8 Common Cybersecurity Myths That Cyber Attackers Want You to Believe In

Cybersecurity attacks and data breaches continuously make headlines. Cybercriminals are great at finding vulnerabilities and exploit those loopholes to break into systems. Even though cybersecurity professionals are doing their bit, the increasing complexity of cybersecurity attacks is making it more difficult to detect and prevent those attacks.

If that was not enough, there are common cybersecurity myths that are prevailing in the business world which prevents businesses from taking cybersecurity more seriously. As a result, cyber attackers succeed in fulfilling their malicious designs. How can your business debunk those cybersecurity myths when they don’t know about them? Yes, your business can’t. It is important to know what these myths actually are so you can stop believing in them.

In this article, you will learn about eight cybersecurity myths that hackers want us to believe in.

 

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  Large Businesses and Corporations Will Be Targeted

 

One of the most common misconceptions small businesses have about cyberattacks is that they only target large corporations, enterprises and businesses. They might have a point because large corporations hold more data and could be a lucrative target for cybercriminals from a financial perspective as well. 

What they don’t realize is that large-scale enterprises have top-of-the-line security systems in place, which makes it difficult for hackers to break through. That is why they target small or midsize businesses. According to the Verizon Data Breach Investigation Report, 43% of cyberattacks target small businesses. 

 

• Cybersecurity Costs a Lot

 

Purchasing the best avast vpn review or implementing the latest and greatest firewall could cost you an arm and a leg. The high cost of cybersecurity tools can detract most businesses from investing in cybersecurity.  You might find businesses investing in getting the cheap VPS hosting but not the best firewall or antivirus. Unfortunately, what most of these businesses don’t realize is that the cost of cybersecurity attacks or data breaches is much higher than what you spend on getting the best cybersecurity tools. What’s worse, the cost of cyberattacks is growing at an alarming rate each year. To give you an idea, here is a stat. Cybersecurity attacks will cost businesses $6 trillion by 2021. If you need cybersecurity solution do check out ScoutDNS.

• IT is Responsible for Cybersecurity

 

Every organization has multiple departments such as HR, Marketing, IT and more. Instead of sharing the responsibility of securing critical business assets, another department leaves everything to the IT department. Every department needs to understand its role and contribute towards cybersecurity. By reducing the disparity between different departments about who is responsible for cybersecurity and sharing the responsibility, you can keep your organization safe. Cybersecurity should not be the sole responsibility of the CTO, CIO or CISO but the board should also oversee it.

 

• Strong Password Is Enough to Keep Me Safe

 

There are two types of employees. One who is careless about passwords and uses easy to guess or same passwords for all their accounts, so they don’t have to remember complex or multiple passwords. The other one follows the best password practices and uses a combination of alphanumeric characters. Who do you think is more vulnerable? Obviously the first type of users, right. 

The sad part is that the second type of user is also not safe either. Yes, that’s right. What if a user has a strong password that gets leaked or stolen? Make a habit of changing your passwords frequently. Implement two-factor or multi-factor authentication to add an extra layer of security. 

 

• Antivirus Offer Good Projection

 

You might have heard many people tell you that they have installed an antivirus and they don’t have to worry about anything now. The same holds true for businesses as well. Just installing anti-virus software won’t guarantee 100% protection. Make sure you keep your anti-virus update and install other security programs and tools such as firewall, anti-spyware and anti-malware for ultimate protection. Anti-virus software uses its virus definitions to detect threats and if your anti-virus definitions are outdated, they can not block the latest threats.

 

• Hackers Leave a Trace

 

Criminals always leave a trace whether they are offline or online, and you can easily know when you have been hacked or have been affected by a cybersecurity attack. That is why there is no need to invest in cybersecurity tools. That is wrong. Cyberattacks are becoming more and more sophisticated every day and hackers are using new techniques that help them to fly under the radar without getting noticed. This means that if you don’t have a proper intrusion detection system in place, you won’t even know that you have been hacked or your data has been stolen. In some cases, businesses came to know about data breaches and cyber attacks after weeks and even months.

 

• Threats are Only External in Nature

 

Most businesses have security controls to protect them from external threats because they believe that cybersecurity threats are only external in nature. They ignore insider threats that came back to haunt them. In fact, almost one-third of all cyberattacks are caused by a malicious insider. What’s even more alarming is the fact that insider attacks are increasing in number and are costing much more than before. They are also hard to detect because you are not expecting suspicious activity from an insider.

 

• My Data is Not Important

 

Last but certainly not least is not giving importance to your data. Yes, not all your data is critical but some of it might be. If you think that none of your data is critical and even if it gets stolen, it won’t impact your business in any way. If that is what you believe in, you are living in a fool’s paradise. Take all the necessary steps to keep your data safe whether it is critical or not because hackers can use it in ways you have never thought of. You don’t want your data to be misused for malicious purposes.

Which cybersecurity myths do you still believe in that have cost you the most? Feel free to share it with us in the comments section below.