Alarmingly, cyber attacks have gotten more and more prominent. There are credit card hacks, identity theft, and malware stories every day. In fact, 43% of victims of a cyber attack are small businesses. In Central Florida, small businesses have a large target on their backs due to the proximity of Disney and other areas frequented by tourists. Any retail business will have increased business. Hackers love this environment; it pools together a lot of personal information. Business owners might not think they have valuable information besides finances, but email addresses, phone numbers, and addresses are all things hackers can use for other strikes. Another threat, and one that is often less planned for, are internal ones. It is easy to imagine a hacker many miles away in a dark room collecting credit card information. What owners often overlook is the reality that some employees can have harmful intentions when applying.
Plan Ahead
The threat of hacks might make some organizations want to distance themselves from such hotspots or even all of technology. However, dedicating a cyber defense budget and having some knowledge on the subject goes a long way. This will prevent an attack that can cripple any business, and some of them can be lethal. 60% of victims go out of business after a hack. What you can do to avoid being a part of that statistic is thinking preventively. IT services can only do so much after a cyber-attack. Having good password policies, being careful with personal data, and hopefully having dedicated IT staff or consultants beforehand will start you off well. As far as internal risks, make sure information is seen only by those who need it to work. Reception staff does not need access to customer social security numbers unless it is explicitly a part of their responsibilities. Make sure your employees are vetted thoroughly, and that they understand what they are and are not allowed to access. Be strict if they work out of the office! Though the employee might not mean to, data can be leaked without their knowledge if company data gets into the wrong hands. Accountability is everything in this case.
I hope you find these tips helpful. For more details on how to apply these tips to your business, please contact me, your strategic technology planner, at SecurityFrist@BrickTechIT.com or at (407) 244-4494.
BrickTech provides IT Support, IT Consulting, Managed IT Services and offers VoIP phone systems in Orange County and Seminole County including Orlando, Winter Park, Oviedo, Maitland, Altamonte Springs, Casselberry, Longwood, Lake Mary, Sanford and surrounding areas.
