Security breaches have always been in the limelight as our traditional security parameters have proven shortfall against rising threats and crime vectors. Apart from the big businesses, hackers now prefer small enterprises for their target. These enterprises are like ripe fruits for malicious actors and due to insufficient security awareness and safeguards; they can easily breach the system.
When it comes to protecting our business, we know that we need to have strong security. We even go through extensive measures to tighten up our security on all of our web applications. Many of us do not think of threats, some of which could possibly cost us our business through loss of data, or consumer trust. In this piece of information, several business risks are highlighted and given solutions against them.
Types of Security Risks
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Disgruntled Employees:
While many business owners would like to keep their team happy, not all decisions are going to be in their best interests. When that happens, employees who have to much control over systems, may decide to use that power to their advantage. It is reported that many attacks which seem to come from the outside, or from internal members that have been slighted by the company.
To fight with this, the best option is to stay on top of your game. If you are terminating a person with a privileged account, be sure to either terminate the account itself or remove those permissions. It is also advisable that you change the passwords and use another password scheme to prevent possible guessing.
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Uninformed or Careless Handling:
Employees are both our greatest asset and our biggest risk. Without them, our company would not be where it is today, and that is a resounding statement for many organizations around the world. However, with many people storing data on their own devices, such as laptops, phones, tablets. Customer and company data at present is even more vulnerable than before. It is important that you train your employees about the dangers of losing their devices with data stored on them. You also need to teach them to be careful when storing data on their devices. Ensure everything is password protected and encrypted.
When educating employees about security, it is important always to have a backup plan just in case something goes awry. Bottom line, you have to learn to adapt. It will be hard to limit the data your employees require, so it is important that you teach them. Prevention is the best option in this case. It is also good practice to enforce password strength and frequent password changes.
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Bring Your Own Device:
Everyone has a phone, laptop, pager, or some technology, which can be used for business purposes. For a company, this proves as much of a boon as it is a threat. While your employees may see it as being accessible, hackers see it as open opportunities to steal your company’s data. Hackers will look for the weak link in the system. Unsecured phones, old passwords, and even a single person who overshares information on their social media page are all open doors to anyone trying to pry into your data.
Cracking down on this issues require a strict policy on device usage while at work, and outside of work. Clearly outline the exact ways you want people to access the website, emails, and any data that is used in system servers. Be sure to track log-in, usage, as well as monitoring emails. Personal email should not be allowed at any point in time while employees are logged into a corporate device.
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The Cloud:
All praise the cloud! For some of us, using the cloud has saved us time and lots of money, while some companies have suffered massive data breaches. It is important that you have the same amount of protection on your cloud-based software as you are using it to transfer information. If something interrupts the flow, you could get a virus on both ends, or even corrupt the files that are stored.
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Outdated Applications:
One of the main things we have always pushed is keeping your applications, software, and devices all up-to-date with all the newest patches and upgrades. When a company releases a security patch, it is because they found vulnerability. Once hackers know of this, they can identify your company that uses the outdated version and exploit the hole.
Always keep your applications updated, it doesn’t matter if it takes two minutes or three hours, it is worth the time.
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Outsourcing:
Yes, at times outsourcing is the only logical choice a business has, especially when it comes to payment processing. However, you have to be able to keep that system secure. Think about it, a company that is handling your payments may have thousands of other clients. Before long, a hacker may target them. Therefore, your business is only as safe as your vendors are. Be sure to read their policies.
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Fraud:
Capital is limited, no matter if you are big or small, when it comes to your business, that bottom line just never seems to be big enough. When you are dealing with the public and making transactions, your employees need to understand what fraud is what it looks like, and what it sounds like. The scary part is that it could be an innocent looking little girl, or the soccer mom. Fraud is one of the most dangerous security risks that can be posed to a business. Be sure to always check IDs, check your bills, and always keep to the return policy.
Business owners need to change their mindset from “if” to “when” a breach will happen. Sometimes it will be small, but it still needs to be treated as a serious infraction. A strict no-tolerance policy will be the best way to protect your investment. Keep calm, have your information backed up in a secure, encrypted area, and put your recovery plan into play. The more prepared you are, the less damage a hacker may be able to do. If your e-Commerce website hasn’t implemented SSL certificate then EV SSL certificate is best for small businesses. It plays vital role in encrypting information traveling between web server and browser.
