Weakest Link in Your Cybersecurity

It is easy to assume that cybercriminals would target newer or mid-level employees when targeting a SMB. But this has recently been found false.

A SMB company leader is your weakest link when it comes to your security and in terms of who the criminals are after.

Why? The answer is simple. Because of the high amount of false perception that company leaders aren’t a large target. C-suite executives often do not view themselves as a target, and consequently fall victim because of it.

In Forbes recent study, they reported “while more than two thirds (67%) of SMBs experienced a cyberattack in the last year, only a small fraction (7%) of CEOs, corporate chairs and owners think a cyberattack is ‘very likely.’ Conversely, nearly half (43%) of top leadership believe an attack is ‘not at all likely’ – higher than any other management group surveyed.”

It is a scary reality that ignoring or being unaware of how at risk you are for an attack, gives enough power in itself to the criminals to be successful.

Company leaders not only need to be aware of the risk they could be at for cyberattacks, but they also need to lead by example. People in the position of leadership need to actively practice safe and intentional digital security. If leaders are not implementing security awareness, it is unlikely that the rest of the company will.

So as a leader of a SMB, what can you do to best protect yourself and your company?

• Inform and train your employees. Security Awareness Training is a must for businesses to educate each employee on what to look for and how to take cybersecurity seriously.
• Take password strength seriously. Weak passwords security is the number one way criminals can enter your network. Because many people find the importance and necessity of password security as tedious and annoying, criminals use this as a tactic. Read more on best password security practices here.
• Absolutely never share credentials. As a company leader takes the step to ensure that your company is not sharing credentials amongst multiple different employee users.
• Be cautious of public Wi-Fi. Rather than accepting access to public Wi-Fi, use a personal hotspot or a VPN to protect your online activity and information.

Forbes wrote, “At the end of the day, cybersecurity should be part of an overall top-down corporate strategy that originates from the C-level” and we couldn’t have summed it up better. As a company leader your role has powerful influence. Take cybersecurity seriously and your employees likely will too.

If you are a company leader and you want to learn more about how your IT provider can partner with you to best protect your company, schedule a meeting with The IT Company today.