Every business that relies on technology faces serious security concerns, which are more prevalent than ever due to the rise in consumer engagement on a digital scale.
From reading blogs to purchasing products, more interactivity through technology leads to more work that has to be done to maintain safe and healthy systems. The most significant challenge modern businesses face with their technology is cyber attacks, which can be extremely costly and damaging to businesses across all industries.
If not dealt with, these cyber threats can result in one of many different disasters, from wasted time and money to significant loss in business or damage to your reputation. Regardless of the size of your business or field of work, it’s critical for modern businesses to take cyber threats very seriously.
Here are three of the most common cyber threats businesses face and what cybersecurity services you can get to prevent them:
Phishing
Yes, phishing is still a threat in 2020. And it’s just as serious as ever. Phishing is an attempt by a threat actor who poses as a trustworthy person or company to convince an email recipient to give them personal information.
Though this attack depends on human error, it is still a prevalent cyber crime to this day that is highly successful. Phishing is involved in nine out of every ten data breaches, and the number of phishing attempts spiked 65 percent from 2018 to 2019.
One of the best ways to prevent phishing attacks is to provide security awareness training to your staff so your team can learn about and adapt to secure workplace protocol. It’s also important to ensure your IT implements security measures, such as continuous system monitoring, to prevent skilled hackers from taking advantage of weaknesses in your systems if they do get access to them. Phishing can be prevented, but only as you prioritize it as a serious security concern and address it accordingly.
Ransomware
Ransomware is a form of malware that deteriorates the performance of a computer or denies the user access to files until the user pays a specified ransom to the hacker. By holding your data or system access hostage, ransomware criminals can cause your business to take a great financial hit.
Ransomware seeks businesses who have highly sensitive data; in fact two out of every three ransomware attacks went after local and state governments in 2019. Other common targets of ransomware include police stations, hospitals and schools; however, smaller businesses shouldn’t consider themselves exempt from these attacks. In reality, 71% of ransomware attacks target small to medium-sized businesses because they typically have fewer resources to defend against them.
To prevent ransomware from wreaking havoc on your business, take extra security measures in developing a layered architecture, which can include two-factor authentication, greater password protection, limited file access and data backup and recovery plans. These forms of advanced security make it more difficult for cyber threats to occur on your company’s computers and servers and help protect your data in the event of a breach.
Zero-Day Exploit
Zero-day exploit is a type of cyber attack in which hackers breach a security system through a software flaw that hasn’t been patched yet, often because the software developer has not yet found a patch for the weakness. Zero-day exploits occur more and more each year, and they are commonly found in Microsoft, Adobe, Google and Apple software. Experts predict that by 2021, at least one new exploit will be discovered every single day among these corporations.
To combat zero-day exploit, get 24/7/365 monitoring for your system to identify zero-day vulnerabilities and other weak points that may be failing to stop hackers and frauds from stealing your vital information. It is important to update your security software as soon as new updates become available so that hackers have no time to figure out your security setup.
No business owner can afford to give hackers a chance to compromise their system. When you have important information that you need to protect from getting into the wrong hands, it’s important to prioritize security measures such as staff training, round-the clock monitoring and layered security architectures.
