? EDITOR ’ S QUESTION //
“
AS SMALL BUSINESSES
DO NOT HAVE
AS MANY RESOURCES AS BIGGER COMPANIES , THEY MIGHT NOT BE ABLE TO SECURE THEIR WEB
APPLICATIONS
BETTER , SO HACKERS CAN FIND
VULNERABILITIES EASIER .
Every month , we pose industry experts a question pertinent to the issues of the day . This month . . . .
MALL AND MEDIUM-sized
S enterprises ( SMEs ) have become a desired target for many hackers during the COVID-19 pandemic . As moving to remote work was necessary , most smaller businesses were not prepared for the cybersecurity challenges .
According to the data presented by the Atlas VPN team , phishing and web-based attacks were the most common among Europe ’ s small and medium enterprises . The data is based on the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity ( ENISA ) survey . In total , 249 SMEs from 25 European Union countries participated in the online questionnaire conducted between July and September 2020 .
The pandemic caught SMEs unprepared , as they have fallen victims to quite simple and non-sophisticated cyberattacks . This could signal the need for European SMEs to tackle this issue more seriously and work on educational programmes for the employees .
Phishing attacks were the most popular as 41 % of SMEs claimed to have experienced such a threat . This type of attack has become extremely popular due to remote work .
The second most common type of attack was web-based – 40 % of SMEs got hit by it . Cybercriminals launch such attacks to steal desirable customer data . As small businesses do not have as many resources as bigger companies , they might not be able to secure their web applications better , so hackers can find vulnerabilities easier .
Next up , 39 % of SMEs suffered from a general malware attack . Many small companies underrate the possibility of an attack
WHAT ARE YOUR TIPS FOR EFFECTIVE SECURITY PLANNING ON A BUDGET ? happening to them due to their size . However , that is precisely what hackers search for , as they can get quick money with a ransomware threat from lesser secured SMEs .
Cybersecurity tips for small businesses
Even though SMEs do not have as much money to spend on cybersecurity , there are plenty of affordable and practical solutions .
Having a backup of your business data in the cloud is one of the essential measures you can take to protect your company . A backup can help to save data in case of a data breach or a ransomware attack . It would cost much more to recover your data once it is lost rather than keeping it in the cloud .
Another important thing is to establish basic security practices for employees . A set of rules describing how to handle sensitive data and use the Internet securely would lower the risk of employee mistakes causing a data leak or a cyberattack .
Keeping your security software , operating system and web browser up-to-date are great defensive tools against viruses and other online threats .
Lastly , put up a firewall on the Wi-Fi network to prevent outsiders from accessing data on a private network . It will monitor all incoming and outgoing traffic and block anything that might put your devices at risk .
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20 intelligent
. tech
Intelligent SME . tech