Is Your Business Vulnerable to Hackers?

All companies with an online presence, even those in the tech industry, run the risk of being hacked. It’s a fact that comes with operating a business in the 21^st century. Some choose complacency over dealing with the reality that hacking occurs every hour of the day in businesses worldwide, but ignoring the problem doesn’t mean it will go away.

Various sources say that up to 30,000 hacks happen on websites daily now, and it’s not just large corporations. Small businesses are just as vulnerable, even if they don’t get the attention as the big companies do.

Because attacks on small businesses don’t get covered as much in the media, it makes these hacking events more of a covert problem. USA Today noted last year that small businesses are getting hacked just as much or more than the large businesses.

It’s more than a possibility your own business is getting hacked today and you may not even know. This makes you extra vulnerable because you could have trade secrets, client data, or other confidential information on your server being stolen from right under your nose. You may not even have awareness of anything being compromised until months later.

Once you find out hackers tapped into your systems, it could pose some serious legal challenges, costing you thousands of dollars in litigation fees. This is why you should have an audit of your tech security to see what’s truly vulnerable.

Checking Your Security Vulnerabilities

Hiring a professional security audit team is well worth the time and money to find exactly where you have security gaps. You’ll probably end up surprised at some of the findings, even if you likely know danger is inevitable when using a broad variety of tech devices.

In the world of e-commerce, Entrepreneur reminds that SQL and cross-site scripting are the two biggest tech areas hackers can compromise. It pays to get a reliable firewall in place for your e-commerce, though be sure you work with tech consultants who understand the real business world and not just your own.

Plus, if you have a Bring Your Own Device policy in your workplace, many of your mobile devices are probably very vulnerable. As such, it’s a problem needing separate attention.

Dealing with Personal Information on Mobile Devices

Whether it’s a smart phone or tablet, you’re probably using some kind of mobile device in the office or while out in the field. Your employees are probably using them while on the go too, maybe to log information about customers or jobs performed.

You have a lot of risk involved in this scenario based on public Wi-Fi unreliability. If your employees have to plug into those networks frequently while on the job, it could immediately make customer data open to being stolen.

When you need to conform to government regulations on personal data, you could face major fines for not taking steps to protect that information. You also face lawsuits from customers who had their data or identities stolen.

These nightmare scenarios are the reality today as hackers wreak havoc from every conceivable tech angle. Another security step beyond firewalls takes some extra time, yet it’s more than worth it.

Two-Step Verification

It’s not enough to just use passwords and firewalls to keep your tech safe. Many companies now use two-step verification processes to ensure more thorough security. You’ll even find three-step authentication processes getting used in companies to give more confidence against hackers.

While these methods take more time, it’s only just an extra minute. No matter if you have impatient employees, let them know the extra step is necessary and not that much of a burden to keep things safe.

Tech safety is just one of many facets of running a business that you, as a business owner, must consider as your company grows and evolves. Having a solid game plan in place will help you get ahead of any issues that could arise now or in the future. To get a Big Picture view of your business and all of its different moving parts, download our free small business plan worksheet today.