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What’s Next For Your Micro-Business
Security Breaches Costly For Small Businesses
While the public is fixated on high-profile corporate and government database breaches, hackers and identity thieves are increasingly targeting millions of small businesses.
A 2005 FBI Cyber Crime Study found that 90 percent of small businesses had at least one cyber security incident that year. And the onslaught isn’t letting up.
Not taking the correct cyber security precautions makes small businesses’ computer networks easy targets. Hackers can easily steal from and use these networks as launching pads to attack others, send phishing emails, and even steal confidential information about your customers and your company.
“Consumers are starting to hold businesses accountable for how they protect sensitive information and will punish or reward a company based on how it approaches cyber security,” says Ron Teixeira, executive director of the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA).
“According to a recent survey, only 20 percent of consumers said they would continue shopping at a store that had a data breach, whereas 85 percent surveyed said they would increase their shopping at a store known for its good cyber security practices.”
Implementing a security plan not only makes good business sense, but it’s also necessary for maintaining a loyal customer base.
What You Can Do
Your small business can begin to develop a cyber security plan by using these five tips from the NCSA.
- Go beyond passwords. For a more secure and reliable way to authenticate users and prevent hackers from stealing passwords, consider implementing some sort of multi-factor or strong authentication.
- Protect your systems. Install and use anti-virus programs, anti-spyware programs and firewalls on all computers in your business.
- Keep software up to date. Ensure that all computer software contains the most recent patches. This includes operating system, anti-virus, anti-spyware, anti-adware, firewall and office automation software.
- Encrypt your customers’ data. Protect your customers’ data by using encryption programs that encode data or make it unreadable until you enter a password or encryption key. Some encryption programs are built into popular financial and database software. Some broadband providers now include encryption for wireless networks as a part of their service.
- Create backups. Make regular (weekly) backup copies of all of your important data/information. Store a secured copy away from your office location and use encryption to protect any sensitive information about your company and customers.
- Stay informed. New cyber attacks are launched almost daily. Make sure you know about the latest threats. Most security and operating systems contain automatic updates. Make sure that function is turned on. And sign up for e-mail security notifications from the software company.
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(Posted May 2007) |
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