I recently attended a presentation made by a manager from Microsoft.  The topic was cybersecurity and cybercrime.   It was eye opening and scary. She talked about what she called Level 100 and Level 200.

 

Level 100

Level 100 is what most business owners are pretty much aware of.  It involves protection, detection, and response.

 

Some statistics she shared:

 

The key data you want to protect:

Cost can be very high.  She said the typical cost is $240 per record stolen/accessed.  Can very expensive, real fast.  The total could easily exceed the limits of a $1 million liability insurance policy.

 

Steps to take to reduce risk:

 

Cloud advantages that she cited:

She was a big fan of the cloud.

 

Common Cyberattack tactics

 

How to best respond to a cyberattack:

 

1. Plan ahead

 

2. If you get hacked…

 

3. Mitigate the damage

 

 

Level 200

Level 200 encompasses cybercriminals at several stages, but all are dangerous for your small business.

These are the new wave of the cybercriminal.

Crimeware kits are available on the darknet.  They are easy to get and cheap to buy.

 

Levels of cybercriminals:

 

Mobile devices are a big opportunity for criminals.  They provide lots of points of entry into businesses.

 

With all this in mind, how you are protecting your small business from cyber-attacks? The statistics reveal that something you find valuable in your business could be taken advantage of. Take precaution and protect your business assets.

 

(Source: Matt Pearce, Business Consultant, UGA SBDC)