SpartanTec, Inc. Columbia: Tips to Improve Cybersecurity in Small Businesses

We saw an increase in sophisticated phishing emails schemes after the COVID-19 pandemic. Google blocked more than 18 million coronavirus-phishing attempts daily at the start of the pandemic crisis. Cybercriminals will never miss an opportunity, even if it means a tragedy or a global crisis.

Cybercrimes saw an increase in recent years, with 54% of companies having experienced an incident in their industrial control systems. Even though cybersecurity spending is expected to rise to $1 trillion over five years (2025), not all companies spend enough to secure their networks and data. Cybercrime is predicted to cause the loss of 33 billion records by 2023.

Cybersecurity is a serious concern for small businesses

This is especially true for small and medium-sized businesses. Recent data shows that 70% of small businesses are not prepared to handle a cyberattack and 51% have not allocated any budget to cyber security. No matter how small or large your business may appear, 43% of cyber-attacks target small businesses.

Small businesses are often too small to invest in cyber security, and therefore they are not equipped to handle increasingly sophisticated cyber-attack strategies. This makes them a lucrative target for hackers. This is a dire situation when you consider the cost of a malware attack against a company at $2.4 million.

According to how prevalent the attacks are, the cyber-attacks against small businesses can be divided into these categories:

Attack via the Internet 49%
Phishing and social engineering 43%
General malware 35%
SQL injection 26%
Compromised / stole devices 25%
21% of people refuse to use services
Advance malware / zero day attacks 14%
Malicious insider 13%
Cross-site scripting 11%
Ransomware 2
Other 1%

Unfortunately, many small businesses continue to believe that they can ‘fly under the radar’ because they are small. 69% of small businesses continue to not enforce password policies. 16% of small businesses report that they only review their cyber security after a major security incident. Small businesses can use managed IT services to help them protect their networks from rising cyber security threats.

Tips to Improve Small Business Cybersecurity

Layered security can be used to limit access. This will help protect your most important data even in the event of a breach. This could mean that sensitive information can only be accessed on a strictly need-to-know basis. Additional protections such as encryption and passwords can be used. You can use layers of security to include the following:

Asset inventory – A comprehensive review of all hardware and software is necessary to ensure their security and performance. A current inventory of mission-critical and sensitive data, as well as periodic checks of user accounts for inactive accounts, can help to prevent data theft and credential theft.

Network security and perimeter – When threats do infiltrate your defenses, it is helpful to divide your network into zones that have different access levels and security levels. Malicious attacks can be prevented by reviewing your SQL code and using web-application firewalls.

Activity auditing – Regular monitoring and review data and network activity can pinpoint user access and flag suspicious activity.

Use Enterprise-grade firewalls. Enterprise-grade firewalls offer more control and better traffic management than regular firewalls. They are your first line of defense against malicious traffic and prevent accidental clicks to compromise websites.

A strong Mobile Device Policy is essential – Most employees use mobile devices to work remotely and for any other reasons. Access to sensitive data off-premise can make it difficult for employees to use work email from mobile devices. Strong password protection should be used and security apps installed to monitor the use of these devices should be used.

Hire outsourced managed IT services – If this has been a long read, and you are overwhelmed by the steps required and/or estimated budgets to protect your business against cyber security threats then you should seriously consider consulting a local managed service provider in IT Support. They can help you assess your business’s risk and provide the most recent defensive strategies, tools and technologies at predictable and manageable monthly costs.

Centralize hardware management – Please make sure you have a centralized dashboard for all hardware on site (including mobile devices), with pre-set configurations. An asset inventory is a great way to keep track of your equipment. All network logs should also be audited in order to trace any unauthorized device access.

You should strengthen your password policy. In addition to enforcing strong password policies at work, it is important that all employees are required to change their passwords at least once a quarter. For assistance in creating strong passwords, you can use a complex password generator tool. This includes a mixture of capital and lowercase letters, numbers and special characters.

Zero Trust Policy – Although the idea of zero trust policies is still relatively new, it can be very useful in protecting enterprise data and networks. This means that users have access to data and applications only on a need-to-know basis. The strict enforcement of zero trust limits the damage caused by breaches, credential theft, and user violations (accidental and deliberate).

Regular Data Backups – Automate your backup processes. At the very least, make regular backups that are stored offsite. Offsite backups can be used to ensure uninterrupted business services and continuity in the event of a network attack or disaster.

Secure Your Website with SSL – All your website should be secured with secure socket layer (SSL). It ensures that all data can be transmitted securely over the Internet between any computer on your network server and any other computer. This makes data theft impossible. SpartanTec, Inc. can assist you in implementing SSL on your website. This will allow for a higher ranking on Google and safer data practices.