About 33% of small business owners report that a lack of funding is a top business challenge. Unfortunately, there are plenty other challenges that can devastate organizations. Cyber attacks are once again wreaking digital havoc across the globe.
According to Rueters, in recent weeks, Singapore experienced the worst cyber attack in its history and a bank in Spain was targeted by online professional criminals.
In Singapore, 1.5 million people — including the Prime Minister — had their personal information stolen by cyber hackers. Singapore officials believe that this recent attack has all the makings of an Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) group, which is typically state-linked.
“This (APT) refers to a class of sophisticated cyber attackers, typically state-linked, who conduct extended, carefully planned cyber campaigns, to steal information or disrupt operations,” said S. Iswaran, Singapore’s minister for communications and information.
Additionally, the Bank of Spain’s website has been hit over the weekend by another cyber attack. A spokesperson for the bank said that the attack did not have any effect on the bank’s services or its communications with the European Central Bank (as well as other institutions), but the website was left unresponsive for some time, causing all sorts of financial issues for individuals and business owners who use the Bank of Spain.
These large establishments and national banks have some of the most technologically advanced security in the world, but they still fall victim to digital thievery. Approximately 43% of all cyber attacks are aimed at smaller organizations. So how can small businesses with little-to-no security budgets prevent cyber attacks?
Here are a few tips that should at least get you on track:
- Update your software — In order to combat high-tech cyber attackers, you need to ensure that your business is utilizing top-of-the-line products and the newest anti-virus software.
- Develop an incident response plan — Similar to a fire drill, you and your staff should practice a cyber incident response plan. In the event of a breach, you and each one of your employees should know exactly what to do in order to minimize the damage.
- Back up everything — Though paper trails aren’t as convenient as the cloud, you should still think about having some paper filings of essential data. Additionally, backup all your company’s financial, personal, and important information multiple times.