3 Key Ways Small Businesses Can Mitigate Cyber Attacks

Over the past few years, several factors have exposed vulnerabilities and gaps in security for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). From high-impact security breaches such as SolarWinds, to the increase in remote work, to the current Russia-Ukraine war – businesses across the globe have their guard up and are investing their time and money into improving their cybersecurity posture.

While cyber risks exist for all organizations regardless of their size, SMBs may not be able to afford the scale of protection that larger companies can, so could possibly be more susceptible to cybersecurity breaches. According to an IBM study, just over half of SMBs experienced a cyberattack in the past year. Findings from another IBM study found that the average cost of a small business data breach was $2.98 million in 2021—causing 60% of those impacted to go out of business within six months.

Small businesses are in a more vulnerable position due to the lack of technology and IT support needed to effectively mitigate and recover from a cyberattack. Due to the pandemic, many SMBs had to scale back on operations, and if that included their IT departments, they become much more susceptible to bad actors. As more processes become digitized, employees continue to work remotely and cybercriminals become smarter, the need for small businesses to implement proper defenses to protect against security breaches has never been more critical.

A few of the most common cybercrimes include phishing attacks, which come in the form of faulty emails with probing links to gather login credentials or credit card numbers, as well as ransomware attacks, a type of malicious software that prevents users from accessing their computer files or networks.

For small businesses, now is the time to strengthen cybersecurity measures. Below are three tips to address cyber concerns and prevent your organization from becoming a victim:

Multifactor authentication:

Ensuring that all employees use multifactor authentication on all of their accounts and that their antivirus and malware software is updated on devices can help patch up known vulnerabilities.

Cybersecurity training:

The more your organization and its employees know about the latest prevention measures and attempted scams, the better they can protect themselves. Ensuring cybersecurity safety training occurs on a frequent basis is essential to spreading information and lowering the risk of attacks due to human error.

Change your passwords:

Passwords are frontline protection and should be changed every 90 days with two-factor authentication enabled. By including a combination of special characters, letters, and numbers, users can reduce the chance of a hacker infiltrating their account.

Taking these steps to protect your network may seem daunting, however, ensuring the proper teams, education and protection are in place can help alleviate stress and potential disaster down the road. For more information, check out our infographic on 15 Ways to Protect Your Business from a Cyberattack: https://business.sharpusa.com/Guides/15-ways-to-protect-your-business-from-a-cyberattack