As a small business owner, you make 1,000’s decisions daily. Many decisions affect how efficiently your business will run when it comes to your IT security. No matter how big or small your business is, whether you have only been in business for three months or ten years, IT security needs to be top of mind.
Let me give you some statistics to consider:
65% percent of organizations fell victim to cyber-attacks in the US in 2020.
Phishing attacks account for 90% of data breaches, according to Cisco’s Cyber Security Threats Trend report for 2021.
60% of small businesses do not think that their business would be a target for a cyber-attack.
60% of businesses go out of business six months after a cyber-attack.
43% of cyber attacks target small businesses specifically.
Almost half, 47% of the small businesses do not know how to protect themselves from cyber-attacks.
63% of data breaches consist of compromised, weak, stolen, or *gasp* default passwords
Newsflash: cyber criminals don’t care what type of business you run or how small your business is; if there is sensitive data to be stolen, at some point, they will likely try to steal it.
So, what can you do as a small business to help protect yourself?
1.) Update, Update, Update!! Did I mention do your updates? I can’t say this enough: make sure you do your OS and software updates. Its important to also make sure you are doing your hardware updates for all the devices in your business.
2.) Use a paid-for virus protection solution and malware protection solution. Stop trying to save a few bucks and use home-based free stuff; you want something that provides a management console where you can not only schedule scans but view results, have a virus scan that uses real-time scanning and block malicious sites. I recommend Trend Micro Worry-Free business solutions to my clients. It allows excellent management and offers protection for mobile devices as well.
3.) Use a password manager and use 2FA whenever possible. Use an authentication app over SMS when you can.
4.) Use hard-to-break passwords. Use passwords that are 12-20 characters in length. For example, if I used the password MyD0gs@reAwesome! It would take 39555681645472620 years for my password to be hacked.
5.) Have secure backups of your data. Back up your computers, one drive and Google offer easy solutions to back up your computers.
6.) Have a plan for when a cyber-attack happens. It’s better to be prepared than be caught off guard by something that could take your business down for days, weeks, or even months.
A lot goes into protecting a business and making sure the IT side of things runs smoothly; outsource to a professional, like myself.
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