Companies large and small have to think about the ways in which they may be vulnerable to hacking attacks and other common types of data breaches, but the fact of the matter is that many independent enterprises simply don’t do a good enough job of protecting themselves.
This is true for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that most small businesses simply do not have the resources or manpower needed to properly ensure that companies are as protected as possible from these issues, according to a report from Business News Daily. Consequently, brushing up on a few of the most common causes of these incidents may be all owners or other executives need to get the ball rolling on shoring up some of their more glaring security issues.
For one thing, the simple fact of knowing how these incidents happen most often is usually a good enough way to begin addressing the problems, the report said. Training staffers to be able to more easily spot potential threats, investing in even basic anti-virus or anti-malware protection, and so on are all good ways to get out in front of any potential threats before they can become more insidious incidents. However, it’s important to note that many small businesses probably don’t even think this kind of thing will affect them; after all, they generally only have a few employees and small or even non-existent visibility outside their immediate areas. However, that belief that they cannot be hit with an attack or data breach is simply ill-founded, because in fact many criminals these days actively target smaller companies because they know that they do not have the security protocols of larger entities in place. The amount of information they get out of these less substantial companies may not be as great, but the work they put in to illegally acquire it is often much less significant.
Other common mistakes
Of course, because small businesses usually don’t have dedicated IT or security professionals on staff, they are likewise vulnerable to the kind of mistakes that individuals make when dealing with their account security, the report said. One of the most common is using weak passwords, or the same ones over and over again for a variety of different accounts, which generally means that anyone with the intention of hacking them may have little difficulty in doing so. Moreover, in the latter case, if a crook is able to gain access to one account, they probably won’t have to try very hard to do the same for others as well. For this reason, mixing up passwords, changing them often, and keeping them a lengthy mix of numbers, letters, and symbols is one of the best ways to ensure that accounts remain as secure as possible.
Along similar lines, it’s important that companies make sure their wireless networks are protected with similarly complicated passwords, because anyone enterprising enough to join it and attempt to hack other computers on the system might not have a very difficult time in doing so, the report said. Likewise, devices – including mobile phones – that contain sensitive company information may be at risk for a similar attack if they connect to public WiFi networks.
Owners concerned about their security vulnerability may want to take the time to beef up their small business insurance coverage to make sure that if such an incident occurs, they will be at least somewhat protected financially. Tech insurance can help to reduce cost liability for these incidents, which can otherwise very quickly grow more expensive than most independent enterprises can afford.
