According to data, 64% of all companies have experienced cyber attacks in some form or another. Furthermore, it is said that over 40% of all cyber attacks target small businesses. The question is, is your organization adequately prepared to ward off cyber attacks? Here is everything you need to know.
What are cyber attacks?
A cyber attack is an offensive action taken by a cybercriminal to steal confidential business data or to disable devices. There are many different types of cyber attacks, and due to cyber criminals becoming more and more sophisticated, they are becoming more difficult to detect – hence the reason why sufficient protection and proper education around the matter are so essential.
What are the different types of cyber attacks?
Phishing attacks are arguably the most common types of cyber attacks. Usually, these attacks are set in motion via a malicious email that appears to be sent from a credible source. The email often entices you to take a specific action, such as download an attachment or click on a link. When the targeted individual downloads the attachment or navigates to the link, the cyber criminal installs malware onto their device, and this enables them to gain active to the sensitive data stored within it.
Other types of cyber attacks to watch out for include:
- Password attacks
- DoS (Denial of Service) attacks
- Man-in-the-middle attacks
- Ransomware attacks
- Drive-by attacks
- Trojan horses
- SQL injection
- Cross-site scripting
It is vital to educate yourself on how these attacks take place and how to avoid falling victim. Once you understand the details, don’t forget to pass the information onto your employees and business partners, too!
How to protect your business from cyber criminals
Most importantly, you need to invest in high-quality security software that comes equipped with software and hardware firewalls. These firewalls should be installed on all employee devices, including their smartphones. Don’t forget to install them for your remote working employees, too – this is necessary even if you use a VPN or the Cloud.
It is imperative to find the right IT partner to assist you in maximizing protection against cyberattacks and training your staff to recognize scams. 24×7 IT Solutions is a great example of a trustworthy IT partner. In fact, the company is known to offer a free cyber security risk assessment to help business owners establish how vulnerable their establishments really are to cyber criminals.
Finally, take the time to encrypt and back-up company data. Remember – protecting your business from cyber criminals involves preventing physical access to confidential information, such as customer and employee personal details, and ensuring that if this information does land up where it isn’t supposed to, that it is quickly rendered useless before anyone is able to access or copy it. Rendering sensitive data useless is possible through encryption. Investigate full disk encryption software for total peace of mind.
You cannot be too careful when it comes to safeguarding your business against crafty cyber criminals. If you have yet to do so, the time to act is now!
