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Introduction
Over the last few years, awareness of and concerns about cyber attacks have increased. That said, many small businesses still don’t place cyber threats as a top concern, either because they aren’t aware of the threats themselves or they feel they can resolve an attack themselves.
Cybercriminals have learned to exploit this false sense of security and confidence. Companies that do not perceive a risk do not take the necessary steps to protect themselves, which is why SMBs are at particular risk of being cyberattack victims.
Many small businesses may still fall into the trap of thinking that their organization isn’t large enough or high-profile enough to be the target of attackers. However, they have become easy targets because they lack advanced tools to defend their businesses, but they do have what hackers are after: data.
Fast-growing smaller organizations are at exceptionally high risk, as security can be challenging to maintain or enhance during periods of rapid growth. Further, its risk profile grows as the organization adds more employees and customers and expands its network and digital footprint to serve the business.
In this blog, we’ll introduce essential tools and strategies that can safeguard small businesses from cyber threats.
Understanding the Cyber Threat Landscape for Small Businesses
While cybercriminals leverage a variety of attack techniques and methods, some of the most common attacks include:
Phishing and email scams: Phishing is a type of cyberattack that uses email, SMS, phone, or social media to entice a victim to share sensitive information—such as passwords or account numbers—or download a malicious file that will install malware on their computer or phone.
Malware and ransomware attacks: Malware—short for malicious software—is any program or code created to harm a computer, network, or server. Ransomware is malware that denies legitimate users access to their system and requires a payment, or ransom, to regain access.
Insider threats and human errors: Human error is a huge security risk. We hear it all the time: An employee clicks a link they shouldn’t have, and now dangerous cybercriminals are holding the organization’s critical data and applications for ransom.
Losses and damages come in many forms for victims of a cyberattack. Direct costs, such as paying a ransom or hiring a cybersecurity firm to remediate the attack, can be relatively simple to calculate. In contrast, other costs, such as reputational harm and operational downtime, are far more challenging to measure.
By now, we’ve established the need for small businesses to protect themselves and the kinds of attacks they should be on the lookout for. The critical part comes from investing in the right tools to mitigate these risks.
A firewall is the first line of defense that monitors incoming and outgoing traffic and decides to allow or block specific traffic based on a defined set of security rules.
As organizations’ networks and the cyber threat landscape grow and evolve, network firewalls require additional functionality and features to ensure the security of the company’s network and its sensitive data.
Here are some key features to look for:
Advanced threat detection: Minimizing the damage that a cyberattack can cause to a network requires threat prevention. By identifying and blocking an attack before it crosses the network boundary, an organization nullifies the threat it poses to the network. This is why a network firewall with integrated threat prevention functionality – including anti-phishing, anti-malware, anti-bot, and integration with high-quality threat intelligence feeds – is essential to an organization’s cybersecurity strategy.
Scalability for growing businesses: Scalability for a network firewall is the ability of an architecture to scale appropriately as increased demand is added to the system. This involves seamlessly provisioning and adding more resources to the system that make up a larger distributed computing environment. Hyperscale is necessary to build a robust and scalable distributed system. In other words, it is the tight integration of an infrastructure’s storage, computing, and virtualization layers into a single solution architecture.
Tip: Choose a firewall solution that integrates with other security tools.
Tool #2: Antivirus and Endpoint Protection Software
Antivirus endpoint protection is a comprehensive security approach that safeguards many endpoints, such as desktops, laptops, and mobile devices, from malicious threats. Unlike traditional antivirus software, which primarily focuses on detecting and removing malware, endpoint protection integrates multiple layers of defense to combat advanced cyber threats.
Here are some advanced features of antivirus endpoint detection and protection to look for:
Real-time scanning: Continuously monitors a device for potential threats, analyzing files and system activity in real-time as they occur.
AI-driven threat detection: Uses artificial intelligence (AI) to actively monitor and detect potential threats on individual devices (endpoints) like computers and smartphones.
Centralized management for multiple devices: Control and manage all connected devices, like laptops, smartphones, and servers, from a single, central location, allowing for unified policy application, security updates, and monitoring across all endpoints on the network
Some more standard features to look for when selecting antivirus software for your business include:
- Performance impact
- Reliability
- Performance
- Compatibility with your environment
- Ease of use
Tool #3: Data Backup and Recovery Solutions
Effective backup and recovery solutions help protect against data loss due to accidental deletion, hardware failure, software corruption, or malicious attacks like ransomware. This ensures that businesses can continue to operate smoothly even in the face of unexpected disruptions.
When choosing the ideal backup solution for your organization, you face a pivotal decision: cloud-based or on-premises backup systems.
Cloud-based solutions offer flexibility, accessibility, and scalability but may be costly for data recovery and reliant on the Internet. On-prem server backup provides control and security but requires upfront investment and dedicated resources.
Pro Tip: Implement the 3-2-1 rule for backups (3 copies of data, two different storage types, one offsite).
Tool #4: Password Managers and Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
A weak password is like a frail lock on a door — it offers minimal security against intrusion. In the context of digital security, a weak password is typically easy to guess or crack, failing to provide any real barrier against unauthorized access. It often falls short in complexity, length, and unpredictability, making it a prime target of cyberattacks.
Password managers store and encrypt passwords while enabling you to quickly and safely log into your accounts. Users only need to remember one primary password. The benefits are immense — password managers alleviate the burden of memorizing multiple complex passwords, reduce the risk of using weak or repeated passwords, and often automatically update passwords. They can also include features like security alerts for compromised sites and the ability to share passwords securely.
Multifactor authentication (MFA) adds a significant layer of security. MFA requires users to provide two or more verification factors to access an account, which typically includes something they know (a password) and something they have (a phone or security token).
This method ensures that even if a password is compromised, unauthorized users cannot gain access without the second component. This is especially important for accounts containing sensitive personal or financial information.
Actionable Advice: Improve your security by encouraging employees to use a password manager for work and personal accounts. By storing strong, unique passwords for every login in a secure vault, you can significantly reduce the risk of cyber threats and protect sensitive information across all your devices.
Tool #5: Secure Collaboration and Communication Platforms
Effective collaboration across teams is essential, but secure file sharing becomes a critical challenge in the current business environment, with teams sharing sensitive documents, intellectual property, and confidential information. Organizations must find a way to foster collaboration without compromising data security. Security is pivotal in enabling teams to collaborate effectively while protecting privileged information.
Even if you have a strong firewall to prevent external data access, unencrypted data is still accessible to cybercriminals if your internal business network is infiltrated. Using encrypted platforms for email, file sharing, and video conferencing will make your sensitive business information useless to unauthorized parties, as it’ll be unreadable without the decryption key. This way, only authorized individuals can access and use your organizational data. It’ll provide your teams with a secure and private environment to use data conveniently.
With the abundance of options when it comes to collaboration platforms, here are some features to be kept in focus:
- End-to-end encryption
- Secure file transfer protocols (SFTP)
- Access controls
While companies invest resources in strengthening their cybersecurity defenses against external threats, it’s crucial to acknowledge that significant vulnerabilities can arise from within. Accidental employee data exposure, often ignored, poses a considerable danger to organizational security.
While it’s impossible to eliminate human error, there are several strategies organizations can implement to minimize its impact on cybersecurity:
- Platforms that offer simulated phishing tests: a cybersecurity exercise that sends fake emails to employees to test their ability to recognize and respond to phishing attacks.
- Interactive training modules on recognizing threats: users must analyze situations, identify potential threat indicators through visual cues, and make decisions based on their understanding of suspicious behavior
Pro Tip: Make training an ongoing process, not a one-time activity.
Staying Ahead with Proactive Cybersecurity Practices
Being proactive means anticipating future problems, needs, or changes and taking action appropriately. In the context of cybersecurity, being proactive implies the same thing. Proactive cybersecurity is everything you do before an attack takes place.
Here’s how you can implement proactive cybersecurity in your organization:
Automated Monitoring and Alerts: continuously monitor network activity, system logs, and user behavior in real-time, using automated tools and algorithms to identify potential security threats and proactively block or mitigate them.
Periodic Risk Assessments: Start by identifying your organization’s assets, such as hardware, software, and data, and assess the potential risks to each asset. This will help you prioritize which assets need the most protection and determine the required security measures. From there, you can regularly review vulnerabilities and update your cybersecurity strategy.
Partnering with Experts: IT experts can bring a wealth of knowledge and experience, help identify potential vulnerabilities and risks, and provide guidance on best practices and industry standards. Additionally, an external expert can offer an objective perspective on your organization’s cybersecurity posture and help identify areas for improvement.
Conclusion
Small businesses face the same cybersecurity threats as larger organizations but are often more vulnerable due to fewer resources. However, they don’t need to be helpless against cyber attacks as long as specific action is taken to address these weaknesses. Implementing proactive digital protection and the tools we covered in this blog can prevent many avoidable cybersecurity incidents.
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