The securities and exchange commission reports that 60% of all cyber attacks targeted small-to-midsize businesses in 2014. Cyber-criminals will often target SMBs as gateways to larger company networks. Hackers are all too aware that small to mid-size business’ are often operating on smaller security budgets which can leave assets unprotected and not as frequently monitored.
According to Ponemon Institute’s 2015 Cost of Data Breach Study, the average cost for each lost or stolen record containing sensitive and confidential information was $154.00. Can you imagine the crippling affects this could have on a small business ? There is no guarantee that the records purchased at ransom will be returned unharmed either. It is impossible for security experts to stop these criminals from attacking business’ . It has become increasingly important that SMBs take a proactive approach to protect their data and prepare to respond to a breach.
Below are 3 simple tips to help improve your business’ cyber security posture:
- Perform a Security Analysis
Have you checked your most valuable assets and intellectual property, employee information, customer lists, proprietary data for vulnerabilities? Do you know which employees have access to this information and how is it accessed? Do you have a policy for how this information is shared? Cyber-criminals are not always outside parties, it is important to prepare for attacks from insiders as well.
- Create a Security Conscious Team
Stay up-to-date on current cyber security threats and share this information with team members. While it seems like most employees are experts at using the internet, most are probably not experts at recognizing internet scams. Employees that are aware of up-to-date security threats will most likely make better decisions when downloading files from the internet or opening email from unknown senders.
- Create a Threat Response Plan
Do employees know what to do when there is a security breach? Do you have a response plan when a data breach occurs? Do you have a security expert on staff? Having a policy in place and steps to follow will help keep your team prepared when a breach occurs and could assist in expediting the remediation process .