Protect your Business
If you are a micro or small business owner fortunate enough to have never been subjuected to a cyber attack, you might be forgiven for thinking that cyber crimes are something that will only happen to larger businesses.
In 2019 the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) reported that small businesses in the U.K suffer around 10,000 cyber attacks daily which means around 1 in 5 small firms have been subject to some form of criminal activity such as phishing, malware or payment scams. IPSE suggests the figures could be higher with 66% of SME’s and 45% of Micro Businesses in the 2018 survey from the National Cyber Security Programme reporting they had been victims.
A national example of cyber crime can be found on BBC News, where Bree Kotoman talks to Mary-Ann Russon about how she nearly lost her blossoming fashion design business when hackers took over her Instagram Account. This was where she managed the majority of her business with 5000 followers and a steady stream of orders through the private messaging facility. When her account was shut down Kotomah stopped producing designs for 2 months before coming back with a stronger attitude to digital business and digital security.
In a local example a micro business suffered a hack on their hosting and domain account in November 2019. Their account was with one of the “Big Names” in hosting and domains and so considered by themselves as a safe choice for their business.
Despite sending proof of ownership, a copy of their passport and business certification the “Big Name” continues to refuse to give them control back of their account, and the domain? Not surprisingly the hacker refused the request to give it back, this means if they want their domain back the business has to go through domain dispute resolution which can cost over and above £3000 with no gurantee the domain will be returned. Couple that with the loss of business due to mailbox and contacts loss these are the type of costs that could easily wipe a micro business out.
What to be Aware Of
Ransomware
This is a common use of malware software used by criminals to block a businesses access to it’s system and encrypt business vital data, the cyber criminals then demand payment from the business in order to return their access.
Phishing Attacks
Phishing uses email as a method to gain access to business logins or data, it works by duping the unsuspecting into disclosing this information. These emails usually appear to come from reputable organisations.
Internet of Things
As the number of smart devices increase in businesses, vulnerability to cyber attacks will increase as they devices typically don’t come with security out of the box.
Identity Theft
A specific form of fraud where personal information is stolen, if you are a micro or small business owner the chances are your personal data is linked closely to your business data.
Hacking
Hacking can happen in various ways such as DDOS, Viruses and Botnets. A Hackers take over business systems, networks and websites. Common types of hack related to micro and smaller businesses that we have witnessed include:
- Ad Spamware where adverts with often inappropriate content are populated throughout your website, the clean up for these kind of attacks can be lengthy as you have to ensure all the files have been cleaned effectively to prevent risk of return.
- Domain control, taking over ownership of a domain and redirecting away from your business to other websites. As we explained this can be a costly experience for micro and small business owners.
- Updating payment details on your E-commerce website so that purchses on your website are paid to them and not to your account. Again the costs of this type of attack can be destroying for micro and small businesses.
Scamming
Beware the offers of digital support coming into your inbox, they are likely to find your business problems that don’t actually exist and charge you handsomely to fix them!
What Can You Do?
Take Responsibility
As the owner of a micro or small business, it’s up to you to champion cyber resilience, you don’t have to be an expert in cyber security implementing policies and talk to your employees about how you can improve business security.
Educate your employees, help your staff to understand the important role they play in ensuring cyber resilience by instilling in them good cyber habits. Give your employees an understanding of how to avoid potential threats that is easy for them to work to on a day to day basis.
Strong Password Management
The growing availability of multi-factor authentication across software applications provides extra protection for your business especially in terms of confidential and business sensitive data.
Where it is not available implement a strong password policy, not using generic passwords, regularly updating and not recycling old passwords can help your business stay more secure.
Use Protective Software
Take the time to evaluate the security of your hardware, cloud and website systems is there software available to you to make them more robust? Installing protective software such as firewalls and malware scanners may seem time consuming or unnecessary but it could end up saving your company.
Keep Your Software Up to Date
If software developers become aware of vulnerabilities in their systems they will release updates to overcome them. Keeping your software up to date means you will be less susceptible to attacks.
Not sure if your website is secure? Get in touch with us for a security check over or let us handle it for you with our monthly security and updates package. For hardware and systems security ensure you talk to reputable companies, if you aren’t sure who to approach we are happy to offer some recommendations 🙂