Cybersecurity for Small Businesses

Dateline: December 29, 2017

Welcome to our Friday WRAP – one thought-provoking idea to think about over the weekend.

Small businesses have the same needs for cybersecurity as large businesses, but more often neglect doing the very basic actions that are needed, according to a recent article published by Tech News World.  Journalist David Jones published an article titled Small Companies Often in the Dark about Cyberattacks.  He suggests,

Cyberattackers typically steal credit card information from companies with customers who make purchases from them, noted Karen Johnston, a technical consultant with Nationwide. They also steal personally identifiable information — such as addresses, names and Social Security numbers — that hackers can use to apply for new credit cards or loans, she told the E-Commerce Times.

Small businesses need to make sure their systems have proper antivirus and firewall protections, and make sure their systems are password-protected and properly patched and updated with the latest versions of antivirus and operating system software, Johnston said

Companies also need to have up-to-date backups of their critical systems and customer data, and consider having cloud backups of this information, she suggested.

Further, most small businesses fail to have proper cyber-risk insurance, Johnston noted — or they think they are covered by existing business policies when they are not.

These are basic blocking and tackling actions that small and large companies must make sure are done.

Small businesses often lack the resources to have a full-blown cybersecurity team, but that does not make them immune to cyber threats.

How well does your organization keep up with the basics?  How can you insure this is done, even without a large cybersecurity team?

That’s a WRAP for this week and for 2017!  Back next year with new thoughts for the weekend!  Have a wonderful New Year Celebration!

 

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