Cybersecurity for Businesses
November 15, 2017
Cybersecurity and digital privacy is now an issue for every business
This year marks the 14th annual National Cyber Security Awareness Month, a collaborative effort led by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the National Cyber Security Alliance.
Cybersecurity has remained in the news for much of 2017. From global hacks to concerns around connected cities, homes and devices, cybersecurity and digital privacy is now an issue for every business.
Smaller businesses have become targets for cybercriminals because they have fewer defense resources than large enterprises — and criminals know this. If cybercriminals can breach a small business and steal credentials — like banking accounts or email access — they can use that information to steal money directly, create attacks on customers, and work their way around the business ecosystem in other ways.
Whether your organization is large or small, it’s a sound idea to have a plan for employee education, training and awareness.
The 2016 State of Small & Medium-Sized Business (SMB) Cybersecurity report surveyed 598 individuals in companies with 1,000 or fewer employees. Here are a few findings:
- 50 percent of SMBs have been breached in the past 12 months
- The most prevalent attacks against SMBs are web-based and phishing/social engineering
- 59 percent of SMBs have no visibility into employee password practices, such as using strong passwords and sharing passwords with others
- 65 percent of SMBs that have a password policy do not strictly enforce it