The cost of cyber crime has been on a rise, with the 2022 costs estimated to be 8.4 trillion US dollars. This is a direct reflection that cyber attacks are increasing, and businesses remain a target.

Some businesses are more vulnerable to attacks than others. If you are a business owner, you need to know the weaknesses that malicious elements use to access data. Here are some of the areas where businesses become targets of cyber attacks.

Unsecured Devices

Startups have one thing in common, cash flow issues that force business owners to forego Cyber Security Protection, at least for a little while until business picks up. Unfortunately, the longer companies go without protecting their devices, the greater the exposure to cyber crimes.

Businesses with unsecured devices invite cyber attacks in several ways.

• When employees use their phones, tablets, laptops, home computers, and other personal devices to access the company’s systems. This may work if the company is looking to improve efficiency and cut costs, especially when the employees are away from their desks. Unfortunately, there may be a bigger price to pay.
• When company devices are used to surf the web without firewalls. Employees sometimes feel the restrictions are a little over the top, but firewalls are critical barriers that keep cyber attackers away from the company’s systems.

When hackers gain access to the company’s systems through unsecured devices, it doesn’t matter how much data is breached. The costs may be too high, and it is not limited to financial losses only.

A small business will struggle to build a reputation if all it is known for is its vulnerability to cyber attacks.

Valuable Data

Businesses attract the interest of cyber attackers when they have valuable data. Small businesses are a haven of consumer data, including names, phone contacts, addresses, and financial details. This data helps hackers to use the details for identity theft and fraud.

Untrained Employees

One of the conditions many cyber insurance companies give businesses is training employees on how to avoid falling victim to cyber attacks. Unfortunately, many new businesses overlook cyber crime during staff training.

This is how some employees easily get duped by tactics, such as phishing because they assume they are receiving legitimate emails. Some use their free time to shop online using company devices, further exposing the business to cyber crime.

All these activities are normal in many SMEs, and cyber criminals know this. So, they target these companies because it is easier to infiltrate the company systems. 

Limited IT Department

When you visit a large enterprise, you may be shocked at the number of people managing the IT systems. The team in the IT department is robust, constantly searching for weaknesses and monitoring data. It only takes one fault for hackers to penetrate the system.

Small and medium-sized businesses sometimes don’t have the resources for a huge wage bill. So, to keep their costs low, the IT department may be non-existent, or if it is present, it may only have one staff member.

This is problematic because this requires vigilance, and there is so much that one person can do to monitor all the company systems.

The Use of Legacy Software

Many small businesses rely on legacy software for internet security. It is affordable and, to some degree, it works. Unfortunately, legacy software is outdated and hackers have devices ways to go around it to access data.

Additionally, legacy software is tied to a specific operating system and it uses a specific coding language. For example, if you move from Windows 10 to 11, some of the legacy software will not work on the new system.

Legacy software also has:

• Few security measures.
• Regular updates, which create room for attacks.
• No limits on the types of devices that access their network. You can use legacy software on unsecured devices.

Most startups use legacy software because it offers some protection and it is cheap. Unfortunately, companies may pay a higher price if there is a data breach.

Fortunately, when requesting cyber insurance, your business will be guided on ways to prevent cyber attacks, and the measures to take, besides insurance to protect data and company property.