Many businesses believe that online security breaches are only a real problem for big businesses.
You only ever hear about cybercrime on the news when it happens to a business as big as Target or Home Depot.
This way of thinking seems logical on the surface: When international corporations like Target are apparently vulnerable to unauthorized access, why would any cybercriminal bother with a business that isn’t worth the assets of a single Target store, or (as is the case for many smaller businesses and one-man operations) even just a single department within a single Target store?
Contrary to this belief, smaller organizations are actually more likely than large corporations to be the victim of a cyberattack. In 2014, 60% of cyberattacks targeted small to medium-sized businesses.
Don’t be surprised. While businesses the size of Target do have more assets for cybercriminals to take advantage of, they also have the resources to invest in the best security tools available and hire top-tier IT talent to secure their network. On the other hand, smaller businesses have fewer resources and are more likely to skimp on their IT budget and neglect their network.
Over half of businesses that sustain significant data loss from a cyberattack go out of business within 6 months of their breach. Make yourself an easy target with a weak security solution and you’ll eventually get hit too. All it takes is one successful attack to close you down for good.
300,000,000
Read any article about the current threat landscape and it will boil down to this basic point: there are a lot of web-based threats out there, so many that it’s stupid not to worry about network security.
You may be wondering, just how many threats is “a lot”?
Well, allow us to quantify the problem for you: in 2014 alone over 300 million new pieces of malware were created. If that figure intimidates you, it should. This isn’t a problem that antivirus software can solve alone. You need an expert that can help you navigate this crowded minefield and keep the integrity of your data intact.
The Dark Side of Mobilization
More and more businesses are mobilizing their workforces. The efficiency and convenience benefits of mobilization are clear, but there are also security concerns to consider.
17% of all Android apps will infect your phone with malware. Putting that stat in context makes it even scarier: there are about 1.5 million apps available to Android users, which means about 255,000 Android apps, any one of which might be downloaded by one of your employees, are malicious.
There’s a lot of potential for an employee’s personal mobile device to be compromised, and depending on how much you’ve invested in the cloud, this mobile device may be used to access business data and share files with co-workers, taking a virus that started as an employee’s problem and making it your problem.
It isn’t enough to just enable your employees to work remotely. You need to make sure to secure those remote communications, too.
More access points through the popularity of cloud computing and mobile devices make your network more vulnerable. Contact OffSite IT at (866) 828-6674 or info@offsiteIT.com and take the first steps towards truly securing your network.
