The Rising Threat Of Hackers

By | Published On: 1 April 2020 | 2.4 min read |

As a small business owner, no one would blame you for letting something like cybersecurity slip through the cracks. As an owner, there are many responsibilities and roles that need to be taken care of. However, it’s becoming more apparent by the day that the virtual threat of hackers, malware and viruses are all too real and becoming more dangerous than ever in this modern technologically advanced world. Just because your business is small doesn’t mark it safe as cybercriminals don’t discriminate.

The Risk

Cyberattacks are more common than you may know with more than half of businesses that have less than a thousand employees experiencing cyberattacks or threats. The effect of one of these attacks can be devastating on a small business. Just because you aren’t Google, it doesn’t mean that you don’t have something that hackers may want.

Here are a few valuables that these virtual criminals may want.

Your Money

Cyberattacks, no matter the shape or form that they take, are for the purpose of gaining profit. This is the primary driving force behind ransomware, for instance, which is a popular method of attack. This method unfortunately often succeeds which means that it and other methods like it won’t disappear anytime soon.

Connections

Connections are everywhere and they are used for various processes like payment, referrals, leads, information sharing and more. This is where an attack may not be out to harm you or steal your data and resources specifically but rather use you for your connections to get to bigger fish. Your business will still be harmed in the process of course but this is another common motive behind cyberattacks that need to be guarded against.

Personal Data

Cybercriminals understand that small businesses collect data that can be easier to export than bigger corporations. Data has become a sort of currency that businesses even sell and collect. Since it has value, of course, virtual sticky fingers will try to profit from it. The type of personal information that they may be after is anything from banking information, to medical records and more. Having your collected data compromised is dangerous for your stakeholders and yourself as it could lead to your files being deleted or leaked.

Bigger companies may have entire teams dedicated to cybersecurity but not everyone has these kinds of resources. The best thing to do as an entrepreneur would be to use tech to your advantage. Things like virus protection and other malware detectors that can scan for threats, perform threat analyses and offer all-round cyber protection. To do this, small businesses should have a 360-degree internet security strategy for all cyber threats that can end up being very costly.

If you’re looking for I.T. assistance such as internet security and antivirus strategies, try Westtek. As experts in this field, you can’t go wrong. Contact us today!

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