It was only fifty years ago that the biggest threat to a business was an upside down economy, but today’s businesses face threats from every angle, regardless of the state of the economy, due to the overwhelming need for technology in the modern business structure. While this technology serves a number of critical purposes to help a business remain competitive and on the cutting edge, it also leaves that same business vulnerable to security breaches. Target, one of the most well-known retailers in the country, even fell prey to a security breach recently when hackers accessed customer credit card information.
If companies like Target, with large security and technology budgets, can become a victim of such a major security breach, do small businesses have any hope? The answer is yes, but with specific precautions and help from the experts. It is so important that small businesses make cyber security a main priority, because just one data breach has the potential to wipe out any small business in the costs associated with credit monitoring for affected customers, lost revenue, customer notification, investigation, and crisis management.
Start with Employees
Most employees mean well and wouldn’t want to purposefully hurt their employers, but they also rarely understand how important the data is that they can access. This causes hackers to view employees as the weakest link and thus the best place to start in a hack. Utilize all of the resources at your disposal to educate your employees and ensure they not only know how to safely use company data but also how to avoid phishing and common scams.
Utilize the Right Resources
Chances are your small business has an immense amount of data, so remain cost and resource efficient by only protecting the most valuable data with the top-of-the-line security. This would include consumer data like payment data, social security numbers, and personal contact information.
With the help of the right IT security company, your small business can avoid security breaches and remain on the path to success.
