Peace of Mind – What is it Worth to You?

It’s public knowledge security breaches and malware attacks happen, especially when you see the news plastered on the front page of every major tabloid. These unexpected situations often leave you rationalising the fact that something like this could never happen to your company… right?

But how can you be so sure?

With the new work from home set up in place for businesses across Australia, cybersecurity threats to IT infrastructure are now more real than ever. While you may think you’re doing everything you possibly can to prevent an attack from happening, even companies with strict security precautions put in place experience severe data breaches that somehow seem to slip through the cracks.

Will peace of mind prevent an attack from happening? Not necessarily – but putting effective safety measures in place to protect your company’s data, especially while remote access to data is 100% necessary, can help you avert a breach that could cost your company an abundance of resources, time and money to fix.

Reports from the OAIC show cyberhackers remain the leading cause of data breaches

A notifiable data breach occurs when sensitive information is accessed without permission, resulting in serious harm. According to the most recent notifiable data breach report conducted by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC), malicious cyber incidents including phishing, malware and ransomware remain the leading cause of data breaches.

The OAIC also reported data breaches resulting from human error account for 32% of all breaches. This can be concerning for businesses, especially during this time while employees are scattered across various locations working remotely. Many cyber incidents in this report appear to have involved some sort of human factor, such as disclosing confidential information or clicking on a phishing email which launched the attack at the start. In many incidents, the malicious hacker gained access to information stored in email accounts, but in many cyber incidents the source of the breach of credentials was unable to be identified.

Are you protecting your account credentials?

Reported by the OAIC, 15% of all breaches occur by compromising account credentials through phishing email accounts, while 14% of data breaches are associated with stolen credentials in which the hacker could leverage the email account to directly access personal information, including bank account details and tax file numbers.

This kind of information can help hackers exploit personal information in the account to carry out targeted attacks or identity fraud for specific individuals. Hackers can also use this information to further phish and target attacks against individuals and businesses by capturing information within the hacked account.

Preventing cyberattacks and organising a response plan

The easiest way to prevent a security breach especially when it comes to protecting your SME revenue, is to source a trusted managed IT support provider who can closely monitor your network. By providing 24/7 remote support and daily updates on the security of your system, you can rest easy knowing someone is keeping a close eye on your systems to ensure a notifiable breach is avoided.

However, many small businesses lack the resources for an in-house IT department, especially now that businesses are forced to make budget cuts due to the coronavirus pandemic. The IT Department can provide your SME a variety of managed IT services and solutions to ensure your network is safe. Remember, implementing these types of precautions help prevent not only potential security breaches, but immense revenue loss and interrupted operations due to crippling breaches.

Get in touch today for your free virtual consultation with our team.

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