Small Business Cyber Security
Whilst every business or organisation is vulnerable to a cyber attack, small businesses are especially vulnerable for a variety of different reasons.
The nature of any small business brings with it higher levels of risk than many corporate companies, both in terms of the work it is seeking to get, and the number and type of employees that it is able to afford.
What is a Small Business?
People used to describe a small business as being anyone who employees about 250 people or less. Like all definitions, there is some truth to this, but it would be a mistake to take that as too a guiding principle.
The number of people employed by a small business is not necessarily that important. It can range from actual full time employees through to part time employees, freelancers, sub-contractors, agents, casual workers, interns etc.
The important thing is that a small business is likely to have a more diverse type of workforce, which means a greater risk in terms of cybersecurity, simply because there is less cohesion of staff, systems and plans.
A small business can also be one or two people, working as freelancers or simply being self-employed, or doing some work on the side in their own time, apart from their normal job.
Covid entrenched the idea of remote working and homeworking.
Whilst there are many benefits for both of these types of working, this trend also substantially increased the risk of cyber security, especially for people who worked at home and where it was their main or only business.
Cyber Security Basics
Most small businesses will be well aware of the risks of a cyber attack or a data breach, but may well not have either the experience, the money or the knowledge to put in place a really effective cyber security defence system or plan .
One of the ways round this is for a small business to outsource protection of their IT systems to a specialist service company known as a Managed IT Service Provider (MSP)
This MSP will install and run specialist software, known as Remote Monitoring and Management Software (RMM), on the servers, virtual and actual, desktop computers, laptops, smartphones etc that the client uses – in fact all their devices.
This RMM software allows the service company to remotely monitor all systems and IT infrastructure of the client, thereby being able to spot any breach of the systems integrity, hopefully before it happens.
The small business owner and company are able to rely on the experience and expertise of an MSP to provide a good level of cyber security that they probably would not have been able to put in place simply by their own resources.
A small business is also likely to rely on Business Process Automation Tools, Such as Microsoft Power BI as a way of making their business more streamlined and productive.
