Is Your Business Making These Critical CyberSecurity Mistakes?

It’s no secret that cyber attacks are on the rise – hackers are attacking at a rate of once per 39 seconds.

Did you know 95% of cybersecurity breaches are caused by human error?

How about that only 5% of companies’ files are properly protected?

Let’s look at five common mistakes made frequently by businesses like yours.

1. Many SMBs believe they are too small to be a target.

   FALSE. Hackers are not only interested in large organizations. The bad guys know that large companies have more resources, and a more robust cybersecurity stack. Makes sense to target a smaller firm that still handles sensitive payment and bank data for their clients.

2. Sharing passwords doesn’t seem like big of a deal, right?

   They’re easier to remember, and surely you can trust your coworkers. Think again. There are many issues with this one. Sharing passwords creates giant holes in your security, makes accountability near impossible, you lose control over where your password is stored or used, etc.

3. Ever click “later” on suggested software updates?

   Ever click “later” 12 times on that same update? You’re not alone. Again, seems like a small decision. However, think about this. Any time there is a security hole found in software, the developer seeks to correct it. They may come out with an update. With that update, they report the security hole they found. Enter hackers; anyone using a previous version of the software now has a known security hole in their system.

4. Free Antivirus: you may be thinking, “What a gift! This is surely just as good as any other antivirus.”

   Let’s look at the facts. Free antivirus software offers low detection rates, collects data about your usage, may issue false positives to appear useful, carries bloatware and intrusive ads that slow computers, and suffers from data breaches making them counterproductive.

5. How often do you train your employees on cyber security?

   Do you have a training protocol or standard operating procedures around this? Employee negligence is the number one cause of data breaches. Some of these actions seem harmless, like connecting to Wi-Fi at Starbucks and checking your email. Reusing your work password, or a variant of that password, across multiple accounts. Some actions could be as simple as clicking a link in an email from a seemingly safe sender. Hackers will even go so far as to drop a USB drive containing malware into the parking lot or hallway of your business; do you feel confident that none of your employees would pick that up and plug it in?
   
   

These are just five, in a list of many, common mistakes made by SMBs that leave them open to cyber security attacks.

Don’t wait until it’s too late to formulate a solid defense against these types of attacks.

The average cost of one of these attacks is $200,000.

Can your business afford that?

Learn more about how PremierePC can improve your businesses cybersecurity.