Growing cybersecurity threats are leading companies from all across the globe into problems. From small-scale business startups to well-established IT conglomerates, there wouldn’t be any organization in the entire world that is immune to the threats of cybercrime. Cyber-attacks are an increasing phenomenon in today’s corporate world, and SMEs (small and medium enterprises) are increasingly targeted due to their lack of cyber defense. Arguably, cyber-attacks on SMEs have increased over the past decade or so, and small businesses are still getting fooled at the hands of cybercriminals. Small business owners need to change their perception that their company is too small to be a playground for cybercriminals. They need to understand the fact that small businesses are vulnerable to cybercrimes, and the prevention of cybercrime is a MUST!
Digitalization and Cybersecurity Threats
The age of digitalization is leading into a world where business data is exchanged across the board and transmitted through different internal and external communication channels and platforms and perhaps saved in database servers or the cloud or both. This indicates that businesses are likely to see intrusions and infiltrations into their servers by unknown parties, predominantly known as hackers, spies, digital thieves, scammers, or whatever you name online criminals. Unfortunately, cybercrime or hacking has become a very lucrative profession, and those who know the art of stealing from the company’s databases and servers are making a lot of money. Although larger companies and corporations may have taken some preventive measures for their businesses, SMEs mostly lack in the cyber defense department.
Due to weak cyber defense mechanisms, SMEs are an attractive target for cybercriminals. It is no secret that fraudsters use sneaky tactics to steal from companies and try their latest tricks to hurt businesses financially. “Cybercrime is a curse that will last forever,” said one of the top industry veterans associated with a multinational IT firm. Well, this industry has something for everybody–from solo-playing con artists to organized crime syndicates. Regardless of the size and scale, companies need to come up with a sound crime prevention plan for protecting themselves in a world of cybercrime.
What Can SMEs Do Defend Against Cybercrime?
Cybercriminals these days are equipped with wider hacking knowing and expertise that help them to steal important business data such as vendor details, bank, and financial statements, bookkeeping and accounting records, trade secrets, stakeholders’ information, and other sensitive data. SMEs need to protect themselves against cybercrime and make serious efforts to prevent confidential information leaking from the company’s servers.
There are countless ways SMEs can protect themselves from cybercrime or cyber attackers. Here’s what you can do
Install Anti-virus
Those SMEs that cannot afford to buy expensive antivirus software can download free antivirus solutions as they can also protect them from malicious cyber-attacks. Of course, free antiviruses can work too, but it’s better to have a more robust antivirus solution. Most cyber-attacks happen when SMEs fail to understand the notable worth of such antivirus software and ignore its incorporation in the company’s system and servers. So, this makes me feel safe to say that cybercrime is a menace that needs to be dealt with wisely!
One thing is for sure, cybercriminals have become smarter than ever and use sneaky tactics to break into the company’s accounts and servers. Some of them even have the hacking knowledge and expertise that allow them to surpass antivirus software. So, SMEs need not rely on free antivirus software and purchase more robust solutions for protecting their company against potential cyber threats and dangers.
BYOD Device Policy
Bring your device (BYOD) policy may help companies to keep their operational costs lean. This is the strategy that is common in startup business ventures that help companies to prevent the leakage of important business data from day one. BYOD policy can help businesses, as this is a convenient and cost-effective way to cut business costs. But the lack of a clear BYOD policy can be an open invitation for cybercriminals to hack into your systems and networks through unprotected devices. SMEs need to address this issue in companies that allow BYOD with its employees.
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