Every year, we come across hundreds of headlines regarding the security breach and cyber crimes all over the world. Many companies learn first-hand the damage caused by these online crimes which not only affect the brand reputation but leave the customers of that brand vulnerable.
One thing to notice from these reports is that small businesses are as much exposed as large-scale organizations, even more than that. In fact, small businesses and organizations tend to be more vulnerable to online threats because they generally lack expertise and security policies to defend the attacks. It is important, especially for small business owners to identify the risks that are associated with their business.
Loopholes in the Business
With the advent of technology, small businesses are now on the hit list of hackers and cybercriminals. The owners are often seen to be reluctant when it comes to cybersecurity and security services. This leads to the loopholes in the business sites making it easier for hackers to carry their activities. As per a study, there was a 64% increase in the SME compromises from 2013 to 2014 because of the decreased 20% security budget in 2014, in the US only.
A Misconception
“I am not running a billion-dollar business so hackers or criminals don’t want to do anything with my business right?”
No! absolutely wrong. Gone are the days when only large-scale successful businesses were at risk. The risk is not concerned with the size of the company, it was in olden days, but not anymore. Cybercriminals are more interested in the quality of data rather than the quantity. If your business contains important information like credit card credentials, customer data, or any other intellectual data then have got a fat big Bull’s-eye printed on your back.
Smooth Platform to Carry Illegal Monetary Activities
Many times the criminals (for example, money launderers, drug dealers, terrorists, etc.) are not even interested in your data, instead, they just need a platform to carry out their illegal activities without involvement of government agencies or regulators. Due to this, small financial businesses like local banks and cryptocurrency organizations are proved to be heaven for them. The reason is small-scale businesses don’t invest in AML screening services or other security protocols catching the attention of criminals.
But it has been seen in recent years that several automated AML compliance solutions have been launched that can perform screening of incoming users in real-time. These solutions are not only perfect for any specific territory or business category but they have the ability to serve a large range of customers in real-time on a global scale. So any business entity regardless of their geographical location or size of the customer base can avail these AML screening services to vet the financial credentials of its customers at an affordable price because of pay as you go pricing model.
Leading Hackers to Larger Companies Data
Sometimes the smaller companies don’t have intellectual data but they are connected to some large-scale businesses. This business to business dealing leads to higher interaction between the 2 companies that can even lead to the enhanced need for data protection. Liability of loose-ends, when it comes to data protection, falls on both the companies regardless of the fact that who was contractually obligated to secure customer data.
Regulatory compliance requirements have also been made stringent over the years to make sure that collected data from customers, especially the confidential information of the users, is made secure on a priority basis.
This thing makes smaller companies, that lack proper safeguard against data breaches, a broker between hacker and large-scale companies because the small business doesn’t focus on the security of their system and it can lead a way for hackers to access big companies data through the small business platform. It can cause huge consequences for the small business.
Conclusion
The drastic changes in technology have broadened the scope of attacks not only for large-scale businesses but small businesses as well. In today’s era, all online businesses are equally exposed to hackers and cybercriminals regardless of the size of the company. The biggest mistake the small company owners do is to ignore the need for IT security policies and services for their business and keeping it on the least priority.