Small companies are susceptible to cyberattacks. With work from home, social media marketing, apps, and digital marketing, businesses almost live online. Hackers see these accounts as enticing gold mines because they have much to lose with minimal security measures put in place. Larger companies can afford to ignore some attacks and afford the money for cybersecurity. Small businesses cannot. So, below let’s talk about some easy budgeting tips to invest in cyber security to protect your business.
Risk Assessment
Before jumping into implementing cyber security, a good business should understand its weaknesses. A risk assessment helps identify vulnerabilities in your system, and what kind of threat you may be exposed to. While all businesses are at risk for cyber-attacks, some have more red flags than others.
- Figure out the scope of the risk assessment. It can be the entire organization or more specific locations such as web applications or sales teams.
- Identify your assets and threats. What would be considered a treasure for hackers? It could be sensitive information, guess lists, pictures, archives, etc.
- Prioritize risks
The bottom x-axis of the graph represents how likely an area will be attacked. The left y-axis represents the negative impacts if the area is attacked. Naturally, if an area is likely to be attacked with severe consequences, then there should be a high alert to that area.
Understanding any possible weaknesses, areas of interest, and impacts of attacks can help begin to narrow in on a focus for the type of cyber security that would be most effective for your business security.
Affordable Solutions
Security doesn't need to be pricey. Find time to dedicate exploring cost-effective cybersecurity solutions that will fit into your budget. It can be simple, such as installing an anti-malware or antivirus software program.
- Avoid
Sometimes if the risks of being attacked outweigh the benefits, it might be better to discontinue the activity or program.
- Transfer
A portion of risks can be distributed. Certain operations can be outsource to third parties. First-party coverage and third-party converge cover separate things. First-party is like commercial property insurance. It covers a company's own damages. Third-party cover legal expenses that could come because of cyber-attacks.
With proper searching for different programs online, sometimes a basic cyber security plan can go a long way in cyber security.
Training/Educating Employees
There are ways to avoid falling for certain phishing scams. Teaching employees adds an extra layer of protection as it assures that the people of the company will know what to look out for.
- Teach employees about cyber threats
Have training in place to have employees understand the serious nature of cyber threats and how to handle them. A lot of large companies have had data breaches due to employees clicking on suspicious links in their emails.
- Hold employees accountable
Data breaches and losing valuable information is a huge blow. Part of cyber security training should explain to employees they will be held accountable for protection policy violations.
Consider developing a cyber security training course if there isn’t one in place already. There are also some programs online that can provide training for companies, and this can be allocated within the cybersecurity budget.
All things considered, investing in cyber security is critical to safeguard your small business from the dangers of cybercrime. It’s possible to adopt budget-friendly cybersecurity measures to ensure sustainability and growth for your business.
If financing is an issue, Idea Financial can help provide the funds needed to keep your company protected from attacks. With a line of credit, you can afford the cybersecurity best suited for your company by only borrowing up to what you need. With same-day approval and funding, you can immediately implement any cyber security for ease of mind in your company.
