How protected is your business from cyber criminals?

There are many common misconceptions about how safe you think your business is from a cyber-attack. These range from the thought process “my business is not big enough to hack”, to a misguided confidence in storing data in the cloud leaving business owners thinking they are safe. 

Then there is the false impression if you use a third-party IT system that holds valued data, you are not at risk. Or simply that you don’t have an e-commerce business, therefore you are not a threat. But what if the third-party IT department you use is hacked? Your business does not need to be targeted to be hacked.

In fact, small and medium businesses are often the prime targets to a cyber-attack due to the nature of being able to get away with “small” quantities of money ranging from $20,000 - $100,000 which can appear as a normal transaction. Cybercrime in Australia occurs every 7 minutes, so being aware and vigilant is more important than ever. 

Does your business have multiple ways to authenticate staff members while using all devices? Do you regularly backup important data and limit only key staff to have access to sensitive information? How often are you training your staff on what to look for when it comes to phishing emails and how to avoid them? These are all questions that need to be asked to see how prepared and protected your business is to minimise the impact.