Small business owners and employees are often forced to wear many hats. One of those may be handling the IT and data requirements of your organization. Yet if you’re not well versed in this area, it’s easy to let critical issues slip through the cracks … even issues that could wind up having a dramatic negative impact on the company in the long run.
The small business sector is one of the fastest growing when it comes to using mobile devices (often BYOD, or bring your own device, assets) for enhanced employee productivity. Without the right mobile strategy in place — including mobile policies and procedures, and extensive data security — the risk may certainly not be worth the payoff. While some ignore the threat of small business cyber security attacks, hackers are going after small- to mid-sized companies even more frequently than they are gunning for larger corporations and conglomerates. Why?
According to a recent article from Legaltech News, it’s because they can do so with ease. In the article Collin J. Hite, one of the attorneys of Hirschler Fleischer’s data privacy and security practice group, which is designed to meet the needs of smaller and midsize businesses, shares:
“It’s not if you get hacked, but when. Smaller and midsize companies are just as vulnerable. They [breaches involving the smaller companies] don’t get the notoriety … or the exposure isn’t as large [as in the case of a Target or an Anthem]. The criminals know small and midsize companies don’t have internal IT departments so they make for easy targets.”
Currently at the federal level, Congress is considering legislation meant to better shield corporations and governments from cybercriminals, but some experts worry the bills wouldn’t go far enough to protect and educate small businesses.
“Cybersecurity has emerged as a significant problem and concern for the small-business community,” said Todd McCracken, president of the National Small Business Association, during a hearing held by the House Small Business Committee on April 22. He further clarified that “sharing cybersecurity information is useful, but what small businesses really need is to know how to use that information.”
>> Read more about this cyber security legislation in the Washington Post
In truth, companies of all sizes must protect themselves from hackers and the potential for data breaches. Small business cyber security will continue to play a growing role in the market, and now is the time to address it. After all, most employees have learned how to get emails on their personal devices without the IT department (or person handling this job) approving … scary! If you’re unsure of how to manage this or where to start, contact TechOrchard and get on the path to protecting your small business.
