In less than a minute, a cyber-thief can cause your business irreparable harm that can cost you valuable revenue, your reputation, and in some cases, your entire business.
Perhaps your business has already been a victim of a security breach. If so, you are fortunate if that breach didn’t have a negative financial impact on your company. According to the Journal of Management and Marketing Research, as many as 30% of business failures may be due in part to criminal activity. Further, according to the National Cyber Security Alliance, 60 percent of small and midsized businesses that are hacked go out of business within six months.
Cyber-theft is a problem that is not going away. In fact, cyber-thieves are getting more and more sophisticated in approach, which means you must be more and more vigilant in protecting your valuable assets.
What is a Security Breach?
A security breach is any successful unauthorized access to an organization’s computer systems. These breaches can lead to theft, corruption or sabotage of sensitive and valuable data and IT systems.
What About Phishing Attacks?
Phishing attacks (and the damage they can do) should be of particular importance to an organization hoping to protect itself from a breach. A successful data breach often starts from a phishing attack. Approximately 93% of successful data breaches occur in less than one minute.
What is Phishing?
Phishing is any attempt to obtain sensitive information or data, such as usernames, passwords and credit card details, through fraudulent means, such as disguising oneself as a trusted entity in an email communication.
To mitigate the risks of email phishing attacks, always keep a keen eye on the sender’s address, the subject line, attachments, and the greeting and/or body of the message. If there are irregularities, suspicious language or it feels generic – assume that you are being phished!
Be mindful of these schemes and use available tools to combat them, such as utilizing two-factor authentication and using a separate device or app to access your accounts.
Why Should Business Security Be a Priority for You?
There is good reason for you to be concerned enough about security breaches to make it a priority for your company to address it. According to Business Insider, 86% of business executives are concerned about the potential impact security breaches can have on their organization.
The impact of a security breach can leave a lasting impact on your business – loss of revenue, damaged reputation, loss of intellectual property, as well as legal and other related fees.
How to Mitigate Security Breaches
A few common causes and solutions to a security breach include:
- Email Phishing - don’t overshare important information over email. Pay attention to suspicious email addresses, subject lines, misspellings, attachments and generic images.
- Unauthorized System Access - utilize two-factor authentication. Using an additional device or app to get into your accounts makes them more secure.
- Remote Working - establish guidelines and clarify rules for connecting to systems remotely, and updating user software.
- Outdated Infrastructure - update devices to newer systems with the capabilities required to protect against breaches.
- Improper IT Disposal - be sure to sanitize data and implement a high-level sanitization software for clearing or purging data.
- Malware - exercise caution with any sort of downloads or attachments. Be sure to create a backup hard drive, apply software updates regularly, and utilize antivirus software. Be suspicious of emails that include links, unsecured websites and apps.
- Inadequate Training - provide any employees with mandatory security training, and be on the lookout for employee fraud.
- Payroll Diversion - keep an eye out behind the scenes, educate employees on what to expect, and hover above links before clicking.
You’ve put a lot into your business - don’t let criminals take it away from you so easily.
How Can Central Bank Help?
As your financial institution, it’s our duty to safeguard your information and protect your money, while also helping you achieve your financial goals.
We’re here to help. For more information about protecting your business, visit our Business Security Center. As always, contact us if we can help in any way.
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