The era of ‘bad guys’ equipped with baseball bats and chains to loot people on the streets has come to an end. Today, geeky waifs have found an exciting alternative to steal from people virtually. They can work individually or be associated with organized crime making an exceptional amount of money every day. They know the art of stealing through different means, which gives them a reputation as scammers, hackers, and magicians. These con artists and organized crime organizations are causing companies to lose trillions of dollars’ worth of sensitive data that includes trade secrets, financial data, vendor and stakeholders’ details, etc.
Small Scale Businesses Are More Vulnerable To Cyber Fraud!
The reality is small businesses are easy targets for hackers and spies as they have less control over their systems and networks. Often, small business owners feel reluctant to spend money on improving their online security due to costs and other factors. Cybercriminals used to attack big, primarily multinational companies or IT houses. Still, most of them target small-scale companies as their system and networks are weak and offer less resistance. It becomes necessary for all businesses to protect their data from cybercriminals as it can cause them to lose a top position in the competitive race.
Stats Reveal An Exciting Story—Why Cyber Criminals Have Their Game-On!
The dilemma is, 98% of small to medium-sized businesses aren’t prioritizing their online security for future business growth. One survey found that 85% of people consider online security improvements useless as they believe they don’t have anything worth stealing. Also, 45% of small business owners believe hiring top IT professionals and implementing cybersecurity programs will be too expensive to bear. The avoidance of the expense is why cybercriminals have their game-on when it comes to breaking into a company’s accounts and computers to steal sensitive information and data. They act after discovering that the ship has already sunk and felt the need to salvage the situation. It’s better to keep anti-viruses and encrypted systems and networks in place to prevent data leakages and theft.
Implementing online security procedures for the first time can be an overwhelming process, and this is why hiring an IT professional seems like an intelligent choice. Gone are the days when businesses had limited options to hire IT individuals or agencies. You can hire them as per your business requirements and specifications, and they aren’t that expensive too. Cybercriminals will go to any extreme to steal something valuable from the company, so you must prevent them from stealing no matter what, by ensuring a baseline level of security.
So, here’s what you can do:
Install Anti-Virus Software
Unarguably, anti-virus serves as one of the most critical prevention tools that restrict malware infections and viruses entering your computers, phones, and tablets carrying essential business data. So, you need to install anti-viruses on your devices, not just on your computers, to fight against potential threats and dangers.
Use Secure Passwords
Setting common passwords such as your phone number, your son, or daughter’s date of birth must be avoided no matter because they are predictable, and cybercriminals find it easy to break into such accounts with easy-go passwords. You must have one tricky password for one account only as having the same passwords for multiple accounts can be incredibly risky. Keeping the same password for all accounts means that breaking into one account will possibly lead cybercriminals to break into all the accounts.
Protect Your Hardware
Make sure all your physical devices and hardware have a security system. It would prevent potential threats and dangers and keep in-house intruders (employees) away from accessing your computer in your absence.
Keep Your Software Up-To-Date
According to a study, most cyber-attacks occur when companies don’t update their cybersecurity software. To avoid disrupting your daily workflow, what you can do is schedule updates at the end of your working shift ideally after every week. Scheduled updates will provide you greater control over your cybersecurity network and prevent cybercriminals from entering your company.
Back-Up Your Data
Backing up your data means you can expect to recover essential business data such as bookkeeping and accounting records and finances. So, backing up your company’s data once after a couple of days, get you more in control of your business.
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