Cyber breaches can inflict costs averaging between £910 and £7,090 on large businesses, according to the Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2019, but the impact on a business in lost time and reputation can be even greater.
Any business can be hit by a cyber attack, such as ransomware, which can encrypt business data and demand a ransom in return for files being unlocked, or phishing, which tricks users into clicking a link to a dangerous website or to download a virus.
The survey states that some 13% of businesses took more than one day to recover from their most disruptive security breach. The consequences – loss of access to files or networks and damage to systems – can impact productivity and customer service. Brand reputation can suffer as a result of website disruption or any leak of sensitive data, even to prosecution under GDPR legislation.
To avoid this disruption and extra cost, every business needs effective cyber security procedures, but the report states that only 16% of businesses surveyed had a formal cyber security incident management process.
There is more to security protection than just antivirus software: physical storage, software and business processes all play a part. The first precaution is to ensure that your data is backed-up and copies stored at other physical locations and/or in the cloud beyond the reach of criminals who may violate your systems. Next, ensuring all available software updates are installed on your system is vital to close any vulnerabilities that intruders could exploit.
Antivirus software can repel any automated attacks, but often the biggest vulnerability is human. Any user can click a link only to realise, a split second later, that an email is not genuine and that they have been tricked by a phishing email into downloading malicious malware that attacks your systems. Users can also be tricked into visiting replicas of frequently used websites where they enter logins and passwords, bank account details or other commercially sensitive information, which criminals use to attack, defraud or steal from your business.
A professional IT support provider such as FX7 Solutions can help create a cyber management plan to guard against all these attacks. This ranges from setting up automated back-ups for business-critical data to keeping your systems up to date and secure. Where software customisation or compatibility issues cause conflicts, we can manage and resolve these issues so that your systems run smoothly and securely.
We also advise on people-centred security, creating strict procedures for employees to follow so that phishing and other cyber attacks are caught before they can inflict any damage. We also provide password management so that passwords are strengthened and changed regularly to prevent access by criminals.
Working with you, we can create a comprehensive and effective cyber security system that will lower the risk to your business of disruption, malicious damage or blackmail – keeping your business and your employees safe whenever working online.
