According to Cheshire Business Exchange a 2017 report by the federation of small businesses claims that small companies have been attacked over seven million times in the last year with an estimated cost of £5.26 billion, for 66% of small businesses this has cost an average of £30,000 per year.
In today’s digital age with over two thirds of small businesses offering products and services online and with cybercrime becoming more sophisticated, small businesses need to take steps to protect themselves as having online business is vital.
What these cyber-attacks risk is a company’s money, IT equipment, IT based services and your information. This information is an asset that comes in many forms, client lists and databases, financial details, pricing information, product designs or manufacturing processes.
Hackers access your systems in a number of ways, the most common being Phishing, the hackers will use an email or a compromised website as bait. Once the email is opened or website visited, the visitor will end up with malware on the system which provides the hackers with the information they require. There are many different kinds of malware, most of which you have probably heard of, worms, Trojan horses, ransom-ware, spy-ware and ad-ware. One example of this is a type of virus called a key logger which once on your system will let the hackers know every key your press and will easily enable them to easily find information such as passwords or bank details.
There are ways you can protect your business from hackers, here are a few tips;
- Use strong passwords
- Install security software
- Download software updates regularly
- If you hold a lot of data consider the use of external data warehouses which have strong defences against cyber attacks.
Original article Cheshire Business Exchange February 2017
