Cyber-attacks are very real and they don’t just happen to the big corporates. They happen every day worldwide, targeting everyone from the individual all the way up to the likes of the Waikato DHB. you are not safe from these online predators unless you start taking your protection seriously because at some point, you will find yourself the target of a cyberattack, and the consequences to your business could be dire.

Did you know that 43% of cyber attacks target small business?

Cyber-attacks come in various guises, ranging from the common; Malware and Phishing to more exotic acronyms such as DDoS attacks, SQL Injection, DNS Tunnelling and XSS attacks. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what the name of the cyber-attack is; if you and your business are hit by one, regardless of the type, it could have severe effects.

Your mobile, your tablet, laptop, desktop and now more even your cloud services are all potential prey for one of these attacks. These attacks, if successful, can have severe repercussions for your business.

• Firstly, let’s talk about your reputation. You will have been built up over time by delivering quality service. It’s not easy to earn, but it very easy to lose if you’re the victim of a cyber-attack. All that time and effort could get washed down the sink in a matter of hours or days if you’re the business that has been involved in the leak of confidential customer information. The loss of your reputation could be crippling to your business. Worried customers might not feel safe and secure using your services, and that could turn a once profitable company into a has-been overnight. Don’t let it happen to you.

• The more obvious result of a cyber-attack is the disruption it causes to your day-to-day operations. Depending on the severity of the attack, you could lose valuable information on your systems; you might not be able to receive or fulfil new orders or even communicate with customers. If your ability to run your business grinds to a halt, then you could see your entire business threatened.
• Money. It’s the life-blood of any business. It keeps the lights on, the staff paid, and it allows you to continue trading. If a cyber attack hits you, the monetary costs could be considerable. Let’s look at the three key areas where you’d get hit in the wallet. Firstly, it’s the potential loss of actual money. If the cyber attack steals money via some method, that one is easy to quantify. The second is if your business is unable to trade, not allowing you to make sales or deliver your services, seriously damaging your cash flow. And the third big one is the cost to get your IT systems back up and running (if that is possible).  And now due to new Privacy Laws, if you lose your clients’ data or other sensitive information, you might be subject to penalties and punishments. Without that hard-earned money keeping the machine going, it’ll come to a stop, putting everything you’ve worked so hard at in jeopardy.
• Finally, there’s the stress and the distraction from your daily routine that this will cause. You won’t be able to focus on looking after customers with the fallout from a cyber-attack to deal with. You’ll take your eye off the prize and wish you’d spent a little more time and effort on your cyber-security rather than having to deal with the consequences of an attack.

There was a 30% spike in cyber attacks in New Zealand last year,. That is the scary reality of the world we’re living in. No one is safe. The risk is real. You need to understand that at some point, you and your organisation will be the target of an attack. Its not a question of if, it’s a question of when.

What can you do? Simple, take cyber-security seriously. It needs to become part of your risk management procedures. You get good systems in place now; they’ll give you peace of mind and prevent an attack that could have potentially catastrophic consequences for your business.

Contact myIT today, to discuss how a Security Awareness Training plan could help keep you and your business (and your wallet) safe from cyber-attacks, regardless of what type they are or where they come from!