Many business owners believe they are not at risk from cyber attacks just because their company is not big enough or significant enough to be targeted but stats may say otherwise.
Fraud has been present since the beginning of time as there will always be people willing to exploit other people and businesses for their benefit. As time moved on, fraudsters kept up with the developments and continued to update their malicious actions to cause more damage.
The rapid growth of technology and the internet has made things easier for them and given them even more opportunities to make their attacks more sophisticated and harder to trace and prevent.
According to SEON’s guide on fraud detection, 47% of companies have experienced fraud totaling 42 billion dollars in losses. But, they weren’t the only ones that used this unbelievable technological development. It helped create sophisticated and effective cybersecurity strategies to prevent malicious actions and keep your business safe.
Why does your business need protection?
Many business owners don’t believe they are at risk from cyber attacks as they think their company is not big enough or significant enough to be targeted. We all read about the big companies falling victim to cyberattacks, such as the Facebook data scrapping incident that saw details of 500M+ users from 106 countries leaked online and offered for sale.
Surely cybercriminals have bigger and better targets than going after small or medium-sized companies? On the report of CNBC, the truth is that forty-three percent of cyberattacks actually targeted small businesses, as they are easier targets for cybercriminals since they often have weak or even non-existent cybersecurity strategies in place.
The only way you can guarantee your business is entirely invisible to cybercriminals is not to have it at all. As long as your company is dealing with sensitive and confidential data, it will be a valid target for cybercriminals as they can find ways to exploit stolen data for their benefit.
Fraud is not going away; it is time for you to start taking necessary action to protect your business and its customers from growing cyber threats.
What can you do to protect your company?
Cybercriminals only care about making a profit, and they don’t care what they have to do to get it. Fraudsters don’t shy away from anything that will bring them closer to financial gain from exploiting trusting people, hacking IoT devices, or infecting your systems with malware. This is why it is up to you to react on time and protect your business and its confidential data from cybercriminals.
- Perform regular security audits
The first step in protecting your business is identifying risks your company might face. By conducting a regular security audit, you will be able to identify any threats or vulnerabilities, fix them before fraudsters can exploit them, and use the knowledge to create an effective cybersecurity strategy that is best suited for your business.
- Implement cybersecurity strategy
Having a proper cybersecurity strategy in place is key to keeping your business safe. From having antivirus programs and firewalls installed on all devices to implementing more specialized tools like device fingerprinting and IP analysis, all of these tools work together to protect your business and keep your business data secure from cyber attacks.
Your employees make up the biggest part of your business, and you need to make sure not only that they are protected but also that they know how to protect themselves and your business. If they are educated about the risks they face and the methods they can use to mitigate them, your employees can become a significant part of your cybersecurity strategy.
This step often gets overlooked, but it is essential to save your data from corruption or even a loss. By conducting regular backups, you will be able to continue with your standard business operations regardless of what happens.
About the Author
Gergo Varga has been fighting online fraud since 2009 at various companies – even co-founding his own anti-fraud startup. He’s the author of the Fraud Prevention Guide for Dummies – SEON Special edition. He currently works as the Senior Content Manager / Evangelist at SEON, using his industry knowledge to keep marketing sharp, communicating between the different departments to understand what’s happening on the frontlines of fraud detection. He lives in Budapest, Hungary, and is an avid reader of philosophy and history.
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