Your Small Business May Be At Risk Unless You Have A Security and Recovery Plan

If you're a small business owner, then you know how important it is to have a security and recovery plan. You work hard to get your business up and running, so don't let an unforeseen event put an end to your hard work!

The risks are real - viruses, natural disasters, power outages, and hacking. They happen more often than you might think. There's no need to be taken by surprise if disaster should strike.

Here are some statistics to consider:

39% of small business websites are infected with malware

60% of cyber attacks on a company website will be successful in the first three months it's operational. (The percentage rises to 70% for e-commerce sites.)

34% of small businesses never reopen after being hacked. (That's one out of three!)

Nearly 50% of all small businesses will experience a significant IT outage that impacts their business for two days or more in the next 12 months.

In the event of a loss, your business isn't just at risk of losing money—you also lose customer and employee data. You also run the risk of your business being attacked again in the future. Think about it - would you want to do business with someone who was just hacked?

Security and recovery plans are not difficult to create, but they can save you a lot of time and headaches in the event something happens. They should include:

A crisis management plan: This will guide you through what steps are to be taken if something bad happens! It's important to know everyone's roles and responsibilities.

A documented disaster recovery plan: Outline what needs to be done in the event of a disaster. Keep it up-to-date.

An offsite backup system: This will ensure you don't lose any data in the event of an attack. Before you hire a company to do backups, make sure they can restore your information on new hardware if needed. (Make sure they are not running their own servers!)

A business continuity plan: This is an important plan that details how your business processes will continue to run in the event that something happens. Start by outlining your business processes, especially how applications are used. Then you need to determine what hardware and software will be needed for recovery.

A documented security policy: Make sure employees know that security is important and how they can help. You can put this in place by doing the following: Use complex passwords

Keep machines up-to-date with patches, including security patches

Use anti-virus software on all machines

Make sure anti-virus software is updated regularly

Backup data regularly, or at least once a week (most anti-virus companies provide storage).

Make sure employees know that data is confidential

Users should be educated on how to use the technology.

For more information on creating a security and recovery plan, go to: http://www.ic3.gov/media-center/themes/sbp/Pages/default.aspx . If you are interested in finding out more about cybersecurity, you can read more at http://www.danclarke.com , The Cyber Security Blog . On behalf of all of us at CISCO Systems, thank you for your valuable time and consideration! [END ARTICLE]

Check out this video presentation with Dan Clarke as he discusses his new book "Cyber Security in a Nutshell.

Click Here to View the Video on YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDXCj-dqliI&feature=youtu.be [ARTICLE SOURCE]

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/your-small-business-may-be-risk-unless-you-have/ [ARTICLE SOURCE]

https://www.cyberscope.org/conducting_eeo_analysis_for_cybersecurity_risk [ARTICLE SOURCE]

http://www.pcmag.com/news/379112/first-amazon-hack-wasn-t-major [ARTICLE SOURCE]

My favorite book on the topic! Well worth the read and then will show you how to do it yourself.

Cybersecurity: What Everyone Needs to Know, 3rd Edition by Richard Bejtlich, ISBN 9780134418808 (2012, Norton)

 https://www.coloradoan.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/web1_sleepybernstein3.jpg [ARTICLE SOURCE] http://www.coloradoan.com/magazineForum.aspx?articleId=8c3d1b3f-a52c-4ba8-9b64-27f7deee3517 [ARTICLE SOURCE] http://karismaprod.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/AllisonFryer.jpg [ARTICLE SOURCE] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/9797258/Google-glass-debacle-the-reaction.html [ARTICLE SOURCE] http://www.wired.com/2015/01/google-glass-banned-bars/ [ARTICLE SOURCE] http://www.computerworld.com/article/2518110/security0/stuxnet-changed-hacking-forever.html [ARTICLE SOURCE] http://www.pcworld.com/article/2444992/experts--government-hasnt-done-enough-to-stop-next-stuxnet.html [ARTICLE SOURCE] http://www.businessinsider.com/theres an epidemic of hackers targeting bitcoin users2016 02 04 [ARTICLE SOURCE] http://blog.trendmicro.

Conclusion

This was my first attempt at a writing such a post. I will try to be more organized in future.

As you can see, there are many different types of threats out there and each type requires a different strategy to contain or mitigate. This is why I felt it was important to include the topic of how to handle attacks on your system. With the right tools and knowledge, you can protect your network and valuable information.

Good luck with everything!

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