The biggest cybersecurity threats and how to protect your business

By Rieva Lesonsky, CEO GrowBiz Media &
SmallBizDaily

For small businesses without an IT staff, cybersecurity can be
a huge worry. There’s reason for alarm: Small Business
Computing reports 58% of all data breaches last
year occurred at small businesses.

Ponemon’s 2017 State of Cybersecurity
in Small and Mid-Sized Businesses reports 61% of
companies surveyed had a cyber attack in the past 12 months,
and 54% of these suffered a data breach involving employee
and/or customer information.

Source:
Ponemon Institute

What are the most common threats?

The most common attacks against small businesses involve
phishing/social engineering (48% of respondents).

One social engineering scam on the rise is “pretexting,” in
which attackers send emails appearing to come from an executive
or co-worker in the company. Pretexting often targets financial
and HR departments in an attempt to access the business’s bank
accounts or its employees’ personal data. According to Symantec’s 2018 Internet
Security Threat Report, each user at a small
business receives an average of nine malicious emails per
month.

The second most common type of attack is web-based. In this
situation, malicious software, or malware, installs itself on
victims’ computers when they’re using the internet. Some 43% of
Ponemon respondents suffered a malware attack.

Ransomware, in which hackers use malware to compromise your
computer system and then demand a ransom to give you back your
data, is also on the rise. In last year’s Ponemon report, just
2% of respondents reported ransomware attacks. This year, 52%
of respondents say their companies experienced a ransomware
attack; of those, 53%  faced more than two ransomware
incidents in 12 months.

Problems and solutions

Employees continue to be the weakest link when it comes to
cybersecurity. Of the respondents whose companies suffered data
breaches, 54% say negligent employees were at fault.

Proper use of passwords and authentications can help. Some 59%
of respondents in the Ponemon survey say they don’t know what
password practices their employees are using. Only 43% of
companies even have a password policy, and 68% of those admit
they don’t strictly enforce it.

Beyond employees, some of your business technology could also
be putting you at risk. For example, do you know unsecured
networked printers can give cybercrooks easy access to your
company’s sensitive data?

Xerox printers and multifunction
printers with ConnectKey
technology can help. Their built-in security features help keep
your printers secure from both external and internal threats.
For example, you can use key cards, passwords or mobile devices
for authentication control to restrict access only to
authorized users. (Combined with the Xerox Mobile Link
app, this is a great way to enable mobile printing while still
keeping data secure.) The printers also log user data so you
can see who’s using them, and protect your data by encrypting
documents sent to, sent from, or stored on your printers.

Xerox Mobile Link App
– 3-in-1: Capture It, Manage It, Send
It
Xerox Mobile Link is a mobile app that can scan, fax and
print from your phone or tablet by connecting with Xerox
multifunction printers (MFPs).

Whitelisting technology embedded in ConnectKey
enabled printers protects against malware and notifies you of
any attempts to compromise printer security, while Firmware
Verification alerts you if any harmful changes to the printer
are detected.

Cyber safety tips

To keep your small business safe from cyber attacks, follow
these tips:

• Install software to detect and prevent intrusion by viruses
  and malware.
  


• Train employees in cybersecurity practices, particularly
  regarding email and internet use, and enforce them.
  


• Use secure passwords and change them regularly. Don’t share
  passwords.
  


• Set software to update automatically; outdated software
  makes your network easier to breach.
  


• Consider purchasing cybersecurity insurance for added
  protection.
  


• When buying new hardware and equipment, look for products
  like Xerox printers and MFPs with
  security features built in.
  

Cyber attackers continue to get sneakier and sneakier. By
taking these steps to protect your computers and networks, you
can reduce the chance of your business falling victim to the
crooks.

Bytes Document Solutions

Bytes Document Solutions (BDS) is Africa’s leading document
management technology and services company and the largest
Xerox distributor in the world. It is the authorised Xerox
distributor in 26 sub-Saharan countries offering the complete
range of Xerox document equipment, software solutions and
services. BDS forms part of JSE listed Allied Electronics
Corporation Altron.      
http://bytesdocumentsolutions.co.za

This article was published in partnership with Bytes Document
Solutions.