All You Need To Know To Protect Your Business Online

Cybercrime is among one of the most damaging activities on the planet at the moment. In the last 5 years, the losses from these practices have doubled standing at $6 trillion today. In respect to that, the cybersecurity market is expected to be worth $300 billion by 2024. The two numbers seem miniscule in comparison. There is a lot more that needs to be on the ground level to tackle cybercrime.

Today, we discuss how businesses can play their part in making overall cyberspaces more secure and contribute towards cutting the damages caused by the menace that is cybercrime.

The Threats That Businesses Face Today

Businesses are one of the most vulnerable entities when it comes to cybercrime today. They are the ones with the most to lose so naturally, they are preferred targets. Sadly, small businesses spend less than $500 on cybersecurity each year which may not be sufficient sometimes. Moreover, the point is not about increasing what they spend but knowing the threats and tackling them effectively:

Malware: This includes a number of viruses and bugs that hackers can place into the shared network of the organization. Some common examples include ransomware, spyware, adware, worms, and Trojans, etc. Cybercriminals can use individual devices or the company server to plant these bugs into a system.

Distributed Denial of Service attacks: Also known as DDoS or DoS, these attacks are usually targeted at businesses that lose money by going offline. Examples include e-commerce stores. Hackers direct loads of irrelevant traffic towards the server causing it to crash.

Data Breaches: In the last few years, industry bigwigs like Facebook, Yahoo, CapitalOne, etc. have admitted to suffering data breaches where personal information on millions of users has been stolen. Small and medium businesses suffer similar threats and according to one report, the average loss as a result of such breaches in almost $150,000.

There are other threats too like employee negligence and unawareness itself has been identified as the leading cause for businesses to suffer cybersecurity attacks.

The Consequences Of Ignoring Cybersecurity

The damages that come as a result of data breaches and cybercrime and multi-pronged. And it is important to note that while large multi-national corporations can walk away from such instances, more than 60% of small businesses are known to shut down within 5 years after a cybercrime. This is because the losses are not just financial and sometimes, they are even continuous.

Once sensitive data pertaining to a business is published online, there is no stopping how it used by different parties. While passwords and other details can be changed, some information like registration numbers and other government-issued IDs don’t. This means that as long as the data remains public, the threat persists. Also, more worryingly, it is impossible to scrub the data from every source on the internet.

What Can A Business Do Protect Themselves?

There are a number of ways in which businesses can protect themselves. First and foremost is to invest in employee awareness. This is the biggest loophole in the cycle so plugging it is imperative. There is no need to arrange elaborate cybersecurity sessions but briefings about basic threats and security practices are enough. This should also be followed by restricting authorized access to a few trusted individuals only.

Other steps that a business can take is to develop fail-safe mechanisms in case an attack does happen. This can include emergency network kill switches and updated off-site backups that can be quickly put into place. Perhaps the most effective way for a business to deal with cybercrime is to use a business VPN. These customized programs provide all-round protection to small businesses at affordable costs.

Use Of A Business VPN

A business VPN is the answer to all the cybersecurity needs of a business in one. Before progressing though, it is important to pick a credible service that delivers what it promises. Ivacy is one such example. The business tool for the VPN includes dedicated IP addresses for each member of the team, quick server deployment, and multiple encryption protocols.

Although a VPN is not foolproof protection but it provides a substantial amount of deterrence against cybercrime. Unless a hacker is persistent, they won’t be able to get through the VPN protection at all. A business VPN is a cost-effective yet comprehensive solution for all cybersecurity needs that a business faces.

Conclusion

With businesses increasingly at risk of cybercrimes, it is crucial that they invest time and other resources in protecting themselves. There is a lot that can be done in this regard including training employees to address any leaks in the internal operations and the use of effective tools like business VPNs to phase out all other possible threats. Together, this combination can help defeat a majority of cybersecurity threats against a business.

Author Bio:

Scott is a cyber-security professional. He’s been writing in the internet privacy niche for a while now and has churned a variety of informational pieces to educate his audience. Connect with him on Twitter.