer afford to ignore cyber security because if they do, it’s only a matter of time before they get hit and lose data, money, and their reputation.
Photo credit: The feature image has been done by James Thew.
