Security Operation Center (SOC) Experts
08.08.2021
08.08.2021
Just like large organizations, your small business or startup is also at a higher risk of exposure to modern cybersecurity threats. In fact, being just a startup or small business means that you are likely to be operating with limited resources that can make your business more vulnerable to cybersecurity risks as compared to a large organization having a multitude of security defense mechanisms in place. Many large businesses understand the importance of cybersecurity education and awareness and that’s why they spend heavily on developing IT training programs to train their employees so they can protect themselves and the business from ever-emerging security threats.
While many large corporations see cybersecurity training as a necessity, many small businesses and startups can see it as an unwanted expense. Overlooking the importance of spending on cybersecurity education can expose your business to a host of internal and external threats and will lower the chances of your business reaching the growth and profitability stage. Your business can quickly become an easy target for skilled cybercriminals if you have untrained staff and a lack of security defenses.
Below are some common reasons why your small businesses or startup may be at risk of exposure.
Cybercrimes are up by 600% while on average over 2,200 cyberattacks happen each day which translates to nearly 1 cyberattack every 39 seconds. Are your business defenses efficient enough to tackle such an increased rate of security threats? Do you have the required in-house expertise to minimize business security risks and ensure business continuity? Asking such questions can help you evaluate the effectiveness of your cybersecurity defenses.
Here are the top 5 reasons why cybersecurity awareness and training are important for your small business or startup.
All the external factors and threats aside - your workplace staff can expose you to a legion of cyber threats and can not only put your valuable data at risk but can also endanger the whole business infrastructure and the very existence of your business. Unaware of the digital threats, your employees can fell, victim, to sophisticated phishing scams, download malware into the organizational devices and risks can go on.
Unaware of cyber dangers many employees make poor choices and fatal mistakes while handling organizational data. This is exactly the reason why experts blame 95% of successful cybersecurity breaches to be the cause of human mistakes. Your employees will lack the ability to make critical decisions and well-informed choices when it comes to identifying potential threats and risks. Therefore, investing in cybersecurity education programs can help you educate your employees and lower the chances of modern security attacks putting your business at risk.
Despite the size and nature of your business or startup, it is natural that will have sensitive information that cybercriminals would love to compromise in order to gain quick benefits. Cybercriminals can infect your organizational systems with ransomware malware and can demand a ransom in exchange for your data, they can blackmail you, misuse your data, and can do a lot worse. As a business, you may have information such as customer names, phone numbers, addresses, emails, financial information, etc. that can make your business a prime and easy target for hackers. Cybersecurity education includes in-depth data handling and management training that can enable your employees to increase data security and minimize security threats to your sensitive data.
Experts report that as high as 60% of small businesses and startups go out of business after not being able to recover from a cyberattack. In other words, a cyberattack can mean the very end of your business or startup. As a small business or startup with limited resources, you are most vulnerable to modern and advanced threats. Cybercriminals use modern attack vectors and powerful tools and techniques to cause massive business disruption and damages to accomplish malicious goals. A highly trained and aware workforce efficiently identifies potential
threats to business security and continuity while taking necessary steps to contain and remediate the threat and its impacts.
Realistically speaking, cybercriminals also have to spend many hours researching and finding suitable targets that offer potential gains at lower risk rates. Small businesses and startups pop up on the radars of cybercriminals and hacktivist groups as easy targets - considering the lack of security defenses. While many large enterprises with access to modern security defense mechanisms successfully ward off the malicious attacks of cybercriminals, small businesses and startups automatically become a less challenging and alternative target for attackers. However, having workforce employees that make security-conscious decisions.
Cyberattack on your business can mean losing trust in the eyes of your customers, investors, loss of reputation, and loss of potential business opportunities. In addition to these risks, your business may lose valuable data of employees of customers that can cause severe legal complications. Employees and customers can file lawsuits, you may be required by the government to pay heavy fines and there can be many other legal consequences. A highly trained workforce will not allow such attacks to happen in the first place that may lead to your business facing such legal complications.
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