Cybersecurity threats are more prevalent than ever. As of 2020, 67% of small businesses (those with less than 1,000 employees) were targeted. More than half of all small businesses have been breached. As a small business owner, you have to be aware of the dangers lurking on the web.
Red Sky Alliance offers a suite of Intelligence Services that revolve around cyber threat analysis. Today’s post is aimed at small business owners that need a quick primer on the threats streaming into their organization.
What is Malware? According to McAfee, malware is a blanket term for software created by cybercriminals. Typically, the malware steals data or causes other damage that’s difficult for small businesses to recover from. Sometimes, malware is intended to extort money, and data or systems are locked until a ransom is paid. Called ransomware, this can limit a business owner's access to their files. Unfortunately, criminals do not always release systems after payment.
Cyber Strategies For small business owners, having a cybersecurity plan in place is not an option. At a minimum, business owners should work with a disaster recovery firm to have a pre-emptive action plan that can be quickly deployed if a breach happens. A disaster recovery plan should be crafted so that it’s managed through one interface and has multiple layers of protection. Ideally, it performs regular tests and makes timely adjustments in case weaknesses are found.
While having a recovery plan is crucial, so too is taking measures to reduce the chances of an attack in the first place. For this, it takes understanding the types of threats out there. Security Boulevard lists cloud-based threats, endpoint security, and social media attacks among some of the most common issues facing SMBs today:
- Cloud-based threats. Millions of Americans were suddenly thrust into a remote work situation at the beginning of the pandemic. This has complicated cybersecurity issues for companies across the board. As a small business owner, you must get ahead of these threats by utilizing only trusted cloud-based platforms. Plan to spend money on your cloud services. While there is nothing wrong with free cloud storage or software, if you aren’t paying for it, chances are good that it’s not as secure as you would like.
- Endpoint security. Similar to cloud-based threats, remote worker — endpoint — security has become a hot topic since 2020. Talk to remote workers about ways they can mitigate risk. One thing you can do is to issue computers that are dedicated specifically to work. They should have antivirus software and other security features pre-installed.
- Social media attacks. Social media is a part of society. Unfortunately, we tend to overshare and blindly trust information found in our feeds. Employees should never use social media from their work computers. Further, employees should be trained on how to create stronger passwords so that they do not inadvertently open themselves up for breach by playing a seemingly innocent social game.
Something else to look out for is phishing emails and text messages. A phishing scam is designed to look like it comes from a trusted person, such as an employer, friend, your bank, or, commonly, Amazon or PayPal. Talk to your employees about when it’s okay to open attachments or click on links. A good way to determine who, exactly, an email is coming from is to hover over the sender. Most phishing emails come from unknown email addresses, which might show up as a known sender until you look more closely.
To protect yourself from cybersecurity threats, common sense is key. When you own a small business, this starts by partnering with a company that can get you out of hot water if you need it. Next, talk to your employees about ways they can help reduce threats. And, most importantly, remember that the digital climate changes often. Stay up to date so that you know how to watch for new scams as they arise.
Red Sky Alliance is a Cyber Threat Analysis and Intelligence Service organization and has been helping companies since 2013 with proactive approaches to cybersecurity. For questions, comments, or assistance, please contact the lab directly at 1-844-492-7225, or feedback@wapacklabs.com
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