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Cybercrime is on the rise. According to Statista, about 1,001 data breaches were reported in 2020, and about 155.8 million records were exposed. Although this is well known in the business environment, most businesses still practice poor cybersecurity habits. These habits are slowly becoming a norm in the office, especially since they make work a little manageable.
Most of these businesses are usually not aware of the growing cybercrime landscape. Even if they fall victim to a cyberattack, they may not realize that their poor cybersecurity habits cause the attacks.
Our article discusses some common cybersecurity issues most organizations face that put them at risk of falling victim to a cyberattack.
What are the most common issues facing almost every organization? Here are the most common cybersecurity issues we come across with every new organization we work with in the Chicagoland area:
Small businesses are just as vulnerable as large companies when it comes to cyberattacks. According to a report by Verizon, in 2019, 43% of reported cyberattacks targeted small businesses.
The growing number of cyberattacks targeting small businesses is growing because cybercriminals have realized that SMBs are negligent in their security and don’t have proper cybersecurity solutions. Some companies also tend to get overconfident once they’ve implemented all the security controls. They also tend to have a false sense of security if they haven’t experienced a security incidence in a long time.
Your cybersecurity isn’t a one-time project. You can’t just set it up and wait for it to work its magic. Cyberthreats are continually evolving, and cybercriminals are coming up with more advanced and sophisticated ways of accessing your sensitive data.
Your cybersecurity measures need to evolve just as much to ensure the safety of your data. Frequently revisit your cybersecurity policies, procedures, and controls and test them against new cyber threats to determine their efficiency.
A significant mistake that businesses make is thinking that their cybersecurity is the responsibility of the IT team. Although this is somewhat true, your cybersecurity should be the responsibility of every employee.
According to Cybint, 95% of cybersecurity breaches are caused by human error. Hackers usually infiltrate companies through their employees, which are the weakest link in the cyberattack cycle. Social engineering attacks are typically targeted at your employees and pose a significant cyber threat to your businesses. If your employees know how to identify these attacks, they can easily prevent them and save your company a lot of time and money in downtime and ransoms.
Training your employees on cybersecurity controls and measures is the first step to having comprehensive cybersecurity. Training of employees should also be continuous to reshape old habits and be at par with new cyber threats.
Using short and easy-to-guess passwords and using them across multiple company devices for a long time puts your company at risk of cyberattacks. On the other hand, long and complex passwords may be challenging to remember forcing your employees to write them down somewhere or share them with friends and family members so they don’t forget them.
Such poor password management tactics make it easy for hackers to log in to your account and steal your data. Your passwords should contain letters, numbers, and special characters. They should also be updated regularly, and the same password shouldn’t be used for all your devices.
Employing multi-factor authentication adds an extra layer of protection in your login process and makes it difficult for hackers to get access to your accounts. You can use MFA together with strong passwords to restrict intruder access.
Another mistake that businesses make is not updating the programs and software they use. Most companies tend to ignore update notifications or delay installation. Using outdated versions of programs is like luring a hacker.
Your computer’s operating system and all the programs you use need to be updated regularly, not just the versions but also the databases. Keeping program databases up to date helps you protect your computer from the latest cyber threats. Updates of programs fix security loopholes that hackers might easily penetrate.
Make a policy of updating your software, operating system, and programs regularly and as early as new versions are released.
Although they offer convenience, employees using their mobile devices to access company networks puts your company data at risk. Their computers may be loaded with malicious programs or used by other parties and make it easy for cybercriminals to steal your data. To reduce your risk of a cyberattack, implement a mobile device management (MDM) policy.
While most companies focus on preventing a cyberattack, very few prepare for one. Although implementing cybersecurity controls may reduce your risks for a cyberattack, it cannot guarantee absolute security. Cyberattacks will result in the loss of sensitive data and cause irreversible damage to your business.
As a business, once you downplay your cyberthreat, you will not invest in proper cybersecurity solutions, and you will make your business an easy target for cybercriminals. Ensure your IT security is adequate by investing in cybersecurity technologies and create security policies for your business. You should also regularly revisit and update these policies as threats evolve.
No matter how secure you think you are, you still need to have a reliable data backup solution and a disaster recovery plan.
Leading IT offers 24/7, all-inclusive, fast, and friendly technology and cybersecurity support for nonprofits, manufacturers, schools, accounting firms, religious organizations, government, and law offices with 10-200 employees across the Chicagoland area.
Do you need cybersecurity support to protect your business? Leave a message for us and we will get back to you right away.