Contrary to popular culture, most cyber security criminals are not sophisticated. As Peter Ellis said in a tweet “This is one of my pet peeves: every attack is described as “sophisticated”. Even if it involves downloading a db backup from a public box.”
Most criminals are just opportunists. How do you have your purse or wallet stolen? Leave it around in public unprotected and unwatched. Leaving it on the back of the chair or laying on a table in a crowded train station while you go to the bathroom is a pretty sure way to have it disappear. While, like in the movies, an occasional person steals a purse or wallet while someone is clutching it tightly, more often, it is the ones laying around unprotected and unwatched that are taken.
Yet, this is what people do with their business, they leave it laying around uprotected and unwatched. And like your purse/wallet, you can probably eventually replace everything in your business that was stolen but your business, and you, may never be the same.
The Europol Internet Organised Crime Threat Assessment report notes “It should be noted that the majority of reported attacks are neither sophisticated nor advanced. … many forms of attack work because of a lack of digital hygiene, a lack of security by design and a lack of user awareness.”
You don’t have to be faster than the bear, just faster than the person next to you. Make your company and employees “faster” than the companies around you so that criminals have to work harder if they want to steal your business. Start by training your employees on good Cyber Security hygiene. Next, secure your business, put SSL and other security measures on your website. Use a secure email system, stay away from consumer emails systems as money is usually spent first on protecting business level email systems. Monitor and update all your computers and servers actively. Also, and this is not last, backup your data offsite. Again, slowly and loudly for the ones in the back of the room. BACK UP YOUR DATA. Make sure you keep a copy offsite in a secure location. It can make the difference between resuming operations after an incident or closing your doors.
Summary, criminals are lazy and will go after the easiest targets, make your business a harder target by starting the journey of cyber security.
About VanBo
VanBo is committed to helping small and medium enterprises protect themselves.We start with Cyber Security Training to raise your employee awareness. VanBo has extensive experience in the areas of training, best practices, evaluating cyber security, and more. VanBo is located in Sussex, WI, USA. For more information, visit vanbo.tech
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