It sounds almost silly to suggest it – what with all the big businesses out there making their billions – but if you are a small to medium business owner, you are a prime target for hackers. Yes, your information might be very lucrative to a hacker, and it’s important that you are aware of what you can do to protect yourself against a potential attack.
When hackers seek out small businesses as targets, they’re not usually after merchandise or ransom for the business itself — they’re after the information that businesses store; things like client details and information, customer data, employee information, company bank details and credit card information. When hackers strike they take the information they gather and then sell it, exploit it or redistribute it for some other reasons. Criminal networks of hackers find uses for all sorts of information and there’s always someone out there looking for fresh content and info.
So, what do you do to protect yourself? If you have a cloud based infrastructure or us IaaS companies (Infrastructure as a Service) to look after your information, you are already on the right path. Cloud infrastructure providers and IaaS companies offer a secure way to keep your information safe. But if you’re not doing this yet – here are some tips for how you can protect yourself.
Do you use computers?
In this day and age — of course you do! If your business uses even a single computer then you need an IT person to help you out. You need to make sure that your mission-critical computers aren’t going to be compromised by a cyber attack. If you have a fleet of vehicles you’re going to have a mechanic to keep them all running well and the same thing goes for computers. You wouldn’t try and maintain your vehicle fleet yourself; so why do the same with your computers? Especially when, for many businesses, their computers are such a vital part of operation.
Must-dos for warding off hacker attacks
Beware of spam and imposter emails: An easy way that hackers get into businesses is with a deceptive and fraudulent email. You might think the email looks just like your bank’s email, but if it’s suspicious, don’t click or open it.
Never part with details: Hackers are very good at misleading you, but never part with your digital or password information unless you are 100% sure that who you are speaking to is who they say they are.
Get on the cloud: In terms of finding the right cloud based solutions for IT security, you need to make sure that you have the latest and most-updated version of your software. It’s no use having outdated programs, because hackers will know a way around the technology.
Hacker-proof your business today
At Core Desktop we offer cloud solutions and the necessary infrastructure to ensure that your business continues to run hacker-free every day. We understand the concerns that small business owners have, which is why we offer a scalable and affordable service to businesses of all sizes across Australia. If you’d like to know more about what we can do for you then please get in touch online.
