INFOSEC

Make Your SME A Tough Nut to Crack

Cybercriminals are opportunistic creatures who prefer to seek out easy prey, but there are ways for to make your small business a less appealing target.

Matthew Olney

Jun 25, 2018 • 2 min read

Strengthen your business defences by doing the basics.

It’s a well-known fact in the cybersecurity industry that cybercriminals are opportunistic creatures who prefer to seek out easy prey. SMEs are often seen as such, but there are ways for them to become less appealing targets.

“Many small businesses have learned the hard way that no matter how big or small your company is, you are equally in the sights of those who would commit cybercrime. It can lead to a sense of fatalism along the lines of ‘if they can get to eBay or Yahoo’ what chance do I have?’ but the reality for smaller firms who aren’t regarded as ‘trophy targets’ is that just by putting in a few basic defences can cause the hackers to move on and look elsewhere. SMEs must, therefore, take this issue seriously and look to implement some, often very simple and straightforward processes, to thwart the cyber criminals and make it as hard as possible them to attack their businesses,” says Sam Holliday, Development Manager, Gloucestershire and the West of England for the Federation of Small Businesses.

Smaller budgets that are unable to attract cybersecurity experts or allow the implementation of often overpriced defences result in SMEs being less prepared to deal with the cybersecurity threats they face. Despite this, they shouldn’t think they are powerless to protect themselves.

One of the biggest hurdles SMEs face is changing their mentality and moving away from the common cyber myths. Thinking that you’re too small to be a target is wrong. If you have something to sell than you do have something to steal. We’ve covered the most common myths before and why they are just that; myths.

The Cyber Myths

Do the basics
As businesses become increasingly reliant on online activities and internet connected devices, cyber criminals have more ways to breach an organisation than ever before. A business owner needs to have the mentality that a cyber-attack is not a question of if but when. If you keep this in mind then implementing the basics and sticking to them will be a lot easier to do.

Developing a cyber aware culture and training employees are effective steps that businesses of all sizes can implement. For more on the basics visit - https://www.xqcyber.com/cyberscore/show/locking-your-computer-should-be-as-natural-as-locking-your-front-door

There is plenty of help available to SMEs such as:

The NCSCs 10-steps to cybersecurity guide
The Federation of Small Business
The Cyber Essentials scheme – (which XQ Cyber can assist with as we are an official Cyber Essentials Certification body)
Essential parts of a SMEs defences should include the creation of a cyber incident response plan and the implementation of hardware and software defences, implementing strong passwords, using up to date antivirus software, backing up data and regular vulnerability scanning.

Only give users access to the applications that are essential to their job function, allowing the organisation to break its infrastructure down into smaller risk areas. Implementing these basic steps will make any business a tougher nut to crack.

Want to learn more about how CyberScore™ can help secure your business? Visit our website at www.xqcyber.com/cyberscore and if you want to give yourself the very best protection against cyber security threats try out CyberScore™ for free now!