Australia is under attack! Not in the physical sense, of course. More so in the cyber sense. And it’s never been more relevant for businesses to “put up their dukes” when it comes to defending themselves against cyber attacks.

During Australian Cyber Security Week in October 2020, it was noted that Australian businesses are a rich target for cyber criminals. We adapted swiftly to the coronavirus pandemic and, for the most part, we were able to operate as we normally would… albeit from home. But because of this new version of business as normal, many of us were left exposed to data breaches.

Each year, cyber criminals cost Australian businesses $29 billion. And from July 2019 to June 2020 there were 60,000 reports of cyber attacks to the Australian Cyber Security Centre. That’s a huge amount!

Your definition of a cyber attack may be something like a virus being installed onto your computer or trying to access some information and finding it suddenly isn’t there. But in reality, cyber attacks can range from a staff member’s login details being leaked, to a phishing email fooling your staff, or even a hacker gaining access to your client information.

Worryingly, SMEs are the most vulnerable. Why? Because many of us don’t have a full-scale IT team and an infinite bucket of money. In fact, many of us have less than 20 employees, which means, at most, our IT teams consist of one or two people. And if you’re a sole trader, you’re wearing all the job title hats.

A recent survey of small and medium business owners shows that 92% of them want to protect themselves from the obvious threat of cyber attacks but they aren’t sure how.

So what’s the answer? Well, according to cyber experts, the answer is simple: become cyber resilient. Being cyber resilient isn’t about making your business 100% effective against cyber attacks. It means equipping yourself with the tools to ensure any damage done by a cyber criminal attempting an attack is next to none.

For example, with so many of us now working remotely or from home for at least one day a week, logging onto our systems and sharing information from our regular ‘fortress’ (our office) is happening a lot more. A robust cyber security plan will help to keep your information safe, but nothing is fool proof. Being cyber resilient means that if your data is compromised, you are alerted right away and your business’s response is activated immediately. We can all agree that’s a much better option than finding out about the threat weeks later when you notice something isn’t right. By then, the damage is well and truly done.

Our Managing Director Angelique Boileau says even though small and medium sized businesses don’t have the IT staff and budgets of larger corporations, they can still be equally as secure.

“We’re teaching our kids to be resilient in our schools so why aren’t we teaching our businesses the same,” Angelique said.

“Time after time we’ve had business owners approach us at Boileau to help them with their cyber security because something bad has already happened. But being cyber resilient is simple.

“An important part is making sure you’ve got someone constantly monitoring your systems for potential threats. That’s what we do. In fact, we’re doing it for more and more South Australian businesses. It’s a reflection of how ‘doing business’ has evolved in the past year.

“We’ve got access to amazing security products and we’re looking into strengthening our current partnership with Kaseya. You won’t believe how easy it will be to keep yourself safe from cyber criminals.”

Another important element of being cyber resilient is educating your staff to recognise threats, such as phishing emails, and knowing the right way to respond.

With the right tools, worrying about keeping your business and data secure will become a thing of the past. You’ll be able to focus your time and energy of what’s important – your business.

If you’d like to learn more about making your business cyber-resilient, please get in touch. Our IT consultants know exactly how to investigate your business and come up with the right solution for you.

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