If you’ve got a small business, you’ll no doubt be aware of the risks of security attacks to your web space.  But how much of an effect can it really have on your business, and why is it that small businesses are particularly susceptible to attacks?

Certainly, you frequently see businesses in the news – mostly big names who have been in the headlines for falling victims to some form of corporate IT disaster.  Where personal data has been compromised, many companies often find themselves in the firing line for not taking enough precautions.  So what about smaller businesses..?

It happens to lots of smaller businesses

In fact, a report by the Federation of Small Businesses found that a huge 66% of small businesses had fallen victim to some form of cyber crime – averaging at one incident every six months.  Financially, that accounts amounts to a huge loss – with £5.26 billion being affected in 2014-2015 alone.

Particularly prevalent in non-tech businesses

Start-ups may not be as tech savvy as tech-focused businesses.  So if you haven’t made sufficient plans for your IT function, it’s well worth considering all of the preventative measures to keep your customers and your business safe.

We’re small, we’ll be fine

A lot of small businesses unfortunately find themselves caught out by a security breach as they believe they won’t be targeted due to their smaller size.  Quite often the opposite is true, with hackers choosing to target small businesses due to their knowledge that security won’t be as tight.

How the hackers get in

Focusing on finding the weaknesses in the outer shell of your website, they’ll look to find data that’ll be of most use to them.  Unfortunately, this is where the hackers will find ways to access your data, cause damage to your systems or installing any malware or ransomware.  It may even be that they choose to combine all of these targeted attacks once they’ve managed to access your system.

What are the hackers looking for?

One of the most common cyber crime incidents is phishing.  This is where false emails are sent; purporting to be from an official source but asking for personal or financial data.  If your business doesn’t have sufficient security awareness, this problem has a real chance of becoming a reality for your customers.

Is any help available?

Unfortunately, just being aware of the risk to your security simply isn’t enough.  It’s vital that you consider a holistic approach which takes into account all of your IT networks to make sure security is covered at all angles.  Speak to your internet provider to make sure they have ample preventative measures in place to prevent an attack.

If you’d like advice on what’s most suited to your business in terms of firewalls and preventative software available just give us a call! +44 (0)808 2819 500