The essential way to store your information

Backing up your data is essential for anything related to technology. If you do not regularly back up your data, you can lose hours spent on acquiring that information, which can affect productivity. You can use a few different methods to back up information safely.

Backing up your information means duplicating it and storing the backups securely. It is essential to store your data in such a way that there is more than one copy of it available, but you also must make sure those copies aren’t readily available to other people. This article will teach you everything you need to know about backing up your information securely.

What is a Data Backup?

Data backups make and store copies of the data that is important to you or your company. People back up their data to avoid losing their personal and professional data. This data can range from songs you like to essential company documents you need to keep and everything in-between. You should back up any digital information you deem as important one way or another.

Data is any digital information stored on a device. This information can include music, photos, documents, and audio files. People have important data that needs to be backed up in both their personal and professional lives.

Why You Should Be Backing Up Your Data Securely

If you neglect to back up important information, then you run the risk of losing that information. Unfortunately, there are situations in which you will be unable to recover some data if it is lost, so any information you find valuable should you need to back up. For example, you may need to back up personal or professional data to prevent losing important files.

Here are a few situations where you will need to back up your data securely to prevent data loss.

• Any personal documents that you cannot replace easily. This data can include tax documents, photographs, or medical documents.
• You need any professional documents like reports, databases, spreadsheets, etc. Not backing up professional documents can cost you hours if any technical issues arise.
• Credit card transactions and bills should have copies to avoid scams or incorrect charges.
• You should back up professional documents related to payroll and benefits to prevent employment issues.

If you deem any data important for any reason, then you need to back it up. Even minor technical issues can cause unrecoverable data loss, and by backing up your information, you will avoid that problem entirely. Backing up your data is easy and doesn’t consume much time, so there is no reason not to do it.

Cybersecurity is more critical now than ever before. If you are not careful about how you back up your information, then people you don’t know may get ahold of your data and use it. Many people find themselves the victim of a scam at one point, and data loss is one of the most significant effects of a cyber attack.

There are a few different options to back up your data, and there are pros and cons to each of the methods. Unfortunately, no method is 100% perfect, but any way of backing up data is better than none at all. You can determine which option is best for you.

Option 1: Put your data on a designated USB drive

USB drives are an easy way to save your information. If you are concerned about someone accessing your internet accounts, you could back up your files on a USB for less chance of data loss. USB drives provide a quick and easy way to backup both personal and professional documents. However, this is not necessarily the most secure way to store information. If you do use this option, you should not store your personal and professional documents together on the same USB drive.

USBs are easy to hide if you have concerns about someone in your home accessing your data. They are also compact, so you can either tuck them into a discreet place or easily keep them on your person if that feels safer for you. USB drives are compatible with most computers and are easy to transport around with you. This makes it ideal if you have to have access to the backed up data often.

However, keep in mind that USBs have the potential to be misplaced, broken, or stolen. While it is one of the easiest ways to back up data, you may want to find another way to back it up if you have very sensitive data. The most secure way to store them after the data is stored is to put the USB directly into a safe.

Option 2: Back up your information using an external hard drive

Consider a larger external hard drive if you have a more sizeable amount of data you need to backup. USB drives are suitable for storing some documents, but an external hard drive can store larger files like videos, movies, and photo albums. You may need an external hard drive to store larger files in many professional settings.

Hard drives are similar to USBs because they don’t require internet access to back up your data. However, hard drives are not nearly as easy to transport as USB drives. So if you are storing smaller files that you need to take with you frequently, you should use a different data storage solution. Additionally, it is best practice to have the hard drive encrypted so attackers could not access the data if the hard drive was misplaced or stolen. If the data doesn’t have to be accessed frequently, it should also be stored in a secure location, like a safe.

CDs and DVDs are another way to backup data. Disk drives are good for data backup because you can get many disks for a low price and easily keep your data separate from each other. In addition, disk drives have stored audio, video, and documents for several years, and disk drives are easy to transport.

The downside of using disk drives to backup data is that disk drive-based media players are not as abundant at they used to be. In the hay day of disk drives, most people had a cd player or a DVD player readily available in their homes, but these days many people don’t have that type of media player. In fact, even many computers no longer have disk drives.

This method can be beneficial because you won’t have to worry about too many people having access to data backed up on a disk drive, but inconvenient because you may find it difficult to find a source to play the disk. If you have a disk drive at home and only need to access the data at home, you may be able to use a disk drive. If you don’t have a disk drive player readily available, you may want to consider a different data backup method. Additionally, disks have the same issue as USBs, in that they could be easily misplaced, stolen, or broken, and should be stored in a secure location.

Cloud storage is a newer data backup method compared to the other data backup methods on this list. To backup your data on the cloud, you will need to link the data to an account that only you can access. People backup their data using the cloud by connecting it to their email accounts.

If you are using the cloud to back up your important data, you will need to make sure that the account your information is linked to is secure. If the account that all of your essential data is backed up on is compromised, you will not only lose the data, but someone else can gain access to your data.

Even when you choose to backup your data on the cloud, you may also want to consider a physical data backup method. Having your data backed up physically adds security for your information when your accounts are breached. We will go over ways that you can keep your cloud storage secure to prevent your data from being compromised.

Protect Your Cloud Account

If you want to make sure your data is safe, you need to take measures to prevent your account from being compromised. For example, suppose someone can get into your accounts and access your information. In that case, they may be able to access credit cards, identity information, and all of your files. Data leaks are common, but there are ways to keep yourself safe. We will list the methods you should use to keep your cloud data safe.

Keep Different Passwords for Every Account You Have

The primary way other people can access people’s accounts is through data breaches. Unfortunately, most people have been the victim of a data breach at one point or another without even realizing it. These data breaches often leak names, credit cards, emails, and passwords used on the website.

If you use the same password for your email account on a website with a data breach, then strangers may gain access to your email account. In addition, it is common for personal information acquired through website data breaches to be sold, and scammers pay breachers to have access to the information found in data leaks.

Be Aware of Phishing Scams

Another common way people end up with compromised accounts is by falling for phishing scams. Phishing is when someone sends an email posing as a reputable company to acquire personal information. Do not click links from sources you do not trust, and be careful not to trust every email you receive.

Scammers know that many people store their personal information on the cloud, and because of that, they want access to that cloud. Data stored on the cloud can give your credit card numbers, address, and name. As a result, many people who fall victim to phishing scams also fall victim to identity theft and credit card theft.

Never Give Your Passwords Out

Sometimes people feel so comfortable with each other that they think they can trust them with their accounts. While the sentiment may seem touching to some people, giving out your passwords to other people is an unsafe practice.

People you trust can change after a while and become less trustworthy. If you give out your passwords to other people, you put yourself at significant risk of theft and losing your important data. So do yourself a favor and keep your passwords to yourself, no matter how much you may trust another person with your information.

Essential Things to Remember About Backing Up Your Data

1. Even if you back up your data on the cloud, you should also back it up using an alternate method.
2. Keep your backed-up data in a safe place where it is not easily accessible.
3. You should back up any data that is important to you.
4. Keep your cloud accounts secure, and do not allow others access to your accounts.
5. If you need your information to be easy to transport, you need to back up your data using a method that allows easy transportation, like a USB or disc drive.

It is vital to back up important information because it is easy to lose important data from something as simple as a technical issue. When you backup your data, you need to keep the information safe, whether in physical copies or cloud storage. Maintaining backups of necessary data is easy to do and doesn’t take much time, so you should do it even with personal things only to you.

When backing up your data on a cloud device, keep that account secure to avoid your data from being compromised. Follow the cyber safety and password advice provided in this guide to keep your data safe.

Knowing what critical systems need to be backed up, where to back them up, and how to back them up can be a complicated process. Let Edge Networks help! You can schedule a call with us.

How to figure out if an email is genuine or “phish-y”

We have all gotten those messages. The ones that state we’ve won the lottery despite never buying a ticket, or that some unknown relative has left us a great fortune, or the ever prominent one where a Nigerian Prince threatens to split his inheritance with us and all we need to do is give up some information. We just need to click a link, send the person on the other end our bank account information, or input our social security number to get rich quick, right? Unfortunately, whenever you do this, you may find that instead of your bank account growing, it is instead dramatically thinned out. Even worse, attackers could get access to something even more valuable: your data. These types of emails are a common type of email scam called ‘phishing’ where attackers pretend to be someone else and ask for your information. Whenever you give the information out, it gives the attackers a way to get into your private data and your bank account. Even for people who are experienced in the ways of the internet, phishing attacks can be difficult to detect as attackers make more and more efforts to trick us.

Thankfully, all phishing attacks have a few red flags in common that you can train yourself to identify, and with a bit of practice, you can keep yourself and your data safe from attacks.

How Phishing Works

Phishing works whenever an attacker pretends to be someone you would trust, trying to get you to open a link. For example, you might get a strange email from someone pretending to be your bank, a workmate, or a business you frequent. They will then ask you to click on a link or perform an action in the email.

Whenever you do, the attack can install malware onto your computer, steal funds or make charges to your credit card, or even steal your identity. Phishing is also very dangerous for companies, because a phishing attack that gets through employees can get through security and other safeguards.

This can be the opening to a larger data attack that can compromise the company’s information, leak hidden data, and can put everyone at risk. So no matter what, it’s important that you know how to detect these phishing scams and how to defend yourself against them.

It is very understandable to be worried about phishing attacks. They can cause devastation to individuals and companies alike. However, most phishing emails or texts have a few things to watch for that most phishing attacks have in common.

1.  “Phish-y” Email Addresses

2.  Spelling and Grammar

Another way to detect a phishing attack is to examine the contents of the email. Phishing and scam emails tend to have worse grammar and spelling and have awkward sentence structure. If it looks like the email should be run through a spellchecker, you might want to consider that it isn’t legitimate.

Additionally, the email might have inconsistent and informal wording. For example, the email could use phrases that are not common in the workplace or business environment. The word ‘dear’ or other informal language from someone you don’t have a casual relationship with is also a red flag. 

3.  Sense of Urgency

Phishing emails will often require you to perform an urgent action and try to get you to panic: You need to log into your account now, claim the money now, and click on the link now. A common tactic is to state that your account has been hacked, and you must log in immediately to change the password. This is done so that people do not have time to think about their actions and will take steps they wouldn’t usually take if they had time to consider. Most legitimate emails will not require such urgency.

4.  Too Good To Be True

Finally, many phishing emails are too good to be true. Any emails offering money, or expensive items for free, are almost always too good to be true, especially if they are asking for personal information in return. No legitimate company will ask for your social security number or account credentials in exchange for a free set of Airpods. Trust your gut, and don’t be afraid to report the email to your IT team and move on.

Who Is At Risk?

Everyone is at risk for phishing attacks, whether you are an individual on a personal device or part of a company, because phishers and data scammers cast a very wide net. They send out thousands of emails to thousands of people, confident that no matter what, someone somewhere is going to fall for their scam and give them access.

Whether you are a normal person or the CEO of a big company, no one is immune to getting these emails. Often, people working either at the bottom rung of companies are good targets because they are gatekeepers to their internal workings and often aren’t trained to recognize phishing emails.

What To Do If You Are A Victim

Sometimes accidents happen, and you slip up and get caught on the hook of a phishing attack. If you are a victim, here are some of the things you can do to keep yourself safe and prevent an attack like this from happening again. 

Phishing Recovery As An Individual

One of the first things you will need to do is take a deep breath. Phishing attacks often rely on the urgency to get you to do something, such as entering a password before a 24-hour time limit is up. However, continuing to be reactive is precisely what the attacker is hoping for. Often, it prevents you from taking the steps needed to mitigate the damage.

First, record everything. If you entered your email or password into a scam webpage, record exactly what you entered, try to take screenshots, and do whatever you can to gather information. If you have downloaded a dangerous attachment, instantly turn off your Wi-Fi and disconnect from the internet. You might be able to prevent the virus or the attacker from getting a firm grip on your computer and all your data.

Then change your passwords for all the affected accounts and any other accounts that might have the same password. You should also change your security questions, recovery emails, and anything else that helps you get into the account. Then make sure to scan your computer to remove any viruses, either by using software or by working with an expert who can professionally clean your drives.

Finally, take the time to keep an eye on your bank or email accounts. If the scammers are making moves with your data, you’ll be able to see and report it. If your identity has been stolen, reach out to the Federal Trade Commission or Credit Reports to mitigate the damage.

Phishing Recovery As A Company

If a company is recovering from a phishing attack, it can take a while to sift through everything and see what has been stolen, affected, or exposed. The first thing to do is disconnect the affected device from the internet and the network. You don’t want an infected device causing problems for your entire network, so isolating the virus is the first step. Additionally, if you logged into a fake website, make sure to go to the actual website and change the credentials. 

If you have a Managed Service Provider, you should immediately report the attack to them. They can help with your data recovery, and help you figure out your next steps. Your company will also need to report the attack to the Federal Trade Commission. Finally, scan the affected device for malware and try to determine how much damage it can do. 

Moving Forward After A Phishing Attack

Whether you are a company or an individual, recovery from a phishing attack can be done. You just need to make sure that you have learned from the attack, are more cautious when opening and interacting with emails, and work on prevention. Keeping your emails safe with programs and other defensive measures is crucial to preventing phishing attacks from getting you on their hook again.

Implementing Multi-Factor Authentication is one of the best ways to mitigate the effects of phishing attacks. Multi-Factor Authentication gives you an extra layer of security if an attacker gains access to your credentials through a phishing attack, and may prevent them from being able to use those credentials to access your accounts.

For example, a website might ask for your username and password, but it will also text a numerical code to your phone if MFA is implemented. Hopefully, a phishing attacker doesn’t have access to your phone, so you would be able to get into the website while the attacker wouldn’t be. Having two or more steps to your verification will be one of the easiest ways to prevent hackers from getting into your data.

Recent Attacks in the News

Phishing attacks are more common than we think, and despite how much we know about them, they keep happening. Here are some of the most recent phishing attacks in 2022.

The Attack On Trezor

With everyone trying to get into cryptocurrency, it was only a matter of time before someone attacked crypto wallets. However, the popular email service, MailChimp, was compromised on March 26th, 2022, sending phishing emails to people who have cryptocurrency wallets made by Trezor.

Other cryptocurrency areas are getting attacked in a similar manner, and although the attack was found and halted, emails were exposed, and attackers were able to access data from them. The affected email owners were notified, but it still was something that shook the cryptocurrency industry to its core. 

The Attack On Spokane Regional Health

On February 24, 2022, the personal information of almost 1,200 residents of Washington was exposed. An attacker accessed these clients’ medical data and protected information at Spokane Regional Health. While no social security numbers or financial data were exposed, medical information, first and last names, and other data were leaked.

The Health District stated that their staff failed to recognize a phishing scam, exposing the data and getting into the system. In order to handle these threats better and prevent this type of attack from happening again, the District is requiring extra training and communication so their employees can recognize phishing attacks.

No matter what field you are in or where you work, nearly everywhere can be vulnerable to phishing if the proper precautions and training are not taken. So making sure that everyone involved is educated about how to handle a phishing attack goes a very long way.

Conclusion

Needless to say, phishing attacks can be detrimental to not only businesses, but any individual who accesses emails or text messages. We must constantly be on high alert against these attackers. However, hopefully these tips will help you recognize these attempts and get you ready for when you inevitably face one of these phishing emails. 

Do you have a plan in place for if you or your employees fall victim to one of these attacks? Edge Networks can help! Our Advanced Cybersecurity Plan can provide your business with employee security awareness training, phishing simulations, and even help you put a plan in place for incident response and disaster recovery. Schedule a complimentary 30-minute consultation to find out how Edge Networks can help your business. 

You Lose More Than Data with Data Loss

Cybersecurity is more important than ever, especially when it comes to the issue of data loss. With a single hack, businesses can lose a ton of precious data. But what does that mean for your business?

Data loss is more than simply losing client information and trade secrets, though those things would already be a big issue for a company. This article will discuss the true costs of data loss that people don’t always consider. Additionally, we will discuss what you need to do to prevent data loss in the future (even if you’ve dealt with it already). You never know if and when another hack can happen, or when an employee can make a mistake. It is best to be prepared and take preventative measures to protect your data to minimize the threat to your business.

What is the actual cost of data loss?

In 2018, one study found that the monetary cost for data loss was approximately $3.6 million. This is close to $141 per data record. Data loss can be very costly, no matter how much data is lost, and the costs continue to rise. In 2019, the cost related to data loss had reached nearly $4 million on average worldwide, and in the United States alone, the costs are double the global average. The increase in costs raises alarms for businesses, making many people question whether or not their current cybersecurity protection is up to par. 

As hackers continue to become more creative in their tactics and attacks against computers (both commercial and residential), the cybersecurity industry has the opportunity to try and stay one step ahead of the bad guys. 

Plus, these hacks can be more devastating than previous attacks. That alone can lead to more costs (and the figures continuing to rise). That is why businesses need to take necessary precautions in protecting data. 

However, data loss is not only linked to cyber attacks. It can be caused by other incidents that may be beyond human control.

Aside from cybercrimes, there are some risks and hazards that can cause data loss. Some of them are beyond human control.

Here are a few examples:

• Human error: Yes, human error is one of the largest risks and hazards of data loss outside of cybercrime. Specifically, two major factors are accidental deletions of specific files or a lack of competence. Unless backup measures are implemented, there would be no way of recovering any of the lost data.

• Natural disasters: Depending on the data center’s location, there is the threat of natural disasters. These include tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, and many more. Any data area that lives in an area where they are vulnerable to natural disasters should have backup measures in place, just in case something happens. It’s challenging to predict when and where the next major natural disaster will happen. When it does, a data center could be affected by it. Thus, data loss can become a certainty if nothing is done to prepare and prevent it.

• Outages: Unexpected outages have been known to cause data loss. In the United States, a business could lose almost $8000 per minute. That’s nearly half a million dollars in a single hour. Such outages and data loss could financially cripple an entire small business. This is one more reason why backing up critical data is the best course of action compared to never doing it at all.

• No access to data: If you are unable to access the data, it can lead to the loss of data itself, as well as time and money. Without access to the data, a business’s productivity will suffer. Plus, the costs will be higher. Depending on the size of the business, they can stand to lose anywhere from tens of thousands to well over a million dollars in one hour alone.

Needless to say, money won’t be the only thing that data loss will cost your business.

Here’s what you could stand to lose in a situation with data loss:

• Lost wages: Employees won’t have the ability to work because of how dependent your business is on data. Thus, they’ll have nothing to do. You send your employees home, and they don’t get paid because they won’t be able to work. This could hurt employees who are paid at an hourly rate.

• Productivity is halted: As mentioned before, your business may be dependent on data. It might be the fuel it needs to ensure that productivity continues. Without it, there is no work to be done. Because of its need for data, there are apps and systems that will stop working if there is data loss. With a stoppage in productivity, the costs begin to stack up. As the clock goes, so goes the money in the bank.

• Lost revenue: Because of data loss, productivity will stop, and the work won’t get done. This means that your business won’t be able to take and process orders, or will not be able to provide the promised service. When this happens, you will lose revenue instantly. No sales are made, and no orders will go through. Even though no money will be able to go in, money will always find a way out by way of your business expenses, employee wages, and so on.

• Potential fines: This will depend on the industry that your business may be in. Some industries have to take data handling even more seriously than others. Failure to do so can lead to fines (and perhaps even more serious consequences). The fines and penalties may range per record. One business in the financial industry could lose millions of dollars in fines alone due to its failure to protect sensitive data. The healthcare industry could also be fined for potential violations of HIPAA.

• A loss of trust and credibility: Customers and clients want to have the confidence in knowing their data is safe. If there is a data loss, that confidence will drop. Clients may lose trust in you because you didn’t do enough for data protection. Regaining trust and credibility will be a challenge for any business that has dealt with loss. This and trying to recoup their financial losses go hand in hand.

As such, preventative measures should be taken in order to prevent future data loss. Yes, you can prevent it to an extent. However, there are risks due to incidents beyond anyone’s control (such as natural disasters and outages).

Let’s take a look at what you need to do in order to minimize such instances:

• Backup data regularly: This is self-explanatory. And a must-do task for any business that is handling amounts of data, small or large. Find a program that will allow you to back up data on a regular basis. This includes cloud services that will back up your data for a monthly fee (which can be higher depending on the amount of storage space you want). It may be an expense, but it can be one that will save you money and a ton of headaches just in case of disaster.

• Hire people who are competent in data handling: As mentioned before, human error is one of the more significant causes of data loss outside of cybercrime. For this reason, you must find people that will handle your data with care. They need to be knowledgeable and competent enough to handle it (and know what not to delete).

• Test your cybersecurity infrastructure: It’s important to test what software and systems you have in place to protect your business from cybercriminals. You’ll want to have a cybersecurity specialist perform penetration testing. They’ll try to find vulnerabilities that exist and seal them off from attacks if any are present.

Other than that, there is no way to prevent events beyond our control. We cannot predict the next outage, nor a major disaster like a tornado or a hurricane. That’s why it’s good to backup data and make sure it’s accessible anywhere else instead of having it all situated in one central place (like your office).

If you can find a cloud service that allows you to access data from anywhere in the world, you will have no trouble keeping your business data safe. Don’t take any chances keeping data in one single place, such as extra hard drives and computers.

Cloud data services need no physical hardware for storage on your end. All you can do is access it from a computer so long as you have the right credentials.

What is the difference between data loss and data leaks/breaches?

Data losses are when incidents occur leading to the loss of data. It can be either misplaced or lost to the point where it can never be retrieved. Meanwhile, data leaks or breaches are when information is accessed by cybercriminals and successfully stolen.

Either way, they are costly occurrences that can cost businesses a ton of money. Even if there is data left to be recovered, your business could lose money for time and productivity lost. Regardless, prevention of these occurrences is your best line of defense. 

Frequently Asked Questions

What was the average cost for data loss in 2021?

In 2021, the average cost of data loss was $4.24 million worldwide. This was nearly a 10 percent increase from the previous numbers reported in 2020.

How much can recovery from data breaches cost?

Data breaches can occur and will not result in significant data loss. However, the recovery process can be just as costly. Data breaches can cost a business a total of $2 million. That figure can differ depending on the business’s size or the industry they are in.

How much will ransomware cost businesses?

In a 2021 report, cybercrime will lead to losses of more than $10 trillion worldwide. This also includes ransomware attacks, which may account for nearly $20 billion of those losses within the next year. The costs can vary from one industry to another. But collectively, the costs will add up.

Cyberattacks worldwide happen at least 2200 times per day. By these numbers, a cyberattack will occur every 39 seconds. That’s why it is essential to protect the sensitive data your business handles on a regular basis.

Why are data breaches so expensive?

The COVID-19 pandemic and the increase in remote work may have played a role in the increased cost of data breaches. Remote work may have led to slow response times, thus leading to increased costs – including nearly $750,000 alone to respond to cyberattacks and data breaches alone.

What was the most expensive data breach in history?

The most expensive data breach in history was Epsilon, which lost $4 billion in 2011 after a cyberattack. This affected many of their clients, including several large brands like JPMorgan, Chase, and Best Buy.

Final Thoughts

Your business may be at risk for potential data loss. That’s why it is important to follow any possible security measures to protect it from cybercriminals. Also, backing up such data on a regular basis is essential.

Occurrences beyond your control can lead to data loss if it isn’t backed up. That’s why you want to consider backup tools that rely on the cloud. You get plenty of storage space, and you can keep it safe regardless of what happens to your business’s technological infrastructure.

Don’t take any chances. Make sure everything is safe and protected so you can have peace of mind knowing your most sensitive data is safe.

Small Businesses Should Take Steps to Protect Themselves

Cybersecurity in our digital age is something people and businesses need to be wary of constantly. However, many small businesses do not take the proper steps to protect themselves and their customers. On average, only about 14% of small businesses take the time and effort to use cybersecurity and protect their computers and software from cyberattacks. However, almost half of all cyberattacks are carried out on small businesses. We will discuss what cybersecurity is, the top four cyberattacks to be wary of, and preventative measures you need to take to protect your businesses and your customers. 

What Is Cybersecurity?

Cybersecurity is essentially the way that companies, websites, and people protect online data and devices from harm or theft.

Using cybersecurity to protect a business is not an easy task. Each form of protection needs to be tailored to the business and encompass all devices and systems. This includes your internet connection and even your employees.

Cybersecurity is also not a one-and-done application. Your cybersecurity must be frequently upgraded and adjusted as the internet grows and new scams are created to fully protect your business. 

What Are The 4 Main Types of Attacks?

Malware

Malware encompasses a broad spectrum of cyberattacks. Basically, any software created to hurt part of your digital system.

 Some of the most common types of malware (not including ransomware) are:

• Trojans: Malware that appears to be a helpful code in your system
• Keyloggers: A program that tracks keystrokes on a computer or device
• Spyware: Collects data
• Worms: It replicates itself and spreads through the network.

Malware can get into computers due to untrustworthy emails, downloads, or even items plugged into your computer like phones or USBs. Even if a software is trustworthy, it may be bundled with a suspicious line of code or application that can release malware. 

Ransomware

Ransomware is a form of malware that occurs when a hacker locks files, programs, or data. Generally, as the name suggests, a hacker will demand payment before rereleasing the information to the company. However, there is never any guarantee that the data will be returned after payment is complete.

It can be almost impossible to recover data that is collected this way.

Ransomware can be spread through unprotected Wi-Fi, emails, links, downloads, or dangerous websites. However, suspicious emails are the most common. 

Social Engineering

Social engineering attacks are often overlooked when setting up security on your data. This is because it involves social interactions and not necessarily any bots or programs on the computer itself.

The people who instigate these attacks try to convince a business or person to break usual security measures to access software or data. This can be due to dangerous emails opened, suspicious links, or some other simple mistake. They can also play on an employee’s or even your own emotions.

In 2019, these social hacks made up over 90% of all reported scams and data breaches. 

Phishing

Phishing is a social engineering attack that usually involves a hacker pretending to be someone else to get money or sensitive information. This may be someone official, such as a member of the IRS, or just a friend or coworker.

The hacker will send an email, text, or message through a social media account of someone, and they will ask you to send money. They could pretend to be a friend asking for it as a favor, or pretend to be from the IRS,  or that something was handled wrong on your taxes and they need more information. 

Why Are Small Businesses More Vulnerable?

Constantly updating your cybersecurity and training staff is costly. Small businesses often don’t have the funds to integrate top-of-the-line cybersecurity measures and keep them upgraded as more programs and cyberattacks come out.

This makes it easier for hackers to target small mom-and-pop businesses over large corporations such as Google. While these big companies can still be attacked, it is more challenging to get through their security than it would be for smaller businesses. 

Many small businesses are also vulnerable as they don’t even bother to protect their data. Up to 82% of small businesses don’t even set up real security measures as they don’t believe they are at risk or worth being hacked.

However, Visa said that most credit card breaches, well over 90%, come from small businesses. This could be due to their lack of security. So not only can hackers access your financial information, but that of your customers as well. 

Cybersecurity measures cost a lot of money. However, an attack from a hacker can put you out of business. In 2020, 43% of all cyberattacks were on small businesses. Of those attacked, 60% went out of business within six months of the attack. 

It is estimated that small and medium businesses lost over $2.2 million to cybercrimes. Estimates say that even figuring out where the attack came from could cost over $15,000.

Not only does a lot of money come out of your pocket due to paying hackers and trying to mitigate current breaches, but you may also lose customers. Once customers find out that a leak of their information came from you, they may be hesitant to return to your store.

So not only are you spending thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars to repair an issue caused by a cyberattack, you are losing the people that can help your business offset that cost. 

This is why it is so important to set up preventative measures early. Upgrades and training might cost a lot of money, but it is worth it to ensure your customer’s and business’s safety. 

How to Prevent Cybersecurity Risks

Proper training of your employees is the first step. With social and phishing attacks being the most common, it will likely be human error that causes the issue in the first place. For this reason, you want to make sure all of your employees are trained on procedures and guidelines.

How to Avoid Cybersecurity Risks

Here are some key tips to consider when implementing training for your employees:

1. Keep the business Wi-Fi separate, secure, encrypted, and hidden. Having your public and business Wi-Fi the same makes it easy for hackers to access your information. Instead, make sure the credit card machines, personal data, and private information are used on a separate Wi-Fi encoded and hidden to protect any device that uses that router.
2. Create an account for each employee and control access to your computers. If an employee has to walk away for some reason and leave the front computer open, it is easy for a hacker to get the information they need. Laptops, especially, are easy to steal, so make sure they are locked up when not in use. However, adding employee passwords and logins to important programs and data reduces the likelihood of that data being stolen.
3. Limit how much data employees can access. There is no need for one employee to have access to your whole system. Ensure an employee can only access the information pertinent to their job and not install any new programs or software without your permission.
4. Revoke employee abilities as soon as an employee is fired or quits. It is best to ensure that an employee’s login information no longer works as soon as they are fired or quit. This is to prevent any disgruntled employees from collecting or ruining information.
5. Multi-level passwords and authentication. By changing passwords every three months, you reduce the risk of the information being stolen. Also, adding another level of security through a two-step login minimizes the risk of anyone gathering information from an employee’s login information. 
6. Constantly upgrade all of your software. If your software and programs aren’t up to date, they can quickly be targeted by malware or hackers. Keeping your programs up to date means you have the most effective software and tools to fight against cyberattacks.
7. Train your employees. It is crucial to ensure employees know not to give away any personal information or data to anyone, no matter who they claim to be. Teach them not to open or download any suspicious files, emails, links, or texts, even from someone they know. Not only is it important to follow this on the company devices, but even their own devices can cause a leak in the business if they aren’t careful. For this reason, it is essential to inform and update employees on ways to prevent cyberattacks.

It is also important to have a plan or person in place to help mitigate the issues when they appear. For example, if someone is attempting to hack you, it is good to have a person or team dedicated to being able to help you prevent the issue. 

Signs of cybersecurity risks include:

• A slow computer
• Fast battery drain
• Unfamiliar apps or programs on your device
• Deleted files
• Contacts receiving strange messages that say they are from you.

There can also be warnings when someone is trying to steal your information that is important to look out for.

• Someone attempting to change passwords without authorization
• Multiple login attempts without success
• Large data transfers to an unknown location, USB, or IP address

The most important part of detecting security risks is being aware and vigilant. The sooner you can recognize and catch anything strange on your devices, the quicker you can prevent any cyberattacks. 

What to Do if Your Business Is Compromised

If your business is compromised, it is important to act quickly. The first steps are to determine what information was gathered and inform your web-hosting service and any other program, website, or software you use to let them know the hack has occurred. They may be able to take steps on their end to prevent the issue from going any further and might even have an idea of how to help your business.

The next step is to inform your customers. It might be scary and seem easier not to inform them. However, you should provide written notification to let your customers know what information was taken and how this might affect them so they can be prepared. This not only allows your customers to take steps to protect themselves early on but is likely to keep them willing to come back to your business as they know you can be honest and trustworthy.

During this process, it is important to be transparent as well. Even if you are embarrassed about how the information got leaked, give as much information to the authorities, legal teams, and anyone else that is trying to help you, so they know how to prevent hacks such as these in the future. They can also help you close up the leak and maybe even get data back.

Finally, once the leaks have been dealt with, it is important to update your security. You know what caused the leak, and you can focus on upgrading the software or employee training to prevent such issues from happening in the future.

Scams and cyber attacks can happen to anyone, even large companies that can afford the best security. It is important to move as quickly as possible and be honest so that the damage can be mitigated. Being embarrassed or upset and trying to withhold information will only hurt you further. 

Making time for training, having a dedicated team or person to fight against hackers, and having the most up-to-date devices, programs, and software can be expensive. However, with over half of small businesses that face a cyberattack going out of business within six months of the attack, it is worth investing in these preventative measures.

Social attacks and human error are the easiest ways for scams and cyberattacks to work. It is best to focus on training your employees and reducing the amount of information each employee has.

Almost everyone faces some sort of cyberattack every day, even if they don’t realize it. If you are faced with a cyberattack, it is important to remember to act quickly and be honest and upfront with any websites, companies, or officials trying to help you, as well as your customers. Cybersecurity can be intimidating, but by focusing on your employees, you can mitigate many attacks easily.

Are you concerned about the cybersecurity of your company? Edge Networks can help! If you’d like to find out how your company is performing and isolate weaknesses in your cyber defenses, schedule a call with us or take our free, self-guided IT Security Risk Assessment .