Savvy Ways Small Businesses Can Fight To Secure Their Networks
Small businesses are frequent targets for cyber attacks, mainly because they aren’t always as prepared or cautious as their larger counterparts. Justin Kozak, executive vice president of sales at Founder Shield explores ways to combat cybercriminals and protect your networks against cyber threats.
The global health crisis catapulted many changes in our world. A significant shift that we saw unfold was the uptick in cyber threats. Unfortunately, cybercriminals quickly set their sights on small businesses, routinely unleashing sophisticated and multi-tiered attacks. Over the past few years, we learned many lessons as these companies struggled to secure their networks against hackers. Here are a few tips for protecting small businesses from vicious attacks.
Develop a Response Plan for Ransomware
Thanks to the headlines, many of us know by now that the average cost of a data breach has recently increased to $4.24 million, and small businesses are a favorite target of hackers. Unfortunately, small businesses impacted by a cyber attack often don’t make it through. Instead, the cybercriminals damage their reputation, finances, and future in one fell swoop.
Although cybercriminals use several methods to infiltrate a company’s files, ransomware attacks are quickly becoming the “thing” company leaders fear most. Ransomware attacks surfaced in the mid-2010s and have established a reputation for being relentless. The scale and impact of these attacks have continued to snowball over the past several years.
Briefly, ransomware is malware that blocks access or threatens to publish the victim’s confidential data unless they pay a ransom. Unfortunately, the average ransom is roughly $1.8 million, a 20% increase from 2020. And we saw this increase reflected in the commercial insurance world, with claims increasing by a similar amount.
Company leaders must acknowledge the severity of ransomware threats and develop a response plan for them. The mindset of “it won’t happen to me” won’t cut it anymore.
Lamentably, the cyber liability landscape has gotten to the point where it’s not if you’re attacked; it’s when. With that in mind, we provided a roadmap to our clients, helping them secure their network and recover quickly if an incident occurred. Let’s review some of those essential tips.
Implement Multi-Factor Authentication
Remote work has increased dramatically since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving remote access points into a network more vulnerable than ever. However, IT experts tout multi-factor authentication for a good reason — it works.
Multi-factor authentication is a security technology that creates a layered defense. It requires multiple authentication methods to verify a user’s identity for entry, such as logging in to a system or completing a transaction. Multi-factor authentication combines two or more credentials from independent categories to complete the verification process, such as:
- What the user knows (i.e., password)
- What the user has (i.e., security token)
- What the user is (i.e., biometric verification)
With the traditional user ID and password combination, hackers can gain access to data with a few strategic guesses. Plus, many people fail to change passwords often, making a cybercriminal’s job even more effortless. Multi-factor authentication creates layers of security to stump an unauthorized user.
See More: Top 10 Two-Factor Authentication Vendors in 2021
Adopt a Layered Approach
Much like the multi-factor authentication method, combating phishing attacks requires a layered approach. And best of all, it calls for a team effort. We encourage you to support a healthy cybersecurity culture that places some cyber responsibility on your workforce. After all, a successful phishing attack usually involves your team, whether it was their email or device that hackers phished.
We’ve seen D&O litigation stem from cyber liability claims, proving that much of the cyber responsibility rests on company leaders. Sure, cybersecurity culture trickles down from management; however, the team also plays a significant role.
Keep up with cybersecurity training, and remember to stay on top of your backup schedule to protect critical data. Up-to-date systems and cyber-savvy employees are a powerful combination. This layered approach for small businesses will help secure a network that might have been vulnerable otherwise.
Refine and Mature Your Vulnerability Management System
Handling software vulnerabilities are more convenient with a vulnerability management system. These systems are made up of different features that help protect networks and software against breaches, malware, and viruses.
However, rarely are these systems a one-size-fits-all solution. The goal is to achieve a comprehensive and consistent approach to battle a broad range of cyber threats. An excellent practice is to team with an IT specialist familiar with your risk appetite. With this knowledge, you can customize factors that impact your security management. This process will likely involve several other team players, such as IT engineers and key executives.
By refining and maturing your vulnerability management system, you can better influence your IT infrastructure to manage your small business’s exposures.
See More: What Is Hardware Security? Definition, Threats, and Best Practices
Fine Tune Your Recovery Plan
It might surprise you that nearly 25% of the C-suite is willing to pay at least $20,000 and up to $50,000 to regain access to their encrypted data. Sadly, of the 40% of ransomware victims that pay the ransom, only 30% of those businesses ever see that money again.
As a result, part of every risk management plan should focus on recovery. Well-placed insurance policies are a beneficial piece of that strategy. Cyber liability protects companies from third-party lawsuits relating to electronic activities (i.e., data breaches, phishing scams, ransomware, etc.). It also provides many recovery benefits, supporting data restoration and reimbursement for income lost and payroll spent.
Small businesses must learn to navigate a challenging cybersecurity landscape — but it’s not all doom and gloom. The above best practices can help your company secure your networks against cyber threats and keep your business in the game for the long run.
Which best practices have you followed to secure your businesses against threats? Tell us on LinkedIn, Twitter, or Facebook. We would love to hear from you!
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