Important Things Startups Must Know About Cyber Security

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When it comes to cybersecurity, a minor breach is quite damaging for big enterprises, something that will create a ripple for years. Consequently, when this happens to small businesses, the whole business falls apart. It might mean the end of your business.

The cyber security industry is worth $120 billion as of 2017, and it grows every minute. This shows how entrepreneurs take cyber security seriously and work hard to protect their companies from any attacks. With the number of attacks that large corporations get, one might assume that the case is different for small businesses. However, the increase in security attacks on small businesses tells a different story.

Invest on security

When starting up, you might be a bit skeptical about any additional expenses; after all, you want to save as much money as you can. However, you must invest in effective cyber security software. There are several affordable malware and cyber security software you can purchase and use on your work computers.

Additionally, you can subscribe to a range of security services like DDoS application services and web application firewalls to avoid paying hefty upfront fees on security apps.

Cyber security is one of the investments upcoming entrepreneurs must make. Ensure that you familiarize yourself with the programs to help you avoid cyber attacks.

Anyone can be a victim

Nothing is too small when it comes to cyber security attacks. Attackers don’t sit and pick big agencies to attack; they pick enterprises with the weakest security links. Studies show that small businesses are most likely to get attacked because of their lack of experience with security controls.

Encourage all members of your organization to take responsibility for ensuring security with their computers and the business’s accounts.

Employees are the weakest links

Someone with little to no knowledge about cyber security threats is often used to bridge your company and the attackers. Through phishing, employees are often tricked into clicking links and installing dangerous malware.

In other cases, these cyber threats are brought by plugging in phones, storage devices, and notebooks into the work computers.

Because of this, it's vital that you educate yourself and your employees on matters concerning cyber security. Lastly, ensure that you have security policies in place to guide your workers on the right practices when at work.

The most common cyber security threats

DDoS Attacks
Distributed denial of service attacks(DDoS) leave your website inaccessible by overpowering it with traffic. These attacks cause downtime on servers and may cost a business up to $20,000 within one hour. For businesses with high transactions like e-commerce services, this can be a loss of about $100,000 within an hour.

Data breaches
This cyber threat involves your company’s information. Cybercriminals steal business data and gain access to your database. The data includes your clients' personal and financial information, that is sold on the black market, and used for identity theft and fraud.

Attackers primarily target businesses with websites or apps that gather customer information. Small businesses that experience data breaches find it hard to regain customers’ trust and fail within 6 months after the attack.

Ransomware and malware
Security companies identify ransomware among the top cyber threats to businesses today. It’s a specific type of malware that attacks devices over weak networks. The attacker will then gain access to all files within the device and encrypt them, asking for ransom for the decryption key.

Commonly, most attackers ask for around $500 to $1000 in exchange. However, this is not a guarantee that they will honor their part of the transaction.

Having a recovery plan comes in handy in this case. When you have a system of recovering all files and data that has been encrypted, you won’t have to pay the ransom. An effective recovery plan will help you identify what you need to recover and in which order. It will help you get back to work and not lose a lot on the cyber threat.

Conclusion

Investing in a sound security system is an excellent way of protecting your company from cyber threats and attackers on the internet. Below are more ways that can help you avoid cyber attacks:

Invest in a good web hosting agency like RAMShard.
Make cybersecurity a priority.
Educate employees on the issue.
Protect business assets with cyber insurance in case of an attack.
Get a view from the outside.

Finally and most importantly, take the time to create a disaster recovery plan that covers all these bases for your small business. Of course, creating a good cybersecurity plan will take up a lot of time, research, and effort. Create an online calendar to ensure that this task is given the attention it needs without taking over your workdays. With a detailed and effective recovery plan in your arsenal, your business is guaranteed cybersecurity protection for years to come!

Updated on: 01/17/2024