While many of us can easily name cyber-attacks that have occurred against many large corporations (as they tend to dominate the news cycle), most of us cannot do the same for small or medium sized businesses. Also, since large corporations have deeper pockets, they easily bounce back from these attacks while SMBs do not. In the last year, it is estimated that, more than half of SMBs say they have been the victim of a cybersecurity breach and half of those attacks resulted in data loss. SMBs have are more often targeted since they do not have the IT staff, infrastructure, or other resources to protect their data as stringently as larger businesses. According to the National Small Business Association, the average data breach costs an SMB around $900,000 and most of these breaches begin with a phishing email. Last week’s tips and tricks showed you the 4 newest phishing trends in 2019. But this week, let’s look at a few ways to reduce you risk of an attack.
• Backup your data often
Many phishing emails can result in ransomware. By backing up all of your company’s data multiple times a day, you would be able to restore your systems prior to the attack avoiding the cost of paying ransom, losing little to no data, and being able to resume business-as-usual quickly.
• Identify the attacks for which your business is at risk
The first step in risk management is to know your enemy. Once you have identified the risk, you can take the proper steps to remediate that risk.
• Simulate the threat
The best way to prevent a disaster is to prepare for them. Just like fire drills, simulated attacks (such as phishing) allow you to see where your preparedness can improve.
• Train your employees
Once you have identified the threat and done a practice run use that data to provide the proper training for your employees. If they are given the tools to recognize a threat, then they are much less likely to allow a cyber criminal into your business’ network. For example, do you know that these subject lines are more than likely phishing emails?
o Review or Quick Review
o Bank of ; New Notification
o Charity Donation for You
o FYI
o Action Required: Pay your seller account balance
o Unauthorize login attempt
o Your recent Chase payment notice to
o Important: (1) NEW message from
o AMAZON : Your Order no #812-4623 might ARRIVED
o Wire Transfer
o Assist Urgently
Now that you are aware of the ways to reduce your risk of an attack. Contact OnPar Technologies at [email protected] for more information about attack simulation and training opportunities.
SMBs and Phishing Attacks