Cybersecurity on an SMB Budget
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The Identity Theft Resource Center reported that a whopping 73% of small businesses were victims of a cyber security attack last year, a rise from 43% in 2020. Just because your SMB has a small budget doesn’t mean your network security has to be lackluster. Plenty of sources give big budget protection for a fraction of the price - or no price at all.
When you think of cyber threats, it’s easy to assume criminals will go after big-name businesses over the Little Guy. With that in mind, you put less effort into cyber security and inadvertently make yourself an easy target- exactly what criminals want.
Once cybercriminals enter your system and network, it’s costly to get them out. In 2019, most businesses reported it cost around $84,000 to recover from an attack. Purging malware can take between 8 - 24 hours; it is a financial inconvenience at best and catastrophic at worst. Why risk it being the latter?
Take a look at those numbers and consider things you can do with that lost time and money put towards computer security instead:
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Take 1-2 hours to do cyber security training with employees. Find identified scam emails, recognize red flags, and note the risks.
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Install a Two-Factor Authentication system to your systems to ensure designated users use your software. The extra few seconds in log-in can prevent a trespasser from getting in.
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Do routine data backups on your systems. They usually take under 1 hour to complete and can run in the background.
And for a percentage of the monetary cost, you can:
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Invest in a VPN to keep your location and other data encrypted. The average cost of a business plan ranges from $3-12 a month.
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Install virus protection. Windows Defender is free on Windows systems, but paid services like McAfee, MalwareBytes, and others may work better for your needs. Most have multi-user packages that you can take advantage of, averaging around $49.99/year.
With any number of these, you can save yourself time, money, and frustration. Take your first step in protecting your SMB today.