In the ever-evolving threat landscape that we live with, data breaches, hacks, and cyberattacks, knowing what is real and misconceptions are crucial to save your money, time, and lots of stress.
Despite the increased focus on securing the business, discussions about some cybersecurity topics occur, as many are still controversial.
These myths can lead small businesses to make dangerous decisions about securing their data, leaving them open to attack. A person driven by some stereotype in their decision has no chance to be flexible and probably can not choose the best fitting solution. To deal with these common misconceptions, it is essential to know them first.
Myth 1: Small and medium business is too small and unimportant to be a target
No one cares about how large or how small your business is. Attackers hack you first and think about how to monetize it later. Many loud modern hacks started with small companies, which were providing services to some larger organizations.
Myth 2: Anti-virus software products protect the business and keep it safe
They aren’t, as any other “silver bullet” technology that was hyped throughout the history of computer technology, such as firewalls, DLP, end-point protection, sandboxes, etc. Even if you would own all of these technologies, this doesn’t mean you can not be hacked.
As a great quote from the hacking history book “The Cult of the Dead Cow” goes: “Antivirus is better than nothing.”
Myth 3: Cloud services are secure. Or cloud services are insecure.
Both these statements are incorrect. Every business must understand a shared trust model in the cloud.
You are responsible for the security “in the cloud,” while a good cloud provider is responsible for the security “of the cloud.”
Shared Responsibility model for cloud security
Myth 4: Cybersecurity is too expensive and not cost-effective
It is simply false; refer to our webinar on Return on Security Investment theme. It is all connected: your business value and your security effort. If you do small business, your stakes are relatively low, as is your cybersecurity investment. If you grow your business, your stakes go higher, as do your risks, and make your cybersecurity investment. The effectiveness of your security spending is a matter of both what you do and how you do it.
Myth 5: IT department is responsible for cybersecurity matters
It is false. Understanding cybersecurity is essential for modern IT professionals and business units. If you do small business, your stakes are relatively low, as is your cybersecurity investment. If you grow your business, your stakes go higher as a cybersecurity investment does. The effectiveness of your security spending is a matter of both what you do and how you do it.
Business leaders should remember that all their employees are responsible for the safety of a business. Building cybersecurity awareness among employees and business leaders should be your goal.
Summary
Remember the John T. Chambers statement that total cybersecurity is not achievable. New threats are constantly emerging, and every business and individual should do as much as possible to keep their data secure. They must regularly monitor systems, conduct audits, do backups, updates, and pentest security on existing vulnerabilities before attackers could exploit them.
Every employee must be involved with cybersecurity efforts and always keep it in mind when dealing with work-related matters. Cybersecurity is an ideal that requires constant efforts and should always be a default priority for any business.
Email us at hello@bsg.tech if you need professional security advice or have more questions and suggestions.
Stay safe.