If you pay any attention to business news whatsoever, you already know that some of the world’s biggest and best-known organizations are dealing with cybersecurity challenges. It seems like every week a new retailer or institution is admitting they were successfully targeted by online thieves.
Knowing that, it can be easy for a small business owner or IT director to throw up their hands and assume there isn’t anything they could do to prevent criminals from getting into their files or finances.
However, that’s far from the truth. Not only can good cybersecurity safety measures stop online intrusions, but most hackers don’t use sophisticated tools to break into smaller organizations. Instead, they rely on simple mistakes by employees that leave them vulnerable.
Is there a chance your employees are inviting hackers into your company through the front door? Let’s look at some of the biggest and most prevalent cybersecurity problems we see all the time…
Missing Office or Building Security
Not all cybersecurity is about doing things on the internet. In fact, you can keep thieves away from your data simply by protecting your building or facility. Whether you realize it or not, thieves would love to come in and steal flash drives, servers, or workstations – both for the resale value of the hardware and because any of these might contain valuable information. Improve the physical security around your business and you’ll have one less thing to worry about.
Passwords That Are Simple or Unchanged
Out in the darkest corners of the internet, hackers can buy automated cracking programs that decipher simple passwords within tenths of a second. So, if you are relying on default or obvious login credentials to get into your company’s computers, you are essentially asking for trouble. Make sure your employees know how to set passwords that are strong enough to repel simple attacks, and that they change their login information at regular intervals.
Suspicious Email Attachments
How many times have you heard the advice to ignore suspicious email attachments or notify your IT team about them? Most people know they have to be careful about what they click on in their inbox, but if you aren’t informing your employees about the risks of suspicious messages then it’s only a matter of time before you suffer the consequences. Believe it or not, there are still grown men and women who will click on unexpected attachments in this day and age unless they are directed not to by an employer.
Questionable Web Browsing
Does your business have a web usage policy in place? It should. Even though you probably can’t stop employees from occasionally checking into Facebook, you should definitely prevent them from visiting online casinos, adult-themed websites, and other questionable internet destinations. Otherwise, they could invite malware onto the device or workstation that could spread from one user to the next. You should also be careful about letting employees connect devices from home to your network for the same reason.
Insufficient Network Monitoring
No matter how diligent you are about keeping your employees trained and informed, it’s important to have a team of professionals keeping an eye on network activity. That way, if there are red flags that you’ve been targeted by hackers, your IT vendor can respond quickly to mitigate the damage and keep your data protected. It’s dangerous out there in cyberspace, so be sure you have the right safeguards and monitoring in place at all times.
Want to Protect Your Business From Hackers and Thieves?
Fantastic IT offers 24/7 monitoring, encryption, and data backup as part of our affordable managed services plan. Contact us today to learn more or get a free quote to keep your company safe.