The 2016 State of SMB Cybersecurity Report shows that from April 2016 to April 2017, hackers have breached half of all small businesses in the US. A bill making its way through the US Senate proposes to create a set of resources and guidelines that can be used by small businesses for the purpose of protecting themselves from cyber attacks, which are steadily increasing in number.
Cyber Attacks Are on the Rise
According to a recent survey, 87% of small business owners don’t feel they’re at risk of a cybersecurity attack. 1 in 3 small businesses doesn’t use the necessary tools to fight cyber attacks. These include firewalls, antivirus software, spam filters, or data-encryption tools. Moreover, a 2015 Nationwide survey shows that only 20% of small and midsize companies have a cybersecurity strategy.
The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) has recently hosted a webinar on the cyber war against small businesses. According to the webinar, 43% of cyber attacks are against small and medium businesses.
If you need access to working capital, First American Merchant can help you stay away from the cyber war on small business and get the best fraud protection solutions for payment processing. Firstamericnamerchant.com is an award-winning merchant services provider that boasts an A+ rating with the BBB. First American Merchant’s website is scanned on a regular basis for security holes and known vulnerabilities so to make your visit to FAM’s site as safe as possible.
How to Protect Your Business from Cyber Attacks?
Small and midsize companies can take steps to protect themselves against hackers and data thieves. All you need is to:
1.Be Proactive and Never Procrastinate
Make sure to install premium software right away and update it often. Enable two-factor authorization for all employees. One of the biggest ways hackers access data is through stolen or weak passwords.
2. List the Most Important Information
Identify the information that would be most valuable to hackers, where it’s held, and what risks it involves. This could refer to employee social security numbers, customer financial data, the email address of the CFO at a much larger company you partner with, and more.
3. Review the Steps You’re Taking to Protect Your Business
Assess how you’re protecting your sensitive data. Figure out whether you need to upgrade your efforts and how you can do this.
4. Build a Detection Process
Create a detection process and test it at least once every 6 months. This will help you determine how well your cybersecurity methods are protecting you from hackers. Don’t forget about updating accordingly and establishing systems to alert you if there’s a security breach.
5. Build a Response Plan
Make sure to have a plan in case you’re hacked. Decide on the protective measures that’ll provide the best possible defense from a cyber incident and keep your business running.
6.Build a Recovery Plan
Don’t forget to build a plan for recovery that can be used in case you get victimized. Include steps concerning winning back your customers’ trust, repairing your reputation, and returning your business back to normal life.
The truth is that hackers target easier prey, small and midsize companies. Make sure to speed on cybersecurity and take the right steps to protect your business from cybercriminals.