Running a business has never been easy, but let’s face it, it’s getting tougher every day. It doesn’t matter if you have a small, medium, or large business; you can be assured that sooner or later (or right now), your business will be under attack from one of multiple threats. Those business owners and managers who become complacent and believe they are not vulnerable are frankly fooling themselves. If you think your business is “safe,” please think again. Let’s talk about a few threats any business can face, beginning with cyber attacks. (Next time, we’ll address others.)
Cybersecurity Attacks: This is the biggie since virtually all businesses are online – which can be a wide-open door to the bad guys. Let’s review some recent stats:
- On average, around 30,000 websites are hacked every day globally, out of which 43% are targeted at small businesses. This makes sense as smaller businesses are less likely to have the IT staff or the know-how to ward off attacks.
- Because small businesses are “easy pickings,” they remain a prime target for cybercriminals. A study released in June 2023 found that 61% of SMBs (small and medium businesses) in the US and UK were successfully hit by a cyberattack in the past year. That’s over 50% of ALL SMBs were successfully hit last year!
- 90% of attacks start with phishing, the fraudulent practice of sending emails or other messages pretending to be from reputable companies to induce individuals to reveal personal information such as passwords and credit card numbers. These criminals rely on your employees to click on a legit-looking email because A – your business’ “cyber gates” were easily breached and B – because they haven’t been adequately trained to spot scam emails.
- The three top industries most vulnerable to cyber attacks – can you guess why?
- Healthcare
- Financial Services
- Retail
The above three industries will likely have loads of valuable, personal consumer data on hand. Combined, they represent the mother lode for criminals looking to steal and then sell the data to the highest bidder. Are you ready to defend your business if this happens?
If you’re a small business, the following statistic is frightening. Roughly 60% of small businesses fold within six months of a cyberattack. This is because the AVERAGE cost of an attack costs firms of all sizes $200,000. Can your business withstand that kind of hit? Studies show that despite its devastating effects, small and medium-sized companies have proven to be highly unprepared to face a ransomware attack.
Congratulations if you have already taken the steps to engage an IT services company that can provide the right level of cyber security for your firm. If, however, your business, especially if it is small or medium-sized, is still hoping your subscription to an online anti-virus and spyware monitoring service is enough, well, it’s not. Those programs are generally okay for consumers working on their home computers, but you should not rely on them for your business.
Why not reach out to us to talk about this? We can conduct a thorough risk assessment to identify how vulnerable your business is to attack. Then, if together we determine steps that need to be taken to protect your business, we can put together a plan.
Or you can hope your business isn’t one of 50% of all SMBs hit this year. Call 800-854-2444 today to schedule a free consultation, or go online to learn more at https://inversetech.com/cybersecurity/