What Cybersecurity Concerns Should Expanding Businesses Have?
Any expanding business will have problems to address in its infrastructure, with staffing levels,
supply, and distribution being obvious areas of concern. However, one area that’s often
overlooked when a business is
getting larger is IT in general — and
cybersecurity in particular.
The consequences of not investing in
the right areas of cybersecurity can
be devastating. A single successful
breach could mean a huge financial
loss, damage to an organization’s
reputation, or even the end of the
business entirely. This might not
happen immediately, but statistics
show 60% of small businesses that
are victims of a cyber-attack are not
still in business six months later. For
this reason, all expanding businesses
need to be aware of the bigger
problems they face.
Not having the right cybersecurity architecture
As a business expands, it might find that its current setup isn’t ready for the changes in how it
now works and the way an increasing number of employees access data. They might find that
they currently have several solutions targeting specific problems.
Instead, CSMA (Cybersecurity Mesh Architecture) could well prove to be a better solution as it
allows you to use fewer resources to get the required protection. It’s ideally suited to an
expanding environment and can allow security solutions to work together better and be
flexible to meet any additional requirements. This might be beyond the capabilities of many
small business owners, so identifying a trustworthy cybersecurity partner should be a priority.
The human element
Even with the right structure in place, the weakest link in the chain is often thought to be the
human element. This can fall into several areas which need to be addressed to cut down the
chances of cybercriminals gaining access to company data through a misplaced click or lapse
in attention:
Lack of knowledge
It might be the case that employees aren’t trained in what to look for when it comes to
cybersecurity threats and spotting signs of unusual activity. This is a relatively easy hole to plug
with a program of end-user education.
Employees can be informed of the two biggest threats faced by companies:
• Phishing & spear phishing – when a cybercriminal pretends to be a trusted contact to
get the employee to click a link with an infected file. These can be quite convincing and
targeted at small groups of employees in the same company.
• Malware – this comes in various forms, including the increasingly common ransomware,
which can shut a company down until demands are met. Another threat is spyware
which detects and reports on user activity. These are both very damaging and, if not
spotted, can give no tell-tale signs until it’s too late.
Bad password management
Employees might have easy-to-guess passwords based on children's or pets' names or
birthdays. These should be replaced with far more secure passwords, which are changed
frequently, so if any are leaked, they’re useless.
Use extra validation
Should a password be compromised or a device stolen, a second method of identification, such
as a text message or swipe card, can be used. This way, just having one piece of the puzzle will
do the cybercriminal no good at all.