It’s no secret that small businesses experience plenty of hardship during their early years. The fact that 43% of recent cyber-attacks target these companies doesn’t make things any easier.

As an entrepreneur, it’s crucial to understand the risks that cybercrime poses to your business.

Not sure where to start? Let’s take a look at everything you need to know about cyber-attacks and their prevention.

Effects of a Cyber-Attack

When a company is hit by a cyber-attack that slows down or damages their office equipment, it results in lost revenue. Even spending one day where you don’t operate at optimum efficiency can result in thousands of dollars in lost productivity.

However, revenue loss isn’t the only way cyber-attacks can hurt a business.

Reputation Damage

If your company has its security breached, chances are that your clients’ sensitive information (address, financial info, etc.) will be put at risk.

After the dust has settled, it’s not unlikely that people will feel unsafe with having their data stored at your company and may choose to do business elsewhere. This damage to your reputation can be difficult to recover from.

Lost Data

Losing clients’ data is bad enough. Losing your own company’s data could cripple your operations and even run you out of business.

Malicious software named “Ransomware” has the potential to encrypt your company’s vital data and demand that you pay a “ransom” to gain access to it. Failure to comply often results in the data being deleted, which can be catastrophic if you don’t have a recent backup to pull from.

Unexpected Expenses

Damaged hardware means that you’ll need to repair or replace it. In the meantime, you may need to rent other equipment to keep your business operations running.

These unforeseen costs can quickly add up and further complicate the consequences of a cyber-attack.

How Can I Protect Myself?

Fortunately, there are ways to plan for a cyber-attack and mitigate the damage that your business experiences. It all comes down to being prepared.

Back-Up Everything

The more recent your backups, the less of a problem you’ll have if you’re hit with a security breach.

To keep your company’s data even safer, always back up in two locations—a physical hard drive and remote storage.

IT Services

For those without the time (or the knowledge) to optimize their company’s cybersecurity, IT services provide a convenient and reliable way to protect your company’s data.

This is especially true for small businesses, which are often targeted due to their outdated software and lack of experience in dealing with cybercrime.

Train Your Employees

A brief training session goes a long way when it comes to helping your employees prevent a breach.

Solid policies to implement include:

  • Having tiered access to data (only certain level employees can access certain levels of data)
  • Training your workers to recognize spoofed or malicious emails
  • Teaching habits that prevent an internal breach (such as making sure passwords aren’t accessible to people who shouldn’t have them)

From here, you’ll drastically decrease your chances of experiencing a cyber-attack.

All the Recent Cyber-Attacks Can Be Intimidating

But they don’t have to be.

With the above information in mind, you’ll be well on your way to doing your best to prevent a security breach and recover from any recent cyber-attacks if you are affected.

Want to learn more about the benefits of managed IT services? Check out our services or contact us for more information.