Cybersecurity has become basic security among all types of businesses. Without strong cybersecurity, the company might have to face issues of online scams, suspicious activities on the website or even credit/debit cards, leaking of professional and personal information. All in all, a great loss of crucial industrial data can occur.
As per PurpleSEC, Cybercrime rose almost 600% due to COVID-19 Pandemic and hence it is estimated that cybercrimes will cost $10.5 trillion annually by 2025. In fact, on average, a malware attack can cost a company more than $2.5 million. These figures reflect that cybersecurity is a big threat to any company-small, medium-scale or enterprise. But unfortunately, over 50% of all cyber-attacks are done on SMBs because of various factors.
Thus, to protect your business, you should not waste a single second in taking necessary steps and actions to ensure strong cybersecurity. Let’s dive deeper into what role cybersecurity has for small businesses in 2023.
What is Cybersecurity?
As per Kaspersky, the world’s leading cybersecurity company, Cyber security is the practice of defending computers, servers, mobile devices, electronic systems, networks, and data from malicious attacks.
Cyber security is also referred to as information technology security or electronic information security. Cyber security includes the protection of internet-connected systems such as hardware, software, processes, and controls to protect systems, networks, programs, devices and data from cyber-attacks.
The main goal of cybersecurity is to lower the danger of cyberattacks and safeguard against the unauthorised use of technologies, networks, and systems.
Types of cybersecurity are:
- Network security: It secures a computer network against intruders, including malicious software and targeted attacks.
- Application security: Here, software and devices are kept free of threats.
- Information security: This is about protecting the integrity and privacy of data in storage and in transit.
- Operational security: It talks about the processes and decisions for handling and protecting data assets.
Cyber Security in Australia: A Brief View
As per the latest update, unauthorised access to computer systems is illegal in Australia under both state and federal law. The Criminal Code Act of 1995 (CUr) makes hacking a crime in Federal jurisdiction. People who are suspected of committing cybercrime are typically charged under the Code.
If you talk about the official step of the government, then you will certainly learn about the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC).
ACSC is an Australian Government initiative that produces the Information Security Manual (ISM), which outlines a cyber security framework for organisations and protects their information and systems from cyber threats. Also, ACSC provides trusted and relevant information on how Australia’s small and medium businesses can protect themselves from the most common cyber security threats.
Why are small businesses more vulnerable to cybersecurity threats?
Cybersecurity isn’t taken seriously by small businesses. In fact, it appears that 70% of small businesses are unprepared to deal with a cyber-attack. 3 out of 4 small businesses say they don’t have sufficient personnel to address IT security.
Another factor that contributes to making small businesses a target of cyber criminals is that small businesses serve as a tunnel to a larger target. Manipulating and coercing small businesses is a simple task as small businesses don’t back up all essential data and practice restoration.
But if the organisation has strong cybersecurity in place then the system shall remain strong and can fight any cyber threat or danger.
Common Types of Cyber Security Attacks for small business
Malware Attacks
Malware indicates any software that might cause harm to computers and networks. Computer viruses, trojans, spyware, ransomware, adware, worms, file-less malware, or hybrid attacks are kept under malware.
Further, malware threats also give hackers a way to access critical data, putting employees, customers, and the whole company at risk. 92% of malware is delivered by email, whereas it is 4% is sent to small businesses. Small businesses report malware has evaded their antivirus.
Phishing
Phishing is a type of cybercrime when a target or targets are contacted by someone via email, phone, or text message to trick them into disclosing critical information.
Phishing actors trick users into performing certain activities like downloading harmful files, clicking malicious links, or disclosing private information like login credentials by sending communications that appear to be from a reliable source. Online con artists are getting better at phishing attempts these days.
When working remotely, 47% of employees identified distraction as the cause for falling for a phishing scam. Small businesses, where employees may not be trained about cyber security, may fall for it and provide confidential information to scammers.
Ransomware
Ransomware is typically malicious software that prevents users from using a computer system until they pay a certain amount of money. Data is encrypted once a user has been a victim of the assault. Every 14 seconds, a business is thought to be a victim of ransomware.
Small and medium-sized organisations make up 20% of ransomware victims, which is supported by the statistic that 85% of MSPs consider ransomware to be a regular threat to these types of companies. A small business’s likelihood of being unprepared for the threat is increased by the fact that almost 29% of them had experience with ransomware.
Weak Passwords
Both users and hackers can easily guess weak passwords. Actually, a general password (like date of birth, the first book, first girlfriend) or one with a short length is easily guessable, making it possible for cybercriminals to perform cyber-attacks as they gain access to your complete online system, including theft of your identity, and even your money. And choosing weak passwords that are handy for them may increase the danger of cybersecurity concerns for small enterprises.
While complex passwords may be challenging to remember from a security perspective, it is actually highly secure. To be effectively kept, a strong password is also required.
Insider Threats
Internal threats come from business partners, past employees, and present employees, and they are another significant danger for small enterprises. Due to their avarice, malice, or plain old stupidity and ignorance, these individuals may damage crucial data. Furthermore, employees can access multiple accounts containing crucial data, and insider attacks are becoming a bigger problem for small businesses.
How to evaluate Cybersecurity in your small business?
Small businesses should thoroughly understand the threats that their company might face if they don’t strengthen cybersecurity. Thus, they must get into calculating the risks and expenditures that may apply to cybersecurity processes and plans.
There is a general equation, i.e., Risk = Threat x Vulnerability x Impact, that can be used to calculate cybersecurity. This is a logical and useful formula; although you may not be able to draw an accurate product, you will have a vivid idea of what you need to do for cybersecurity.
What is a CIA Triad?
Organisations try everything possible to prevent any cyber-attacks and ensure to run cyber security defences. Thus, cyber security professionals use a well-known CIA model to describe the goal of information security. Here, C stands for confidentiality, I stand for integrity and A stands for availability.
Confidentiality is about preventing any unauthorised access to the organisation’s information and restricting access to the right data or any data. The second one is Integrity, which is all about preventing any unauthorised modification of information or the system. It means nobody should be able to improperly modify the data either accidentally or maliciously.
The third is availability which measures to ensure to have the legitimate use of the information in the system. Data can be unavailable because of ransomware attacks, DDoS attacks, power failures, and many other reasons. Thus, you should deploy solutions and processes to have at least an impact on the availability of our information.
5 Importance of Cyber Security for Small Business
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You can protect your data from loss.
Data loss occurs when data is accidentally deleted, or something causes data to become corrupted. Viruses, physical damage or formatting errors by both humans and software can cause data loss. Losing files and documents often have a lasting impact on small or big companies’ financial health.
Businesses can use Data loss prevention (DLP) to prevent sending sensitive or critical information to the unwanted network. Small companies can adopt DLP because of insider threats and stringent data privacy laws. Some DLP tools can also be utilised for endpoint activity monitoring and control, corporate network data stream filtering, and data in motion protection.
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You can prevent fraudulent activity.
Cyber frauds can misuse and waste your data, make erroneous payments, engage in money laundering, finance terrorism, and endanger your cybersecurity. To correctly and swiftly identify a variety of fraud attacks and crimes, small businesses must strictly establish cybersecurity and adhere to cybersecurity regulations. They have to use multiple layers of security.
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You can prevent the possible threat to your company’s reputation.
For a company, its reputation is of utmost importance. Cyber-attacks not only hamper the company economically but also hamper its reputation. The reputational loss in consumer trust, current and future customers to competitors, and poor or negative media coverage can be a great setback, and it will take years to regain customers’ trust. So, small businesses with good cybersecurity will never have their reputation and their potential growth at risk.
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You can save lots of money.
Now that sensitive data, like financial information and passwords, may be stored in the cloud, their risk of theft has increased. These cloud services also have a fee, but it is an investment rather than a loss. You might also have to set up antivirus software.
The truth is that by investing in cybersecurity, you will be able to avoid spending millions of dollars to compensate for cybercrime losses and recover your data (which is likely to be of no use). Therefore, you would rather spend a little on cyber security and save a lot on the safety of your company than lose a lot of money to some IT services.
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You can become more credible.
Australian small businesses want to appear and stay more credible via their safe and secure services. But if as a small business if you lose your data for once and have your data ruined, then you have to encounter data loss as well as a loss in credibility in the area. So, the best thing to do is ensure cybersecurity and stay more credible with their own clients and within the industry.
Tips to ensure cybersecurity
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Always have a Data Security Plan.
A data security plan is a set of activities for securing customer data, employee data, intellectual property and other sensitive information. Thus, small businesses must work on forming data security plans to avoid cybersecurity.
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Always back up your data.
Data security and data backups are vital parts of business continuity. Thus, the most crucial action a small or medium firm can take to prevent long-term damage is to have regular and trustworthy data backups. Data backups guard against users’ or workers’ unintentional or intentional data deletion.
Regardless of the cause of the data loss, data backups guarantee that you have a complete copy of your systems available for restoration. All in all, a small business must rely on reliable cloud storage or take the help of an MSP near them to assist in backup all of their data.
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Conduct employee training on cybersecurity.
Everyone has to be educated about cyber risks and how to prevent them using real-world examples. A complete cybersecurity system might sometimes fail due to a single error made by a worker who was not adequately trained.
Employers can thus lessen the likelihood of such attacks and their disastrous effects on the workplace by teaching staff about cyber security concerns and how to report data breaches. All in all, businesses must develop a culture of integrating security values into their operations.
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Always go for strong password practices and policies.
Your computer and personal information are only accessible with a password. Your computer will be more secure against hackers and harmful software if you use a strong password.
For all of your computer’s accounts, you should keep secure passwords. As a result, small businesses must create a password policy (a set of guidelines to improve computer and network security), spend money on a password management service, and utilise multifactor authentication (MFA).
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Always install firewalls.
A great defence against malware attacks is a firewall. A firewall is a network security tool that tracks incoming and outgoing network traffic and allows or stops data packets in accordance with a set of security rules. Businesses should prioritise having firewall security on all equipment, including consumer devices.
Firewalls defend against external cyberattacks by preventing dangerous software from reaching your computer or network through the internet. Small firms are therefore required to install a firewall for their clients’ security infrastructure and configure their network with precise policies for blocking or allowing traffic.
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Always invest in Cyber Insurance.
Cybersecurity Insurance protects a company against monetary losses from cyber incidents for enterprises. Businesses nowadays rely on computers to complete essential business functions and thus they are vulnerable to cybersecurity. Because of this, these businesses need cyber insurance.
If a company doesn’t have cybersecurity insurance, it may have to use its money to cover significant losses or rely on insufficient other insurance plans. Small businesses should always get cybersecurity insurance since they often store sensitive information online or on computers.
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Perform Timely Risk Assessments
One might assume that only major businesses have the time and resources to conduct risk assessments, but small businesses, too, can also do so. Moreover, Small business owners can rely on their cloud storage provider to help them with risk assessment so they can find threats and take action to strengthen data security.
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Always invest in reliable Antivirus Software.
The quantity of viruses has been growing tremendously recently, which has led to an increase in cybercrime. So, small firms need to utilise antivirus software, which should be installed on both employees’ and the company administration’s devices. Keep your antivirus program updated at all times. These updates could be carried out automatically or manually.
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You must ensure to secure your Wi-Fi networks.
To prevent cybercrimes, small businesses must encrypt their wireless networks. The default username and password for the router can be changed to achieve this. The router’s name must be changed to something that does not quickly give away the company’s brand. The wireless network must be encrypted using the most robust protocol possible as a further step in ensuring safe Wi-Fi.
Why choose NSW IT Support for Cybersecurity?
Cybercrimes can disrupt your business, affect your whole database, leak or lose or exploit digital information, including business and employee records, and bring security challenges. Thus, to avoid online threats of such cybercrime, companies need top-notch cybersecurity services. In this context, a cybersecurity agency can play a critical role in protecting businesses from various devastating cyber threats. For this an IT support service is necessary. They help you maintain confidential data, set up security, fight computer viruses and hackers, and help your business run smoothly. And the best IT Support Company in Australia for Cybersecurity is NSW IT Support.
NSWIT Support believes that “the currency in future will be data, and if that data is not well-secured today, then the bright future of companies might get darker.” We always value data, whether of an enterprise or a small business. Under our cybersecurity service, we avail the latest technology available and safeguard a company’s digital assets. We also tie up with world-leading companies that produce top-notch software tools. These IT companies run testing, vulnerability analysis, and systems auditing services to identify potential threats that might disrupt operations. So, when our clients choose cybersecurity, we give our best and keep their precious data safe and sound. We establish trust and continue it for a longer time.
If you are looking for a good Cybersecurity providing MSP in Australia, then NSW IT Support is here for you. You can contact us to understand more about our services. We are here to help you out.
