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Nearly 9 out of 10 SMEs were the target of a cyber attack of one kind or another in 2013.
That sort of statistic should make any small business owner sit up and think. Gone are the days when SMEs simply coasted by, trusting that they were too small to be a target.
Today, criminals know that SMEs store all sorts of valuable data – from their own financial details to the details of companies they work with – no matter what its size.
That is why SMEs must start securing their digital information and the devices that hold it. Below is a guide outlining everything SMEs need to know about securing their technology.
What can SMEs do to prevent this?
Most SMEs know they need to protect themselves and their information. Cyber attacks cost SMEs a total of £785 million each year, and less than a third of SMEs surveyed in a recent Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) study said they felt they had adequate protection against these threats.
There are steps SMEs can take, however. They can shore up the defences in their internal networks, their internet connections and on their physical devices.
Internal networks
Checking the internal networks is a matter of scanning them for weaknesses. Wireless access should be as strict as possible, and the most important systems should be backed up regularly.
Limiting people’s ability to install software can add extra security, as the IT professionals will need to verify and approve any installations. That will limit the risk of people inadvertently downloading malware, which will increase security.
On the internet
A secure internet connection starts with a strong, up to date firewall. Internet connections and applications should be scanned for vulnerabilities regularly to ensure they are working as well as they should.
All together, these steps can mitigate a large portion of cyber criminals’ remote access to SMEs’ internet-enabled devices.
Physical devices
Most cyber attacks are conducted remotely, but that doesn’t mean the physical devices are invulnerable. In fact, many data breaches occur because employees fail to properly encrypt, password protect and keep track of their physical devices.
Encrypting the laptops employees use will keep prying eyes from seeing the data stored on the machine. Training employees in the importance of strong password protection and enforcing the use of passwords will provide an initial barrier to any unauthorised person trying to use the device.
Finally, being able to track the physical devices in case they are lost is important, too. After all, mobile devices like laptops, tablets and mobiles are lost quite regularly. One study suggested that as many as 4,800 laptops are lost, whether temporarily or permanently, each day in airports alone.
By using an asset tag like TechTagger, companies can ensure devices are returned when honest individuals find lost laptops or mobile phones, without providing the owners’ identifying information, in case those individuals aren’t so honest.
By securing their own internal and external networks and by encrypting and tracking the physical devices, most SMEs should begin to feel adequately protected against cyber attacks. People determined to do malicious things to a particular company will find a way, but these three steps will keep most SMEs from presenting the easy opportunities that they had done in the past.
As SMEs become less vulnerable, they should also become less targeted by criminals. A fall in that statistic would make everyone happier – everyone except the cyber criminals, that is.
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