“What could I possibly have that a hacker wants?”, “Why would a hacker care about my small business in Framingham, MA?”, “Hackers go after the big money, so larger firms have to worry about them, not me.”
Do any of those sentiments sound familiar? Unfortunately, many small businesses are unprepared for a cyberattack and become victims because they don’t think it can happen to them.
60% of surveyed SMBs think their businesses aren’t likely candidates for a cyberattack, and 43% lack any kind of cybersecurity protection plans.
But statistics show that small businesses are often targeted for a number of reasons:
- Their IT security is usually lacking, so they’re easier to hack than large enterprises.
- They usually don’t have a robust backup and recovery plan, so they’re more likely to pay in the case of a ransomware attack.
- Small businesses will not often have a robust (or any) employee cybersecurity awareness training program.
One in six communities in Massachusetts have been attacked by ransomware, with at least 10 paying attackers anywhere between $300 to $11,295 in ransom.
Small Businesses Aren’t Safe from Cyberattacks
The truth is that hackers often see small businesses as “low hanging fruit.” They can generally hack them much more easily through phishing attacks acted upon by unsuspecting employees.
It can be much more difficult and require more skills for a hacker to get through a large enterprise network, meaning attacking smaller companies can be more lucrative on a time versus reward basis.
Approximately 43% of cyberattacks target small businesses. And attacks are only getting more sophisticated as large criminal organizations get into the cyber crime game. They often use tactics that older antivirus/anti-malware programs can’t keep up with, and small business owners don’t always have regular cybersecurity audits done to see where they need to upgrade their defenses.
What could you have that a hacker wants?
Even a small business has data or cash that makes it worth attacking. These include:
- Cash to pay a ransom in the case of a ransomware attack
- Bank account details
- Sensitive customer & employee data that can be sold on the Dark Web
- Account login credentials
- Cloud email accounts that can be taken over and used for sending spam & phishing
- Web servers that can be taken over by a hacker to host a malicious site
What Are the Best Ways to Stay Protected from a Cyberattack?
Protecting your small business from a cyberattack doesn’t have to be cost-prohibitive, especially if you work with an IT professional.
All of the protections below can be included with an affordable monthly Cloud Care Pro™ plan from Pro Tech Guy, meaning you don’t have to worry about suffering a devastating and costly attack.
Security Patch & Update Management
60% of data breaches in 2019 were the result of unpatched software vulnerabilities. Employees often click “later” on important updates, leaving your business with vulnerabilities out there you may not know about.
Having your updates and security patches managed for you ensures that they’re handled professionally behind the scenes. Your network stays secure and your employees don’t have to worry about being interrupted.
24/7/365 Monitoring & Protection
Threats can happen at any time, and if your device isn’t being continuously monitored, ransomware or spyware can easily infect a computer and then travel to others through your network.
It’s vital to have a watchful eye on your systems that includes alerts to your IT professional of anything suspicious so a threat can be thwarted right away.
Managed Antivirus/Anti-malware
It’s vital to have antivirus/anti-malware protection on your devices, but it needs to be the right kind. We use sophisticated protection that can catch even the most dangerous threats. And because it’s managed, you don’t have to worry about it being accidentally shut off or disabled by malware.
Data Backup & Recovery
The best protection from having to pay a ransom in a ransomware attack, as well as against any type of data loss, is to have a complete backup of all your data.
When users try to backup themselves, problems can occur, such as backups stalling due to a glitch, backups running out of space, or being shut off accidentally.
Managed backup and recovery ensure that all your data is being backed up regularly and monitored to make sure nothing goes wrong. You also have expert help should you need to recover your data for any reason.
Stay Protected & Sign Up for Cloud Care Pro™ Today!
Pro Tech Guy’s Cloud Care Pro™ managed services plan includes everything your small Framingham area business needs to stay protected against data breaches, ransomware attacks, and more.
Contact us today to learn more and sign up. Call 508-364-8189 or reach us online.