One of the main reasons that people are ignorant towards cyber security is no one thinks they are big enough to be attacked. Sometimes they think that they are big enough to have good protection against attacks.
Statistics show that 43 percent of cyber attacks are targeted at small businesses. Systems of small businesses are easier for hackers to infiltrate. No one is immune to cyber attacks. Prevention is always better than cure. You need to be aware of the ways your system can be easily attacked. Here are five of the most common reasons.
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1. Your password is weak
Many businesses aren’t careful enough when it comes to password protection. They either go with the default passwords or with the easily remembered one. Default passwords are still not big of an issue, because most people change them at least once when they activate anything. If you don’t change it, then you should. Default passwords are similar for all the licenses for the particular software, and this makes it easier for any hacker to crack.
People put up easy passwords, with traces of answers all over. Your birthday, name, name of someone you love, popular strings like 1234, 12345678, 11111111, etc., are most used and easily breakable. Whenever you set a password, it is recommended to use a combination of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and, if allowed, special characters. Most places nowadays won’t accept your password, if it isn’t a good combination.
Because strong passwords are harder to remember, people make another mistake of using the same password everywhere. Now, if a hacker manages to crack your password, then your security falls with a domino effect, because now they can access everything because of the password being the same. If you have difficulty remembering passwords, then use a good password manager. Use two-step authentication to make it difficult for the attackers to crack your password.
2. Clicking random links and downloading from untrusted sources
This is a technique many hackers use that people fall prey to. Links telling you that you won something expensive, like a holiday overseas or an iPhone, should be ignored. Clicking on links claiming such things when you have never entered in anything are a big no.
Then there are emails you get that have links similar to the above-mentioned scenario. Naive people click on the links to check what they are about. Unsolicited emails with attachments are another issue. People download files to see what they contain and usually end up with viruses in their systems.
These are all Phishing attacks. Phishing attacks work on social engineering and psychological tactics. You become pawns to their malicious practices. You click on the links, and that is all it takes for them to attack your systems. If something looks too good, almost perfect, then do not check it. If it is from a website that is known to be suspicious be careful. Do not fall for the pretty packages.
3. You use public WiFi
Nowadays. many coffee houses have wifi because the number of people who work from coffee houses has increased. Freelancers and entrepreneurs frequently flock coffee houses to spend their workday.
While this has increased the business of coffee shops, it has also increased the hacking attempts. Public wifis make it easier for attackers to conduct Man-in-the-middle attacks. An unencrypted network is easily susceptible to these attacks. Anyone can keep a track of incoming and outcoming data from your device. The attackers can get access to your passwords and bank details.
If it is a planned attack, they can even change the data being sent or being received. This possesses a great threat to people’s privacy and security. If you use public wifi, then make sure you have a good VPN service on, so that all the data is encrypted.
4. You ignore antivirus updates
If you have an antivirus, that’s good. It means you take your system’s security seriously and don’t just depend on the device’s default security measures. One mistake that we all make is not updating antiviruses. Most auto-update, but the ones that ask for permissions are mostly doomed.
The system updates are as important, but antivirus updates are very important for your system’s security. Antiviruses are programmed to detect and fight off a certain number of known viruses. When new viruses are discovered, antiviruses send you updates to be able to detect and fight off that virus as well. When you keep snoozing it, you make your system vulnerable to the new virus even after having an antivirus.
Do not skip on antivirus updates. Make it a point to keep all your software up to date.
5. You don’t care much about the authorization within the company
If you don’t play it safe within the company, then even your own employees can be the reason you get attacked. Just think of this, 55 percent of all cyber attacks are rooted in the organization. Out of which, 31.5 percent are strategized by malicious employees and the remaining 23.5 percent happen because of employees being irresponsible and leaving the company vulnerable to a cyber attack.
We aren’t telling to be micro-managing everything. Some information, especially sensitive one, should be accessible only to people who actually need this data to work with. This is also why different passwords need to be used; otherwise, everyone can easily access whatever they want to.
Setting proper boundaries in the authorization rights is important for the protection of your system from internal attacks. Small businesses can very easily forget that at the end of the day it is business, and it should be treated like one when it comes to security.
About Carson Derrow
