As a small business owner, you’ve got a lot on your plate. Managing employees, pleasing your customers, making sure that all the operations are running smoothly…the list goes on and on. One item that might not be hitting the top of your list is cyber security. With everything moving online, you’ve probably thought about it once or twice, but for one reason or another, it slipped your mind. I mean, how likely is it that you’ll be the victim of a cyberattack when hackers could profit more from going after bigger companies? Unfortunately, that’s not the way cyber crime works. Any business can be a target, big or small, and it’s important to do your best to make it more difficult for cyber criminals to go after your business. Here’s why you should worry about cyber security for your small business.
The Truth About Cyber Crime Against Small Businesses
While it seems like most cyber attacks are made against large corporations, the truth is that as of 2015, 43% of attacks were made against small businesses. These attacks on a business’s network can target employees, customers, and even mobile devices on the network. The reason you don’t hear about these attacks as often is that they aren’t high-profile like the attacks on large medical organizations, or retailers like Target. It’s actually often much easier for cyber criminals to target small businesses because they rarely have security measures in place. While crime analysts are evolving their roles and working to predict and thwart crime, hackers are always finding new ways to swoop in on the most vulnerable businesses.
You Could Lose Business and Customer Trust
The consequences of a cyber attack can be devastating to a small business. Many businesses have to lose at least several days of business while they deal with the aftermath of the attack—with potentially huge losses. Beyond that, the effort that goes into controlling the damage can be time consuming and messy. You might lose some customers because they no longer trust you to keep their information safe. While it’s not possible to prevent all cyber attacks, it pays to put some thought into prevention and help keep your business, customers, and employees safe.
Take Simple Actions
You might think that taking measures to protect your business from decreasing digital security will be expensive and time-consuming to implement, but there are actually some simple steps you can take to lower your chances of becoming a target.
First, make sure to get everyone on the same page about cyber security. These attacks often go after employees, so it’s important that you train everyone on the precautions you’re putting in place. Create policies for handling data, and make sure everyone has the knowledge they need to follow those policies and be held accountable for following them. Beyond making everyone aware of the risks, you should take basic security measures seriously.
First, start off with a reputable antivirus software on all your company computers. Secure your network with a firewall and encryption to make it harder for criminals to access your devices. Make sure that all of your operating systems are kept regularly updated, and protect all devices with complex passwords. If it’s easy to remember, it’s probably easy for a hacker to crack. Back up important files (in case they are hacked or deleted), and be sure to use best practices for protecting customer credit card information.
Now, these are just the bare minimum basics. If you want to take things a step further, you might need to implement security solutions—check out these small business-friendly tools to help you get started. Getting started may take some time out of your already packed schedule, but it’s worth it in the long run—you’ll get peace of mind and improved protection against these growing threats against your small business.
