The biggest rationale behind adding business internet security to your small business is one, simple, but crucial, factor—safety.
Business internet security protects you against multiple levels of threats. It doesn’t matter what size business you’re running, what industry you’re in, or what your business offers; the truth is that no small business is exempt from cyber-attacks. The repercussions of your business becoming a victim to a cyber-attack can be harmful to your business’ growth, daily operations, reputation, and customer base.
Keep reading to learn about some of the biggest risks your small business could face should you be subject to a cyber-attack.
Customer Privacy
Small businesses contain a great deal of private information—information that would be detrimental to one’s business if it leaked, was sold, or got out somehow. Think about the type of information your small business has access to such as proprietary data and customer communications.
All of that information—and more—needs to be protected from hackers and cyberattacks. The main reason for someone to try to access this information is to collect customer data that can be leveraged in fraud or identity theft. As a small business, it’s your obligation to ensure you’re never putting your customers in a position where their data may be exploited. Implementing security measures and taking the necessary steps to ensure their data is protected will go a long way toward ensuring your customers trust you with their data—in the immediate future and on a long-term basis.
Identity theft
Not only is identity theft an issue that affects your customers, but it can also directly affect you as the business owner. If someone gets access to your small business’ private data, they can use it to steal the identities of you or your employees. This information can include things like name, account details, credit card numbers, or even Social Security Numbers, depending on the type of business you operate. Hackers can then use this information to commit various nefarious, malicious cyber-crimes, such as opening fake bank or credit card accounts in the victim’s name.
Recovering from identity theft can take months (sometimes years), loads of money, and a lot of the victim’s own time. It can also take a long time to rebuild your reputation and ensure clients can trust you again. By utilizing antivirus software, cloud-based technologies, and other business security products, you can prevent these damaging incidents.
Damaged Reputation
A business’ reputation is everything. As a small business, you know this to be true—most businesses rely on repeat customers and referrals. If a system’s security gets comprised, it can severely tarnish your sparkling reputation, prompting customers to take their business elsewhere. People will tell others about the trouble, too, and it may create a roadblock in finding new customers.
Financial Damages
Beyond data breaches and privacy risks, hackers can also drain a company’s bank accounts. Ransomware is a type of attack where intruders hold stolen data hostage until the business pays up, with the ransom fees usually being exorbitant. Fixing the technical issues that led to the attack is expensive, as are the public relations fees you may have to pay to mitigate publicity from the issue. All of this can add up to a drastic setback for any small business—in many cases, leading foreclosure or bankruptcy.
Damage Control
Part of the process of recovering from any kind of cybercrime event is figuring out how it happened, then implementing stronger protective measures to avoid it in the future.
The initial problem can often stem from something as simple as an employee’s mistake. User error is the root of much cybercrime, as not all employees follow company security practices. In other cases, some kind of forensic investigation may be required to get to the root of the problem, along with corrective technical actions to fix any issues – again, a potentially expensive endeavor.
Common Types of Cyber Attacks
Educating yourself and your employees on the wide array of cybercrimes—from malware to DNS filtering and beyond— will put you in better position to prevent them. Here are a few of the most common ways that cybercriminals are trying to infiltrate your small business:
Malware
Let’s say an employee happens to click on a pop-up window on a company computer. If the link is malicious, clicking it can result in harmful software being installed on the computer, leading to threats including ransomware, viruses, or spyware. Spyware enables intruders to gain access to personal information and obtain passwords that can then be used by intruders to log in to your systems as a legitimate user and do all sorts of harm.
Phishing
Phishing scams often come in the form of deceitful emails, social media messages, or texts that look legitimate but are in fact attempts to steal personal information, including financial information and passwords, or to install malware. If this happens on a company computer, it can leave your business and network in a vulnerable position.
DDoS Attacks
DDoS stands for distributed denial-of-service attack. This occurs when cybercriminals use bots to flood your network, website or other systems with illegitimate traffic. The intent is to overwhelm the system’s resources and bandwidth. This causes immediate disruption, such as a slow or nonresponsive website, while also leaving your small business susceptible to further attacks that can potentially crash your systems and further disrupt your business.
How to Protect Your Business From Cyber Attacks
Any company can experience these types of attacks, from small, mom-and-pop shops to corporate conglomerates. The good news? You can take numerous security measures to protect company data and sensitive information. By implementing appropriate antivirus software and other security solutions, you can ensure your business and customers are protected against hackers.
Cybercrime tactics aren’t static. In fact, cybercriminals are getting smarter, so businesses must get smarter too. Optimum offers protective solutions like firewall and antivirus software, as well as offerings to fight the threats of malware, phishing, and DDoS attacks. Our support team can help you find the security solution that’s right for your small business, and help you get properly set up. We also offer 24/7/365 technical support to ensure you’re always covered and protected, because cyber-attacks can happen at any time.
Hackers are always looking to improve their techniques, and we are too. We’re constantly improving our products and services, so our clients stay secure in this ever-changing world.
To read more about the steps you can take to protect your small business, check out our blog detailing the 5 Best Practices for Small Business Cyber Security.
To learn more about how Optimum can help your small business stay safe, contact us today.
