Guest post by John Burkhalter: In today’s increasingly digital world, the risk of cyber threats…
What Every Business Owner Should Know About Cyber Security Services in San Antonio
No matter what type of business you operate, there some things about Cyber Security Services in San Antonio that you need to be aware of, because an unexpected cyberattack might literally put you out of business. Larger companies have more resources and are usually able to bounce back after an attack, but a study conducted by Experian showed that 60% of all small businesses suffering a cyberattack were obliged to shut their doors within six months. If you don’t want that to happen to your company, take to heart the nuggets described below.
79% of small businesses have no response plan for cyberattacks
If your business falls within this category, there’s a good chance that you’ll also fall into the category described above, i.e. being among those 60% of all businesses that are forced to shut down after an attack. Cyberattacks can be devastating for any business, and particularly so for small businesses which lack the resources of larger corporations.
For example, if a small business were forced to pay a ransom for hijacked data, that will be in the thousands of dollars, and that alone could be enough to bankrupt the company. But that’s not the only damage that a business will suffer from an attack. You will also suffer a loss of reputation, because everyone will know that your network was vulnerable to an attack. That means other businesses will be much less likely to do business with you, and you could lose customers for the same reason very quickly.
You must notify customers of any security breach
Many states have passed legislation requiring businesses to notify all individuals who may have had their data compromised in some kind of security breach. The cost of delivering these notifications amounts to more than $130 per person, so even if you only had one thousand customers affected, the cost of notifying them will soar to $130,000 in total. This is another way that small businesses can easily go under after suffering an attack.
When your business bank account is hacked
You might think that your bank account is protected by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), and that your business accounts are secure. That simply is not the case. The FDIC only has responsibility for personal accounts, so they don’t cover bank accounts at all. It’s also fairly unlikely that you’ll be protected from financial damage by your general liability insurance. So if your business bank account is hacked, whatever money you had in that account is likely to be gone forever.
Hackers are targeting small businesses more and more
Most of the cyber-attack headlines involve major corporations, simply because it’s bigger news. However, the truth is that hackers are very enthusiastic about targeting small businesses because there are so many of them, and they can add up to a larger payday then attacking a big corporation. Small businesses are also excellent targets because they have much to lose, and don’t often have good cyber security services in place. It’s fairly easy for a hacker to steal customer data and sell it on the black market. So if you thought you were immune from attack because hackers are ignoring small businesses, you can discard this notion immediately.
Educate and train your employees
Even if you have good cyber security services in place, it’s very possible that your system could be breached as a result of human error. For example, all it would take is an employee opening up an email that has malware attached to it, and a hacker could have instant access to your network. It’s extremely important to educate your staff about how to protect data, and about the importance of using proper procedures. When they’ve been trained to recognize the signs of a breach, employees will be much less likely to fall into that trap. Even after they have been trained, it will be necessary to conduct periodic refreshers, so the significance sinks in, and so they have daily awareness.
You can protect your company from the devastating impact of a cyber attack with cyber security services in San Antonio. For more information, click here to schedule a consultation with Terminal B.