Every business should have a strong security strategy in place to protect itself. Bigger companies have the money and resources to establish this, but with smaller businesses, there is a tendency to make oversights with cyber-security. For all businesses, staying on top of their IT is important, having the right Business IT Support London Solution for example can make a huge difference. Below are some of the most common security mistakes made by small businesses.
Thinking a cyber-attack is unlikely
As a small business, you might be tempted to assume you’re at less risk of cyber-attacks, in order to justify not investing as much in cyber security. However, cyber-security is the number 1 issue in IT environments across the board – it doesn’t matter how big or small your organization is, you are a target for cyber-attacks. There is even some research to suggest smaller businesses are becoming a more common target for cyber-attacks, precisely because they are more likely to let their guard down.
There are plenty of options for cyber security that are specifically designed for small businesses – so they are cost-effective and ensure you have the protection you need.
No company policies
As a business, one must enforce policies for their users, not just verbally, but via their IT infrastructure. This means, for example, setting up multi-factor authentication for user logins; or implementing access control, so that different users have different levels of access to company resources. Even IT Support for Small Business Solutions needs to take security seriously. By implementing policies that cannot be bypassed from something as simple as careless behavior, provides a structure for the company’s security practices.
Putting off updates
Hackers and other malicious users often take advantage of vulnerabilities in software. Each version of the software should come with improved security, and software developers often release patch updates if they discover any vulnerabilities in the latest version of the software. This is why it is very important to regularly check for updates on all the software you use – and especially critical infrastructure software, and software that hosts personally identifiable information.
It can be frustrating when you have to pay a one-off premium for every new version of the software, which is one of the main reasons many businesses and users hold off on updates. This is why perpetual software services are the best solution for many businesses. Services like Microsoft 365 are subscription-based, which means that software updates are included in the subscription.
Bad user practices
Of course, there is only so much a business can do in terms of cyber security, if their users are engaging in unsafe practices. For instance, we are probably all guilty of not renewing our password as frequently as we’re supposed to; and, even worse, many of us use passwords that could be cracked by a brute force attack without much effort. As a business, you can help your users by onboarding users to a password manager service. There are other user practices that have a less concrete solution, however – this is why it is important to educate employees on matters like browsing the internet safely, how to identify a phishing scam, and how to check a website’s credibility and security.
