So, what kind of threats are you risking by not safeguarding your company against potential hackers?
If you’ve ever had a bad internet day, you understand how frustrating it can be. Sometimes you waste hours trying to remotely access your important files and documents. And searching for answers on your devices can be difficult if you haven’t taken the time to properly secure them.
Read on for some of the biggest cyber threats small businesses should know about.
Malware
Malware is malicious software that can harm business systems and compromise data. It can be installed on a computer system without your knowledge. This is often used to steal:
- Financial Information
- passwords
- confidential business data
Small businesses are particularly vulnerable to malware because they lack the resources and expertise to protect their systems adequately. It is important to use antivirus and anti-malware programs and keep them up to date to reduce the risks of an attack.
Password Attacks
Password attacks are when attackers try to obtain a user’s password via various online and offline tactics. These tactics can include:
- Social engineering
- Phishing emails
- Dictionary attacks
- Brute force attacks
- Other methods
Small businesses are particularly vulnerable to this type of attack as passwords are often poorly managed and easy to guess. Small business needs to ensure that their passwords are as secure as possible and that staff is aware of the risks of password attacks.
Phishing
Phishing is the use of fraudulent emails, texts, or websites in an attempt to steal personal information like passwords, credit card numbers, and account numbers. These scams are dangerous as malicious actors can use the acquired information for identity theft or financial fraud.
Business owners should be wary of unsolicited emails containing links or attachments, since clicking on them can enable malicious software to be installed on their devices.
Denial of Service
These attacks occur when malicious actors launch numerous requests or attempts to disrupt or prevent access to a network, system, or application. It’s done by sending large volumes of traffic to a targeted system, flooding it with requests and making it unable to access legitimate user requests.
Unsurprisingly, this can have a huge impact on the efficiency and availability of a business’s resources, rendering it inoperable. The nature of DoS attacks can vary, from using malware to exploit vulnerabilities to trying to access data or confidential information. .
Man in the Middle
Man in the Middle Cyber Attack threats is a critical threat to small businesses as they target both employees and customers. These attacks involve a malicious third party eavesdropping on and intercepting communications from the small business and its customers.
The attacker is effectively placed between the customer and the business, capturing critical data such as:
- Usernames
- Passwords
- Authentication credentials
This can lead to identity theft and the theft of sensitive business data. To protect against these, managed cybersecurity services can can help your business detect and prevent attacks in real-time, stopping attackers from intercepting data.
Read More About Cyber Threats
The cyber threats faced by small businesses are constantly evolving. Businesses must remain vigilant in order to prevent cyber-attacks or data breaches. To protect a business and its critical data, it is important to understand and stay aware of the latest cyber threat trends.
It’s also necessary to have effective policies and procedures in place to protect against cyber risk threats. Learn more about cyber threats and how you can protect your business by clicking here.
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