Cybersecurity is too Important for Small Business to Ignore
It can be very tempting for a small business to put off implementing cybersecurity initiatives. Often times, we hear the excuse: “I don’t have the time,” “We don’t have it in the budget,” “Our business is too small to target,” and so on. But right now, Cybersecurity is too important for small business to ignore.
Consider is similar to business insurance. You don’t plan on getting sued or having an accident, but you buy insurance in the instance something were to go wrong. Comparably, having cybersecurity in place:
- saves you time, money and stress;
- protects your IT from threats;
- provides peace of mind to you and your employees.
The actual small business, however, is not the only one vulnerable to cyberattacks. On average, an employee of a small business is 350% more likely to be targeted in a social engineering attack than an employee of a bigger company. As a result, small businesses are three times more likely to be a target.
In reality, your business may have already been a target. According to a Barracuda report, one out of every five businesses had at least one account hacked in 2021. All it takes is one account for a hacker to spread an attack to an entire network. If you don’t have detection and protection in place, an attack can shut you down before you realize it.
Small business owners, take note!
Cyber attacks are on the rise, and you’ll need help to get through them. According to a study done by Blackberry, “One million daily security alerts are seen in 25% of security operations centers.”
But you don’t have a security operations center, let alone one capable of processing a million alerts every day, do you? When you invest in cybersecurity, you gain access to security reports like this and much much more.
The reason small businesses are often the target, is mainly because they are assumed to have fewer IT resources. Implying that bad actors will be able to take advantage of additional weak points.
At the very least, you should keep your software up to date and patch any vulnerabilities with any manufacturer updates. Traditional antivirus and email filtering are no longer enough. You must invest in extra security resources.
Cybersecurity is too important to ignore
So, we’re back to where we started. You want to invest in cybersecurity, but you’re not sure how you’ll afford it right now. But you can’t really afford not to. In 2020, Australia spent over $5.6 billion on cybersecurity and self reporting damages alone totaled more than $33 billion.
There are options out there that won’t mean starting from scratch and buying all the necessary software and hardware yourself. Instead, you can partner with a vendor to benefit from economies of scale. Invest in a cybersecurity partner that will do thorough risk assessment to identify the most critical vulnerabilities in your businesses IT infrastructure.
Partner with someone who dedicates their resources to securing small businesses like yours. They’ll be the ones spending money on complementary equipment that uses machine learning to protect against all types of email. They’ll know how to put the necessary security measures in place, as well as how to identify and respond to threats once they’ve surfaced.
The damage a small business faces from a single hack can be devastating. Don’t take chances when it comes to cybersecurity. Enlist the support of a managed serves provider.
We can help detect any cybersecurity flaws and put protections in place to secure your business. Feel free to book a meeting with us today and learn more about what we can do for you.
Click here to schedule a free 15-minute meeting with Stan Kats, our Founder, and Chief Technologist.
STG IT Consulting Group proudly provides IT Service in Greater Los Angeles and the surrounding areas for all of your IT needs.
