I’d be surprised if you haven’t heard the term ‘cyber attack’ mentioned on the news, especially over the last few years.

Cyber attacks are becomming more frequent with all businesses (large, medium and small) being affected. But what is a cyber attack and why do you need to make sure your business is protected from them?

As technology advances, so do cyber attacks. Criminals are becoming more sophisticated and cyber attacks are no longer subject to businesses of a certain size.

Cyber attacks aren’t a new phenomenon. They have been around for years and continue getting bigger and better. With major ransomware campaigns including WannaCry, Bad Rabbit and NotPetya infecting a mass amount of infrastructure within the last year, understanding the importance of protecting yourself from cyber threats is fundamental. So, let’s start with the essentials…

What are cyber attacks? 

In its simplest form, a cyber attack involves one computer hacking another. However, it can escalate to multiple computers launching attacks against multiple targets, or even an entire network.

Did you know that cyber breaches affected nearly half of all businesses (46%) in the past year?

The cyber attacks you often hear about in the news usually involve large-scale attacks against banks, major corporations, or governments. Anyone, including individuals and groups, can perpetrate these attacks.

Consider the time you might lose in fixing your website or systems. Reflect on the potential customer loss and the damage to your reputation. A cyber attack can have a massive impact, and the losses can extend beyond just money.

If you’re looking to enhance your business’s cyber security, consider reading our ‘Protect Your Business’ guide. It highlights the steps you should take to shield your business from cyber threats.

Broadly speaking, there are two different types of cyber attack: those where the aim is to disable or disrupt a target computer or network, and those where the aim is to gain access to private information or important data. There are many different methods for achieving this including:

• Phishing emails – this refers to emails that are designed to trick people into giving up their private information such as their password.

 

• Malware – this is software that a user will download onto their computer that can do a whole range of different things. The most common kinds of malware include ransomware, which will encrypt all your files and bribe you into paying a fee to have them decrypted, and forms which can steal data like passwords and bank details.

 

• Denial of service attacks (DoS) – Denial of service attacks are when several computers make requests at the same time and to the same server. Flooding a server with traffic is designed to make it crash.

These are just three of the most popular techniques used, and they can be used in various combinations as well. For example, a user might get a phishing email which tricks them into downloading malware.

 

Why do you need to protect your business?

By now, it should be obvious why you need to make sure your business is protected from cyber attacks. As they become more frequent, it’s no longer huge companies that are at risk, even individuals can become targets. As mentioned early, criminals online have become more sophisticated and have realised that it’s easier to make money from smaller cyber attacks because the victim might not even notice!

It’s more than just protecting your own money and information. It’s now also the law to make sure you protect your clients’ data. The EU’s new data protection regulation, GDPR, obliges businesses to, among other things, ensure they have the necessary measure in place and it’s all in the name of data protection. Protecting against cyber-attacks is, therefore, part of making sure sensitive data stays safe.

Your preparation for a cyber attack may vary. We recommend starting with the basics.

This article should have clarified what cyber attacks are, their various forms, and why protecting your business is crucial.

If your business doesn’t already have a security strategy, put one in place and keep it updated. With technology advancing faster than ever, you don’t want to fall victim to change due to outdated security measures.

For more information about cyber threats and how to secure your business, reach out to us! Whether you have a question, need advice, or want to use one of our services, we’re here to help!