As a business owner, you will understand that the internet and technology are vital for your company. You will heavily rely on it to complete the tasks you do each day. It is also essential when it comes to interacting with clients or customers. 

Since COVID-19, many businesses now let their employees work from home. Employees claim they can work better at home and prefer to work remotely a couple of days per week. Although that is great, it poses a risk to the company itself, a cyber security risk. 

Cyber security is more important than ever and will only become more important for a business. Data is managed in the cloud which has some level of security protection but not the most advanced protection. Not only do you need cyber security in place but you also need to ensure your employees are educated on the cyber risks they work with. 

What Is Cyber Security

Cybersecurity has been overlooked for many years until recently. It is an essential part of your overall security to keep all of your data protected. Everything we now use at work revolves around the internet. Even contacting clients is often communicated by using emails. 

Now that more employees are working from home, the risks are even greater for a company. There is less protection when an employee works from home which is why a company needs good cyber security in place to keep everything protected. If most of your company is working from home, the cyber threat is much greater compared to everyone working from home. 

Most Common Types of Cyber Threats

There are many different types of cyber security. Some of them you may have already heard of before. 

One of the most common types of cyber threats is Phishing. Phishing emails are usually sent out from a hacker to people inside your business. They will try to trick your employees into entering their data or sending them payment. Differentiating between phishing and official emails is even more difficult due to how good these hackers are. 

Malware is another common type of hacking which you have also heard of. It is when software is created to damage your computer or data. It is used to gain access to important information so they can misuse the data they have. 

Ransomware has also been one of the biggest cyber threats to society for a long time. That is when files and documents are encrypted. The ransomware will then demand payment for you to get those files encrypted. 

There are many different types of cyber threats that a business faces. It is why your employees must work on the same network to keep everything protected. Sometimes it isn’t possible which is why you need a good cybersecurity team to keep your business protected. 

What Are The Damages Of A Cyber Attack

The reason why you need to protect your business from cyber threats is because of the damage it will cause. To some extent, some businesses can crumble completely from a cyber attack if they don’t protect themselves.

Reputational Damage

It is a type of damage that businesses don’t think about. Reputational damage is one of the largest issues a company faces after a cyber attack. For example, if clients and customers hear you have been attacked, they will lose trust in your business. They will likely go elsewhere for your product or service, making your business lose even more money. Reputational damage caused by a cyber attack can be much greater than a cyber attack itself. 

Business Data Lost

Cyber attackers will pick and choose the data they are willing to steal or corrupt. For example, the cyber attackers may want to steal the information of a customer. They may want to steal the data of one of your employees so they can gain access to other employees’ information. All of this is very important so if a cyber attacker gains access to this, it will put your business at risk. 

Another problem you face in this situation is that it will be difficult to recover this data again. For example, the logins of an employee’s account could be changed in a matter of seconds if the security measures were in place. Once they change those details, you won’t be able to gain access to that account again and the cybercriminal will have access to all of your company’s files and data.

The Financial Costs

The financial costs of a cyber attack are the first thing a business will worry about. Not only will you lose money during the cyber attack but also after the attack through reputational damage. 

One of the cyber threats we mentioned earlier, ransomware, can hold your business to ransom because they have encrypted your files. Other cyber threats could cause hackers to steal accounts and money from your business. 

The financial damage could cost your business a lot of money. Not only that but what took you months to generate the revenue could be gone in a matter of days. 

How To Prevent A Cyber Attack On Your Business

The key to recovering from a cyber attack is to prevent it from happening. It is an investment that will cost you a lot of money but you will know your business is safe for the future. 

The first step is to educate your employees. Teach them about the cyber risks they face each day and how they can protect the business from a cyber attack.

One of the first steps to keeping your company protected is to ensure complex passwords are implemented. You can then ensure people won’t easily access your data and give it the first line of defence. 

Another method is to ensure employees don’t click on files they have received from outside the company. Again, this could be ransomware and could be a massive cyber threat. 

A good cyber security team should also be on hand for your business. Consider a cyber essentials certificate which is a government-backed scheme to keep your company secure. It will complete all of the important tasks to ensure the security of your business is well-protected and not lost. 

Cyber security is very important for a modern business so if you don’t have the correct security measures in place, your company will be at risk. It doesn’t matter what type of business you are. You could be an ecommerce brand or a dentist in Hawthorn, it is important to keep your business protected if you deal with people’s private and confidential information daily.