Your small business in Country Victoria may seem another world away from the large companies that have been the victim of cyber criminals like Medibank and Optus, however poor cybersecurity practices are more than often the main cause for most breaches.
Small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) frequently fail to prioritise cybersecurity measures for lots of different reasons, for example, assuming you are a low risk, focused on growing your business or maybe it’s an expense that you believe you just can’t afford?
Regardless, cybersecurity is a critical issue for business owners, in fact due to their vulnerabilities, SMEs are quite appealing to cybercriminals. According to the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) and the Cyber Threat Report 2022-2023, the average self-reported cost of cybercrime to businesses increased by 14% since the 2021-2022 report. The average cost to a small business was $46,000 and for a medium business $97,200.
The good news is that cybersecurity does not need to be ridiculously expensive, and most data breaches are often caused by human error. With some minor improvements and cyber hygiene, you can reduce the risk of being a victim to cybercrime.
Here are some reasons SMEs may fall victim to a cyberattack.
- Underestimating an Attack
Many business owners assume they need to be a big company to be a target. Cybercriminals often view SMEs as soft targets, perceiving that they have a lack of resources required to defend themselves.
Proactive cybersecurity measures are incredibly important to defend your business, regardless of your size.
- Not prioritising employee training
Can you remember when you or your staff last completed cybersecurity training? Most owners assume that their employees will just naturally know the risks of working online. However, cybercriminals are becoming more proficient masking their crime and employees may accidentally click on a link or download a malicious file without knowing about it.
Employee training can assist in, recognising a phishing attempt, understanding the importance of robust password management and being aware of some of the tactics employed by cybercriminals.
- Thinking your business can ‘manage’ IT by itself.
Cybercriminals are constantly evolving with new attacks and tactics popping up daily. SMEs often struggle to keep up to date with all the changes in the IT world and believe that they are too small to afford Managed IT Services.
A Managed Services Provider (MSP) can safeguard your business from cyberattacks and enhance your IT systems and equipment, potentially saving you money.
- Failure to execute software updates.
The maintenance of software and operating systems is another oversight often neglected by SMEs. Obsolete software is often used by cybercriminals to gain access to systems.
Routine updates on software, operating systems, web browsers and antivirus programs can rectify security flaws. But do you know what to do if the update fails, or has an error, or worse loses your data?
- Failure to monitor networks.
Do you have someone in-house who monitors your network for suspicious activity? If not, this could lead to a delayed detection of a security breach.
MSPs can install and maintain network monitoring tools to identify and respond to a potential threat quickly and efficiently.
Does any of this sound familiar? Gecko IT Solutions can help protect your business against cyber threats. Call us to find out what we can do to help your business stay safe.
