If you are running a small business then it is absolutely essential for the health of your company that you ensure that you have some high-level cybersecurity in place. I understand perfectly just how hard it can be to spend money on something like this but it is absolutely necessary in today’s world.
For many years I had very basic level cybersecurity on the company’s systems but all of that changed when I saw Bharat Bhise HNA give an amazing speech at a business convention about just how at-risk small businesses are from cybercriminals. To be honest with you, so compelling was that speech that I bought additional protection for the computer systems in the business the very next day.
I was very lucky to get the chance to speak to industry expert Bharat after his speech and he was more than open to answering all of the questions which I had, a truly remarkable man. Thanks to the conversation with people like Bharat I have realized just how much hackers like a small business when it comes to picking their victims, and here is just why they find small businesses to be highly effective for them.
Lack of Security
One of the main reasons why hackers will handpick small businesses over larger ones is becasue they know that it is likely to either be no security whatsoever protecting their computer database or if there is the security it is likely to be outdated. Even if the hacker finds a company that does have security in place, they will just move on to the next one, safe in the knowledge that it will not take very long for them to find a small business that does not have adequate protection which it needs.
Lower Chance of Getting Caught
If NASA, the FBI, Apple or Mastercard get hacked then you better believe that the place will throw all of their weight behind trying to get the group or the individual that is responsible. If however, a small office in the high street happens to get hacked and have some important information stolen, how much do you think the local police are going to care? In fact, most local police operations don’t even have the resources or ability to go after an online criminal, and the hackers know this only too well.
Quick Sell And Go
There are 4 main reasons why hackers breach a system, but only 1 of them pertains to a small business. The first reason is for sport, to prove to their friends in the community that they have been able to hack a difficult platform, this, of course, is not the case when it comes to a small business. The second is ethical hacking which is used in-house by security companies, the third is for hire, a hacker being paid to get certain documents, unlikely in the case of a small business.
The final reason, however, is exactly why small businesses are at risk, and that is a hacker who is simply looking to get hold of information that they can use to make some money by selling on. The most commonly bought information is personal details which people will then use to commit identity fraud, and this information can be sold very quickly and very easily. Hackers who are doing this know very well that they can get this type of information from even the smallest of businesses, which is what they do and then they make a quick buck for selling the details of your clients.
Repeated Hacks
The biggest worry for small business owners should be that 9/10 times they may not even realize that they have been hacked, especially if the systems are left intact. What many hackers will do is to leave what is called a backdoor into the system, giving them remote access whenever they want it. They could hack you, leave it 6 months for you to get some new clients and add some more information to your systems, and then re-hack you again to get the new information that has been stored.
Small businesses are very much low hanging fruit for hackers and until small business owners start waking up to the fact that they can be hacked, and invest in cybersecurity for their computer systems, this is something which is going to continue to happen. When presented with the facts, I changed our business to make sure that we would be properly protected and now it is time for you to do the same. A failure to do this could cause a huge problem for your business and the damage which a cyberattack could do, financially and in terms of your reputation could be devastating.
