What are cyber threats?
Cyber threats are a risk of doing business in our digital world. They include everything from rogue tweets made by employees that cause reputational damage, to hardware or infrastructure failure resulting in data loss, and even malicious malware and viruses that leave your digital systems crippled.
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How they affect your business
When a cyber threat finally affects you it becomes a cyber event, bringing with it immediate and often devastating consequences. The effects will vary depending on the event you're faced with, but in all cases a cyber event can have a major impact on your business. The financial losses can be significant and for many small businesses the losses can be hard to sustain. It can take weeks to recover data or find the cause of a breach, you may lose revenue if you can't trade and have to carry the cost of losing important files or intellectual property. Your business' reputation can also be damaged, particularly if customer records are compromised, and this can have a long term impact. Below are some of the most common cyber threats that businesses are faced with today.
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Cyber attacks
These are malicious attacks from third parties through methods such as hacking, ransomware, malware and viruses, phishing attacks, and drive-by-downloads. These attacks can result in fraud, extortion, or theft of your assets.
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System damage
This is a result of equipment failure, software corruption, sabotage, and occasionally human error. If your records are lost or your IT system goes down, your business can be left unable to function. The cost of repairing damaged equipment can be substantial, especially when compounded with the losses from being unable to do business.
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Privacy breaches
Privacy breaches are increasingly common. They involve the loss and unauthorised disclosure of personal information covered by privacy laws, as well as commercially confidential information including customer or employee details. Privacy breaches can cause legal issues and massive damage to your reputation.
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Loss of service
Your business likely relies on services outside of your control, such as an internet connection, and when these fail you can be left unable to operate normally. This can result in loss of income and potential business.
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Multi-media liability
This occurs when your business or employees electronically publish content that leaves you exposed to accusations of libel, slander, defamation, plagiarism, and infringements of copyright or privacy. This can lead to financial harm and lasting reputational damage.
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E-commerce breaches
If your e-commerce operation becomes compromised and you breach any of your legal obligations around the management of information, such as credit card numbers, you could face massive financial and legal liabilities.
Tips for protecting your business online

Protect sensitive data
Consider how many employees have access to your company's sensitive information. Minimise your risk by restricting access to only those who need it.

Secure remote access
Have a system in place to ensure security is maintained while accessing work documents from home or on the go.

Manage portable media
Introduce policies for use of devices such as USB drives, CDs and DVDs to safeguard against malware and important data being stolen.

Investigate suspicious emails
Carefully validate ad hoc and suspicious payment instructions as the sender may be a fraudster claiming to be a director, manager or vendor.

Secure web pages and software
Look for 'https://' and a padlock symbol on your browser and always review alerts before downloading new software.

Use smart passwords
Create a long password by using a phrase and replacing some letters with characters and numbers. To be truly secure your password should contain in excess of 25 alpha-numeric characters.

Update anti-virus software
Use up to date anti-virus software to prevent online attacks. Old software may not detect new malware or threats.

Develop a business continuity plan
Build cyber threats into your company's business continuity plans alongside other kinds of potential major disruptions.

Run simulations
Run scenario based drills to test the impact and response times to various types of breaches. This can help to identify your company's weaknesses.

Educate staff
Keep staff updated on the latest threats and responses you have in place to prevent a breach. Staff are your main exposure but also your best defence. The better informed they are, the better protected your company is.

Back up your data
Automate daily or weekly data backups to somewhere not permanently connected to your system, such as an external hard drive.