Prioritising Protection Against Rising Threats

Did you know that 43% of all data breaches are against small and mid-sized companies. And yet only 5% of SME’s have protection.

With limited budgets, cyber security tends to fall to the bottom of the priority list for many small businesses but with cyber attacks having tripled in the last year, you may want to reconsider. 

Phishing (pronounced fishing) remains one of the biggest threats to your business. It was the most prevalent form of scam in Australia in 2020, with over 44 thousand incidents reported. If you’re unfamiliar with the term, put simply it is an attack that attempts to steal your money or identity.

An attacker will impersonate your business and communicate via email, text or voicemail causing significant risk to your brand and reputation. 

It’s important you install anti virus software, spam filters and firewall programs to stay protected. You can also deploy web filters to stop employees from accessing malicious websites.

Here’s our top 5 tips to keep your business safe: 

1.Install security software and keep it updated. 

Sounds obvious, but many businesses do not have the right (if any) security measures in place and it can be both difficult and time consuming to create and maintain a comprehensive security and risk management policy. 

The two main tools to combat phishing are Secure Email Gateways (SEGs) and anti-phishing software. A SEG is built into an email delivery system, where it attempts to use domain authentication and sender reputation to identify and block phishing emails. It may also validate the email’s content using threat intelligence, antivirus, and content analysis tools before the email hits the user’s inbox.

Anti-phishing software provides additional protection by scanning the content in emails and web pages and identifying fraudulent domains. 

https://cofense.com/solutions/topic/anti-phishing/ 

2.Educate your employees. 

Software securities will only protect you so much as Human error accounts for more than 36% of all data breaches so its imperative to your business that your employees are not only aware of phishing scams but have the knowledge and tools to know how to act. 

Create a cyber aware culture and continue to train your staff regularly. A phishing email will usually present with the following red flags: 

● Spelling mistakes 

● Unfamiliar tone of voice 

● Unusual greetings 

● Suspicious attachments 

● Unusual email address or domain links 

● Anything asking for payment details 

● If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is! 

3.Enforce password policies

An effective strategy to preventing phishing attacks is to ensure you instil a struct password policy. This means having a mix of letters and numbers, upper and lower case variables, a lock out system after numerous failed attempts and so forth. 

The tougher, the better. 

4.Use multi-factor authentication 

This is an added layer of security that should overlay the aforementioned practices and requires a two step identity check. It is one of the most effective ways to protect against unauthorised access to private information and accounts. 

5.Schedule regular backups

Data loss can have a huge impact on your business. Regular back ups and restoration is vital to ensuring your files are kept safe and secure. Research repeatedly indicates that too many businesses are using costly and outdated backup solutions, and are inadequately prepared for disaster. To maintain continuity and be ready for any situation, thorough IT planning is critical. This involves having both a reliable data backup process in place, as well as a disaster recovery solution.

If you’re in need of a security update but don’t know where to start, contact us today. We will help identify at risk areas of your business - from weak passwords to policy documentation - and provide you with tailor made IT solutions. 

Source: business Australia