Closing the Doors from Online Threat for Your Small Business

The problem with most business is that they often use yesterday's tools to fight tomorrow's threats. This has made small businesses more attractive and vulnerable to online threats.

Few years ago, hackers often breach systems in order to challenge their intelligence and be proud of it. At that time, they may post a message or disrupt files. Hackers are now advancing to steal data, money and intellectual properties from businesses, usually by working with a larger organized crime that supports their backs.

Most hackers today are no longer posed by young thrill seekers. Many work with organized groups and are a real threat to your business.

Beside that their hacking tools at their disposal are advancing, their method is also by using the weakest point in most company's security: its employees. Social media has already become one of the largest place to share information. And employees are now more active on it and may crack open your company's system without them knowing it.

Hackers are more active in using social engineering to trick employees to open a door for them. This can be done by sending rogue messages that pose as phishing sites to harvest login ID. With this method, hackers can also trick the employee to download malwares "willingly". These malicious program will then nest on your corporate system..

Fighting malware is not anymore a case of fighting off a virus on its own. The task that your business must be doing is to ensure all your system's defenses are all up-to-date and working together flawlessly. Your intrusion prevention software is your firewall, in which then corresponds to your spam filter, which will collaborate with your antivirus program.

Secure All Borders

Threats don't just come to your front door. If hackers see that your door is locked and secure, they will see whether they can break your window, or even try to blow your wall open. Threats are not only persistent, they are multifaceted.

If a hacker that is trying to breach your security cannot get into your systems via one route, they will try another. If one social media site or phishing email does not work, they will try another. Hackers are blending all possible way to hack into your system to see any weakness they can exploit. These blended threats should require a blended response.

For small companies it can be advisable to seek out a managed-service provider, a company that can provide access to software and applications to employees and clients through their own infrastructure, which the company protects.

Education for the Best

Highly advanced security defenses for your system can be useless if your employees that has the access to your company's sensitive information are tricked to give their access to unknown people.

All businesses of all sizes, need to educate their employees about security. They need to talk to people so that they are aware that there are cyber criminals out there who are trying to get access to systems through social engineering, through phishing emails and so on.

Threats can come in may ways. Training your employees with the basic of IT and security knowledge can make them know how deal with online threats and able to overcome early attacks.

Security in Mind

Hacker that finds an open door, or window, to your system, will keep it open so they can do what they like and leave after taking what they want. But hackers can't initiate an attack out of a thin air; they are evolving their attacks.

Usually after an attack, hackers leave traces. Most can be so small that most people cannot see. To prevent any damages done to your system or further security breach, companies need a mindset to never leave a door open after they use it, and always double check any other potential openings to their system to make sure no one is able to get through.

The worst thing a company can do is buy an antivirus program and consider the job done. Not only does every piece of software need to be constantly updated and patched, but to protect the most valuable data additional layers of security must be added and access given only to those who truly need it.

Conclusion

Security in any company of any size is ultimately everyone's responsibility. You may have the best security system to protect your company's information by putting a lock on the "doors" and "windows". But this can be next to useless if someone else beside your employee have the "keys" for them.