Cyber Security is the practice of protecting digital infrastructure or data. It is about keeping your personal or business information, devices and online accounts safe from hackers who want to steal your data or cause disruptions. With half of UK businesses reporting cyber attacks in the last 12 months, it is critical to understand the risks cyber security brings to the business.
Why Small Businesses are Prime Targets
Small businesses are prime targets for cyber criminals due to them typically having weaker cyber security measures and limited resources. This stems from smaller teams juggling multiple roles, tight budgets, and time constraints. Areas of neglect often include outdated software, poorly configured system or hardware, weak passwords, and insufficient employee training. Additionally, small businesses typically have less sophisticated IT infrastructure, making them more vulnerable to common attack methods.
An example of this was a car dealership in Kansas that lost $23,000 when attackers broke into their network and added nine fake employees to the company payroll and paid them a total of $63,000 in less than 24 hours. The loss was irrecoverable as the transfers were already made when the attack was identified.
Common Cyber Security Threats Facing Small Businesses
Small businesses face many threats ranging in complexity and nature due to the large threat vector in the current cyber world. A few examples of these threats include:
- Supply chain attacks – where suppliers or vendors are attacked and subsequently, your businesses data is affected
- Cloud security breaches – where data from a cloud location is breached. This could be due to the cloud provider facing a cyber attack or from misconfiguration of your use of the cloud vendor’s application.
- Insider threats -when employees (current and former) or contractors use data they have access to for malicious purposes.
- Social Engineering attacks – where attackers rely on human interaction. An attacker tricks an individual into revealing sensitive information or performing actions that can compromise security.
Denial of Service (DoS) attacks – which overwhelm a server with traffic, rendering it unusable
While these attacks range in cause, businesses can minimise risk by aligning with industry best practices:
- Strong password policies: Encouraging the use of strong passwords and the use of multifactor authentication across all business used applications.
- Regular software updates: Keeping operating systems, applications and security software up to date allows vulnerabilities that could be exploited by attackers to be patched.
- Data backups: Performing regular backups of important data to securely ensure that data is recoverable in the event of an attack.
- Employee training and awareness: Educate employees on common cyber threats, social engineering methods and best practices for protecting sensitive information.
- Incident response planning: Developing a comprehensive incident response plan to outline how your business will respond to a cyberattack and minimise damage.
Failure to prioritise cyber security can have many, often disastrous, consequences for a business of any size. This includes financial loss, reputational damage and operational disruption. To learn more please see our blog regarding Compliance and Regulatory Preparation.
The Unique Challenges Small Business Owners Face
Small business owners face many pressures and often have to wear many hats to manage the limited resources they have available and remain competitive within their market. These range from managing finance and marketing to overseeing operations and customer services, with the demands on their time often being overwhelming. These limited resources can make it challenging for small businesses to allocate sufficient time and budget to IT and cyber security.
The pressures of running a small business can also lead to fatigue and distractions, making it increasingly difficult to maintain focus on cyber security best practices.
IT and cyber security can also be a tempting area to cut corners, as the benefit cannot always be immediately seen; however, doing so puts your business at an increased risk of a cyberattack, which can have devastating consequences.
These consequences can include damage to reputation, halted operations, and financial loss.
However, the cost of allocating sufficient expertise and time to these issues can be incredibly costly, making it unachievable for many small businesses. These businesses would benefit from outsourcing either certain cyber security tasks or the entire cyber security function to a trusted managed service provider (MSP). This gives small businesses access to expert guidance and support, helping them to develop effective cyber security strategies and mitigate risk as much as possible.
The CTRL-S Effect
At CTRL-S, we understand that small businesses face unique cyber security challenges, which is why we’ve created a for you to use. This checklist helps you identify vulnerabilities and take proactive steps to secure your business from common threats. Download it today to see how your current security measures stack up and where improvements can be made to safeguard your business against cyber threats.
CTRL-S are your trusted partner; we can take the IT weight off your shoulders and implement impactful changes to increase your organisation’s security posture without operational disruption. Our expert team specialise in IT and Cyber Security solutions for small businesses. To see some of our previous work, click here to explore our case studies or to get your journey started, click here to get in touch.
