Protecting Your Devices: 7 Cyber Security Threats Every Small Business Owner Should Know

In 2017 alone, there was a 600% increase in reported cyberattacks from 2016. Every year, it seems those numbers only get higher and higher. The bad news is, there is no way to completely guarantee that you won’t be a future victim of one of these attacks. What is more, all devices are at risk.

So, what can you do, then, to at least ensure your threat of cybersecurity attacks are as low as possible? The first step is understanding what the main types of cybersecurity threats are.

Below are seven of the most common types of cybersecurity threats to be on the lookout for.

1. Phishing Attacks

You or one of your employees can come across a phishing attack even just by clicking on an infected email. Just with that one click, attackers can gain entry to your network and any data stored on it. Although only about 30% of phishing attacks are successful, they still occur hundreds of times a day, thus are quite common.

2. Weak Passwords

We all want an easy password that we’ll always remember. In reality, this is an unsafe cyber-related practice. Instruct employees to create strong passwords, opt for two-way authentication, and change their passwords frequently.

3. Ransomware

The most common cybersecurity threat is ransomware attacks. Billions of these attacks occur every year, and they don’t seem to be declining any time soon. Just as the name implies, attackers find a way to access your device’s data and then hold it hostage until you pay them a ransom. These dangerous and expensive attacks can cause a lot of harm for small businesses.

4. Malware Attacks

The second most common cybersecurity threat to small businesses is malware attacks, which involve a variety of threats from viruses to trojans. Usually, malware attacks begin when someone downloads something from a malicious website, interacts with a spam email, or connects to an already-infected device.

5. Unpatched Security Vulnerabilities

Security bugs and vulnerabilities of software programs are easy loopholes for attackers. The best way to avoid attacks through this method? Regularly check all business-related programs to see if the software developer released new security patches, and if so, make sure to update them as soon as possible.

6. DDoS Attacks

Distributed denial of service (DDos) attacks can affect anyone at any time. Via this cybersecurity attack, perpetrators intentionally interrupt the services a host connected to the Internet has access to, to make a particular network, service, or server inconveniently unavailable. Due to their complexity, they can be a big worry for small business owners.

7. Insider Threats

Even someone who works for or who used to work for your company may be the one who threatens the security of your company’s devices. In fact, a majority of all data breaches are to blame for a current or previous employee.

But by providing cybersecurity risk training, limiting employees’ access to certain resources, and establishing a bring-your-own-device policy can lessen this risk.
If you’re looking to boost the cybersecurity of your devices, read more here.

Conclusion

Cybersecurity-related threats will always be a thing, unfortunately. But like in the case of many things in life, knowledge is power. The more you know about the types of cybersecurity threats out there and what to do about them, the more likely you are to remain cyberattack-free as much as possible.