Should You Have A Business Security Budget For Your Business?

As entrepreneurs, we have many priorities on our plate. Sadly, we often forget or do not prioritise on business security implementation until it is too late. It is a fallacy to assume that cyber criminals do not target us because of our size.

On the contrary, we are becoming one of the more attractive targets for small operations tend to have a weaker security system and larger corporations are pouring a large amount of money into their cyber defence.

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Let’s look at some threats that entrepreneurs should be aware of:

3 cyber threats that may affect Entrepreneurs

1. Phishing and Spyware

Many of our business operations would involve online transactions. Hence, it is common to key in our credentials and credit card details in our computer systems. Such details are most vulnerable if you come across phishing and spyware threats. If we do not understand these threats, it is possible that we have offered our private information freely to a criminal who can use our identities for their benefits.

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2. Viruses and Worms

Viruses and worms are the most common threats that can occur across businesses. Businesses fear them as these programs cause huge damage to the systems and may spread through emails from corporate contacts. They are hard to remove and expensive. For small operations such as start-ups, such threats can potentially wipe out the whole business overnight. 

3. Ransomware

You probably have seen reports of ransomware in recent times, including the recent WannaCry Ransomware Attack back in May 2017. This threat is the most detrimental attack against entrepreneurs as the malicious software simply blocks all access to the victim’s data until a ransom is paid. Moreover, these cyber criminals thrive on time sensitivity. It is common that they would threaten the victims into making payment in untraceable bitcoins within a limited period of time or risk deletion of the data.

So what should you do? Here’s an infographic that can help you formulate a security plan for your business:

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Ultimately, you should be alert to the dangers of the cyber world. Be vigilant and place precautionary measures in advance. Although this measure takes up a part of your business budget, you should always remember that your business’s security protection is a necessary cost to your business. Would you have your business thrive in the long run within a secure environment? This answer should be obvious.