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It’s not unusual for small to medium-sized companies to think they’re in the clear, assuming hackers only go after large companies. Yet all companies are at risk for data breaches at an increasingly alarming rate. Take ransomware as an example – medium-sized companies pay out between $10 million and $500 million in revenue on a yearly basis to get access to data that has been held hostage by cyber criminals.
Ponemon Institute surveyed 1,000 IT professionals and found that more than 60% of them had been breached within the last 12 months of being polled. In an average breach, a lack of cyber security concern and poor planning result in nearly 10,000 records being stolen in one fell swoop.
Types of Cyber Attacks
With small and medium-sized businesses suffering the loss of an average of nearly $880,000 per breach, cyber security concerns are valid and the consequences of inaction are dear. But what are the specific risks that an organization may face? Here are a few to be aware of:
Phishing
Criminals will send out emails that look official and fool the unsuspecting recipient into divulging sensitive information. In many cases, it’s just a link that is clicked upon, unintentionally downloading malicious software or a virus that opens up the system to the cyber criminal. Make it a policy in your workplace that no one is to do anything but delete even a slightly suspicious email.
APT
Advanced persistent threats (APT) are tough because it’s difficult to know where they’re coming from. However, they happen in many phases that work to gather your information and then hit you hard. They also happen over a long period of time. To protect yourself, make sure your security software is updated frequently.
Password Weakness
Password attacks are easily preventable if you implement password hygiene policies that make it next to impossible for anyone to guess the password that gives a cyber criminal access to a system. Many criminals use automated systems to try to guess passwords. Make sure you have tools in place to detect when this is happening, and take steps to track how they’re trying to gain entry (username, network and/or device path).
At Access One, we know our voice, data and managed IT services clients maintain their good reputations by keeping their data safe. That’s why we focus on security and make sure our clients are patched and updated frequently. Contact us today to discuss how we can address your cyber security concerns.