As computer technology continues to evolve and small businesses reach new levels of success, companies need to remain vigilant against common cyber security threats. Today, there are more threats to your data and your systems than ever. Hackers keep up with the changing face of the digital world to attack small businesses in 43 percent of the cyber attacks worldwide. If your business isn’t prepared with top remote IT support from a company like Tech to Us, the losses could be devastating. Here are the biggest cyber threats to your business’ digital security you need to know about right now.
Lack of Awareness
One of the biggest issues with cyber security today is lack of awareness. There are millions of workers employed by small businesses who may not have any knowledge or understanding about the potential damage that hackers could do. For some workers, they don’t know to be skeptical when opening emails from strangers. The best way to combat this issue is to make tech awareness a top issue for your staff and to engage in continuous training to help your employees be ready for any type of online threat to your business. Tech to Us offers solid remote IT support to you and your employees to help everyone feel confident in your protection.
Phishing
Phishing is another big problem that continues to plague many business’ cyber security plans. The common scenario usually starts with an email to an employee. When the employee clicks on the link or inputs a password from your organization, the information is captured by the hacker and stolen. Today’s phishing attacks are highly sophisticated and fool even the most tech-savvy employees.Recently, a Google phishing attack swept the internet and had many small business owners feeling frustrated and vulnerable when looking for remote IT support to combat the attack. At Tech to Us, security experts are always looking at the newest trends in phishing attacks.
Ransomware
Ransomware is another trending type of cyber security attack that has been on the radar of Tech to Us and other remote IT support professionals. Similar to a ransom request from a kidnapper, ransomware locks up a system’s data or functionality until a payment is made to the hacker. Some users have found it easier to simply pay the ransom to get access to their data again, but other larger organizations that have been attacked have tried to combat this devastating practice.
Botnets
The concept of internet bots has also been a recent development in hacker technology and cyber security threats known to top IT professionals like Tech to Us. A botnet is simply a type of virus that has spread to multiple computers across the internet. The bots start working together to cause disruption or mayhem to a specific cause or organization. Some security experts refer to botnets as zombie computers, and some users may not realize their computers have been taken over by a central hacker or program. Remote IT support could help you determine if a botnet attack is running on your machine.
Man in the Middle
Tech to Us and remote IT support professionals also have come across another type of attack that is somewhat similar to phishing, called Man in the Middle, or MITM. It’s similar because of the use of clever deception to gain access to information, such as personal details, banking account numbers, passwords or other sensitive details. This type of attack aims to impersonate a reputable website and essentially gets in the middle between the user and the actual website. Users who accidentally get directed to the MITM site enter their personal information and give hackers access to accounts or financial details.
Malware
One of the classic entries on the list of today’s cyber security threats is malware. Malware has been around for years, more commonly known as computer viruses. Today, Tech to Us and other professionals have noticed more unique ways to get malware into the computer systems of small businesses. In the past, most malware was downloaded through rogue disks inserted into the computer. Today, however, hackers are able to get malware to destroy systems by having users download suspicious links. The best way to fight against malware is with dedicated remote IT support services.
Distributed Denial of Service
The distributed denial of service or DDoS attack is another cyber security attack method that isn’t a brand-new technology seen by top IT experts and remote IT support workers. The way the DDoS attack works is it aims to shut down a system or resource from a company by flooding the servers with traffic or requests. For a company that relies on its website or online system for business, this can be a costly and devastating event.
Malicious Advertisements
Just because something is a potentially well-known product advertisement doesn’t mean it’s safe to click on. Malicious advertisements are also becoming more commonplace as a cyber security threat as hackers expand their arsenal of tools. Security experts at firms around the world have been able to pinpoint potential problems for their clients and help them stay protected from the damage that could be done by these devices, such as spam, viruses or malvertising.
Download Technology
Traditionally, most computer users have felt safe from cyber security threats as long as they weren’t clicking on unfamiliar links or downloading things without knowing the source. Tech to Us and other tech professionals have noticed a new trend known as drive by downloads. This type of download has users inadvertently downloading malware even when nothing is clicked. Websites that use this malware technique are difficult to track. It’s best to contact your remote IT support immediately if this happens to you.
Password Attacks
Have you ever had to change your password for an account and wondered why you needed so many special characters, numbers and capital letters?Well, the reason is that password attacks are a huge problem for cyber security professionals like Tech to Us. Hackers have been able to access programs and accounts from users if passwords are too easy to guess. Changing your password frequently through your remote IT support may be a hassle, but it can help you stay protected against the criminals.
Internal Attacks
Most cyber security attacks happen miles away, remotely through other computers via the internet. There are some cases where individuals have caused system wide problems through internal attacks. With an internal attack, someone, usually an employee who is disgruntled, gains access to the system and causes damage. These situations can be difficult for small business owners to manage, which is why companies like Tech to Us provide assistance through remote IT support.
SQL Injection
Many websites have specific functionality based on SQL programming and commands. When a cyber security threat happens in this arena, it’s called a SQL injection. This is a problem even many large businesses have faced in the past few years. It’s best to start out with some protection to keep your SQL-based system protected from this type of devastating attack. Tech to Us can help you design a better way to combat the hackers and keep your site’s functionality.
Business Operations Attacks
Business operations for most of today’s companies, even the smallest ones, are mostly controlled entirely by computers. Some cyber security criminals target these business operations to benefit their own enterprises or cause serious disruption. Operations such as mail, transportation or another innocuous process could be targeted by criminals. It can be difficult for a small business owner to figure out if their business has been attacked because hackers are sometimes very subtle in these cases. Tech to Us and its remote IT support have the resources to help monitor your operations.
Loss of Privacy
The average computer user has been aware of a constant cyber security threat related to their personal information and data. Seeing this data get released in several noteworthy hacking cases has caused millions to lose their privacy. For a small business, it’s not always about the company’s loss of privacy, but their customers’. Customers often feel violated and angry in cases where their private data has been accessed by hackers. Some small businesses have never recovered from the loss of personal data and instead, have shut their doors. That’s why it’s so important to have a plan before disaster happens, like teaming up with Tech to Us and accessing their remote IT support.
Data Theft
Finally, pure data theft is the last type of digital security threat that could impact any type of business. Whether it’s intellectual property that is at risk or something even more sensitive about your organization, it could be vulnerable if you don’t take threats like this seriously. Companies without an in-house cyber security team need to look to the experts, like Tech to Us to help them develop a protection plan. It’s much easier to keep your data safe from hackers and put a plan in place with your remote IT support ahead of time instead of going into crisis mode after a breach has happened.
If you are getting concerned about the status of your company’s digital security, it’s time to take some action so you can feel more comfortable sleeping at night. Tech to Us can help small businesses develop a solid protection plan including remote IT support to keep disaster from destroying all you’ve built.