

This isn’t breaking news. Media outlets may only cover bigger companies like Experian or Capital One, but that’s just the surface. Underneath all the press attention, hackers are targeting you. Small to midsize businesses – just like the one you own – are on the short end of an endless amount of cyberattacks, you just never hear about them. Because of this, hackers are able to get away with cyberattacks without drawing too much attention to their malicious activity.
Since hackers fly under the radar, attacking businesses like yours without consequence, what are you able to do? Easy, invest in cyber security. Here’s why.
The Reason Behind Cyber Attacks Against Your Business
We’re going to pin one reason why hackers target smaller businesses – they’re vulnerable.
It’s scary but true. If you ask a random small business owner if they are confident in their cyber security, there’s a high chance they’ll give you a hesitant answer or appear clueless with zero idea as to what you’re talking about. These are the type of business hackers love to stumble upon.
Based on Verizon’s 2019 Data Breach Investigation Report, approximately 43% of cyber-attacks in the past 12 months have directly targeted small businesses. Those odds are very much against you. Essentially, you’re flipping a coin and hoping hackers aren’t trying to bust down the digital door into your business. Of course, hackers are looking at other factors too, such as your type of business, customer base and data you collect. If you store personal or credit card information, hackers will make sure you’re at the top of their to-do list. In fact, the top 3 industries targeted according to the Verizon report are public administration, financial services and insurance agencies. Even if you’re a small healthcare practice or a local accountant, hackers are plotting to hack your network.
Hackers Aren’t Doing this for Fun
For hackers, finding and exploiting businesses with poor cyber security is a job. They’re looking to get paid. Hackers go after businesses they can profit from. Once into a network, they have a couple options. Hold your data hostage by encrypting your files and giving you a set time to pay a ransom until they’re deleted or taking employee/customer data and selling it on the dark web or the black market. In some cases, the hacker may build backdoors into your network so when you do realize the error in your ways and try to kick them out, they always have a way back in.
Keep in mind, the more businesses hackers target, the greater their chances are to make serious money selling data or paid ransoms. It takes them very little time and resources to put your business through the ringer, so make sure you’re ready to handle everything they throw at you at any time.
Now’s the Time to Invest in Cyber Security
First off, you must know YOU are always going to be on some hacker’s list. It doesn’t matter if you have never been a victim of a hack, that just means they haven’t got to you yet. Sooner than later, a hacker will try to break into your business’s network, and you need to be prepared.
A simple antivirus and firewall are not what we’re talking about. We’re talking about a personalized IT team. You’ll have a proficient team of IT professionals who’ll monitor your network, so you don’t have to carry the load of protecting your business all by yourself. Before hackers even have a chance, your team will identify malicious activity and mitigate the attack. By investing in cyber security, you can go to sleep at night knowing you’ve got a team standing by to shut the door in the face of any hacker trying to get into your network.
Education is Important for Your Safety
Cyber security is nice to have, but it’s not foolproof. Human error is a huge reason hackers are able to circumvent security measures put in place to stop them and wreak havoc within your network before it sets off any alarms. You and your employees need to understand safety on the internet and learn how to identify threats from miles away. This includes education on phishing, social engineering, fraudulent sites and scams. You also need to use complex passwords stored offline to add another layer of security.
As if hackers weren’t scary enough, some of them will do research on your company and see who you have relations with. They may even imposter another business you do business with and attempt to penetrate your network through file attachments and malicious links. Be sure you’re always cross checking email addresses with the ones in your contact book to ensure your safety.
Protect Your Business Today
It’s your business, it’s time to take care of it. By setting up your cyber defense and educating yourself and your company of the dangers lurking online, you’re putting up an immeasurable barrier that hackers will have a hard time getting around. No longer will you be that vulnerable business that’s at the top of the list. Hackers will look at your defense and skip along by. Knowing there are plenty more vulnerable companies out there, a hacker won’t waste time getting nowhere with yours.
If you’re looking to work with an experienced IT security firm built on results, let Biztek Solutions help you. We’ll review your current situation and develop a plan to toughen up your cyber security. Give us a call today at (951) 638-0502 or contact us online to see how we can help you.