How can a small business stay safe online?
Less than 15 years ago it was rare to find a business using the Internet or a mobile device in the workplace. The landline phone, the fax machine and the typewriter were still heavily entrenched in the workplace. And while some tools, like the landline phone, remain, we have seen the establishment of new tools such as the Internet deliver a profound effect on the way we work and play.
Online is the new world and while it offers tremendous opportunities for businesses to connect and grow, it can also present significant risks for those businesses that don’t protect their people and information online. In fact, a recent Symantec online survey of more than 500 Australian small and medium businesses (SMB) found that 56 percent of Australian SMB respondents have been affected by a cyber threat, up from 46 percent in the 2008 survey.
The survey also found that SMB respondents believe that cybercriminals are the most dominant security threat and nationally, 52 percent of respondents rated malware created by cybercriminals as the most likely security threat to their business. This increase in cyber attacks and concern for cyber threats can be attributed to the continued growth in both the volume and sophistication of cybercrime attacks.
As businesses embrace the online world and become more mobile, they equally become more vulnerable to online security threats and data loss. The bottom line is that while businesses must stay connected to remain competitive, small business owners must also ensure that their information is protected and secure.
So how can a small business stay safe online and not be a victim of a cyber attack? How can a business recover its customer database in case the system fails? And what precautions should a business advise their employees to follow when they are given a smartphone or connect onto social networking sites at work?
The following are tips that small businesses can implement to protect their information while navigating today’s business Internet.
Understand Where Data Resides: One of the biggest challenges small businesses face today is balancing the need for information to be readily available at all times from anywhere, with the need for it to be properly protected. Evaluating the potential for risk is essential to maintaining that balance. Businesses must ask themselves questions such as: Where is my confidential data, and how is it being used? And, most importantly, how do I prevent data loss?
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