How Can Small Businesses Survive The Threat of Cyber Attacks

• Business
• Jun 23, 2022

One of the biggest pitfalls of an increasingly digital and connected world is the vulnerability of exposure to cyber-attacks. Reports of cyber attacks or security breaches are becoming all too frequent. The financial burden of these attacks can be understood from a report by McAfee which places the cost of malicious cyber activity to businesses and governments in the U.S. anywhere from $24 billion to $120 billion every year.

Where big businesses have the infrastructure and financial resources to tackle the monetary losses and bad press, it is the small businesses that often find it hard to bounce back from such a setback. Smaller organisations are also easy targets for such attacks since they have less sophisticated cyber security tools at their disposal in general.

So, what are some of the steps or SOPs that can be followed to pre-empt such threats?

• Proper training of employees so that they are aware of the best practices to follow to avoid falling in this trap.
• Maintain a strong cyber hygiene like spam filtering, updated anti-virus software, effectively managed firewalls, password management and server security services.
• Multifactor authentication e.g. a security code sent to your phone to log in.
• Regular data backup on all computers of sensitive information like word files, HR files, electronic spreadsheets, financial files etc. The back up data should be stored
• either offsite or on the cloud.
• Use secure payment processing tools and do not use the same computer to process payments and surf the internet.
• Control physical access or use of business laptops by unauthorised personnel to prevent malicious attack from internal sources.

It is imperative to understand your vulnerabilities and where there is scope for improvements to design a plan of action for unforeseen attacks. User training, advice on safeguarding email systems, and advice on protecting the company's information assets should all be included in this plan.

A dedicated IT support in the form of an internal department or external consultant is the best solution, however small businesses of limited means can still utilise many open source tools and free cybersecurity tools and services to improve their network security.

We at Jazaa provide financial advisory services to small companies and start-ups which helps them in managing financial crisis and manoeuvring the tight spots as we provide them with financial modelling and financial analysis along with financial forecasting to help them make sound decisions.

We also give CFO services along with accounting and bookkeeping. All the data analysis is done, for our clients, to take decisions accordingly. Financial management is a daunting task as it encompasses all the departments and the whole company. Working with us enables our clients to have someone who has a clear understanding of their goals and has the expertise to help them achieve these goals and turn their dream into a reality.

JaZaa Business Services takes pride in its long-term associations with start-ups from varied industries and worldwide locations. We provide end to end business solutions to Start-ups right from its early stage to its development phase. We aim to provide wholesome and qualitative services to our clients by focusing on their growth and overall development. We deeply value our relationship with clients and look forward to serve them in the best of their interests.