As a CIO of a corporation with both retail stores and an e-commerce marketplace there is always a potential for cyber threats and here are some ways to both detect and help prevent those threats to the company.

There are a plethora of potential cyber security threats that could hurt a company. According to isgtech “It is small businesses that are most at risk. In fact, one in five small-to-medium-sized businesses are victims of hacking each year. And of those, more than half go out of business within six months simply because they failed to prepare for a cyberattack.” Here are some of the most common as of 2022. Malware is one of the most common attacks that can drastically hurt a company. Malware is a malicious software such as viruses, spyware, emotet, and ransomware. This can be harmful because these softwares once opened on a computer by clicking on an unknown link can cause a block to key network access, installation of more harmful software, and covertly obtaining information from your computer system. Another threat to be weary of are phishing emails. These are often the first step in unintentionally installing the malware by clicking and opening links or enter ring personal information requested by an email you either don’t know who it’s from or thinking it’s from someone you trust when it isn’t. These emails have become very prevalent and have some tell tail signs like a slightly incorrect or misspelled email address, urgent requests for information, or requesting you to go to a link for more information. Denial of Service or DoS is a type of cyber-attack that floods a network or computer so that it is unable to respond to requests which inevitably doable the network which then gives the hacker time to launch other attacks and or malware onto a computer or network. Man in the Middle is a type of attack where a hacker inserted themselves between an online user and an open network like unprotected Wi-Fi to steal data and install malicious software onto devices connected to that open Wi-Fi. Password attacks like phishing attacks rely on individuals being human and having their guard down. This is a type of attack that can involve tricking employees into breaking security protocol or can involve simply guessing or hacking and stealing passwords. Therefore longer, and more unpredictable passwords are so important as well as employee training.

Source: types-of-cyber-security-threats

As a company there are inevitably digital processes, systems, and functions that are both necessary and can be a doorway in for hackers and other cyber threats. As a business there needs to be a way to accept and transfer money from customer to company. In this age most customers pay with card which means there will be a digital transaction and this data or information could potentially be intercepted or simply stolen. This can be done using malware on either the system itself or an attack on a third-party system that most companies tend to use. Every company has an email whether it be the owners, employees, or a single company email and these are prone for phishing emails. These emails can be seemingly harmless until they are opened, and a link gets clicked, then suddenly, you’re locked out of your own system and have a hacker requesting money to unlock your computer or have malware installed onto your computer unknowingly stealing your clients and employee’s information. Speaking of employee information, every company has personal information on each employee that is usually entered into some kind of system that helps to keep track of time, pay, and overall employee information such as name, address, social security number, date of birth, and anything else that would be valuable for a hacker to sell. Employees should not have to worry about this happening. As a business there will always need to be spreadsheets, receipts, and tracking of both money and inventory. These are also usually kept using a third-party system or maybe even on an Excel spreadsheet saved to the company computer. Either way this information can be stolen several ways which include malware attacks, password attacks, and phishing attacks. Lastly, the business e-commerce website could simply be hacked which could result in customer’s information being stolen or the website being taken down until the business can get control over the website again. This can hurt the business’s reputation which in today’s world and the way information spreads can be detrimental to any company.

Source: capterra

To try and assure that these attacks and situations either don’t happen or are quickly extinguished, here are some security and process suggestions. First and foremost, would be education. Most of these attacks can be stopped before they even start by just understanding how the hackers get onto your computer system. Employees should all have phishing and cyber security training along with occasion fake phishing emails sent out to catch those employees that may still far for it so that they can learn from that mistake and hope they never fall for a real phishing email. Another important thing to think about is to ensure password policies are strong and that these passwords are changed frequently per company policy. Passwords are often not changed unless directed to do so by a system and are also often identical to other passwords by the same user. Having varying passwords for different company systems that change frequently can help to protect the company, employee, and customers in the long run. Frequently Installing updates for both the firewall and the system can do wonders. There are system updates for a reason and many of these have security updates in them. By not updating these as soon and frequently as possible this could lead to a successful cyber-attack. Every company should have their information backed up whether it be on the cloud or on a server somewhere. Then even if you’re hacked or a distasteful of some sort happens all the information gathered over the life span of the company is not completely gone. The information and a plan for both saving information frequently and how to access it quickly and when needed from either the cloud or server is essential. Lastly, having IT support on call 24/7 for both customers and employees could be a big help in both preventing and determining threats and attacks as these users will be the first to notice “something’s wrong” and having that knowledgeable support could be the difference between running a successful business and losing everything to a hacker.

Source: isgtech