You might be thinking that if Microsoft can get hacked why bother trying to protect your small business? Cyber security is too expensive. You would be wrong. Hacking, phishing, ransomware, etc. are threats to every business – big or small. Worse, the consequences are endless, lawsuits, loss of revenue, loss of customers, diminished customer loyalty & trust, and more.

Whether you are a retailer, restaurant or law firm, functioning without IT infrastructure is not possible in 2021. As a result, the threat of being hacked and having company and/or customer information exposed to the public is a permanent existential threat to your business. Every small business must be mindful of minor cyber risks that that cause major problems. Common mistakes that small companies can avoid include:

1. Thinking Your Company Is Too Small to Be Targeted.

Hackers expect to face less obstacles when targeting small companies. You are actually a more attractive target because hackers assume you have spent less time and effort on protecting your information than large corporations. If you are a customer-facing business, this means that you are making hundreds or thousands of customers’ confidential information - like their social security number and/or bank account information – vulnerable to public exposure.

2. Sharing passwords

Being a member of a small company means everyone knows and trusts everyone readily. This invites laxity in sharing information, such as, passwords. This increases the likelihood of having your IT infrastructure breached.

3. Failing to Update Security Patches

You may not realize this but, IT vulnerabilities are posted on publicly viewable hacking and cybersecurity websites regularly. Ideally, you want to be updating patches as they come out from developers. The consequence of ignoring security patch updates is the increased risk of malware infection or hacker infiltration. It is best to include a policy of automating patching routines in your cybersecurity best practices so that minimal to no human intervention is needed.