The COVID-19 pandemic is the most pressing concern affecting all Americans these days. For us in New Jersey, this pandemic hits even closer to home, given that New York is now the epicenter of the outbreak. Because of this, most businesses in the Hanover, Morristown, and Madison areas now have employees working from home, relying heavily on the internet for work and for socializing.
More and more businesses are implementing remote work because of its numerous benefits. Boost in productivity, access to a wider pool of talent, and lower operating costs are some that immediately come to mind.
But for many small- or medium-sized business (SMB) leaders, deciding whether to stick to an office-based setup and integrating a remote workforce is hardly black and white, especially now during the COVID-19 outbreak.
Today, the risk posed by having sensitive information leaked to the wrong hands is pervasive. Technology has made the storage, accessibility, and shareability of information greater than ever, but the possibility of that information being made available to parties or entities they were not intended for is similarly increased.
The best defense is a good defense. Leave nothing to chance. Expect the unexpected. Better safe than sorry.
As a small- or medium-sized business (SMB) owner, you must have read countless tips on how to protect your IT systems. You may have been told the same pieces of advice above — these may all sound cliché, but they’re actually good advice.
Far from being the novelty item they once were, drones now play an important role in industries like manufacturing, agriculture, and construction. They can be used to survey the land, transport materials, and reach areas inaccessible to people.
However, the fact that they’re primarily used for surveillance means they’re an increasingly popular target for hackers.
If you’re the owner of a small- or mid-sized business (SMB), the latest cybersecurity statistics ought to be your wake-up call:
Small businesses account for 43% of breach victims.
Small businesses (1 to 250 employees) are targeted the most with malicious email, at a rate of 1 in every 323.
94% of malware is delivered by email.
Many New Jersey businesses and residents aren’t strangers to cyber breaches. In 2017, over four million in the Garden State were affected by the Equifax data breach. By 2018, the numbers had been reduced significantly to around 358,000 residents. But this doesn’t mean a decline in data theft; it just emphasizes the massive scale of the Equifax breach.
Given how zero trust security is getting a lot of attention these days, you may think it’s a new concept. But it was back in 2010 when John Kindervag of Forrester Research first coined the term “zero trust” to describe their security model, which had a simple rule: “Trust no one.
You know the drill: you’ve just created an online account, and now you’re asked to come up with a strong password. Certain sites even have password guidelines and will judge the strength of your password: Use at least 12 characters! Use a variety of letters, numbers, punctuation, and special characters! Use upper- and lowercase for letters!
Aside from those, they have other rules you need to remember: Do not use real words found in a dictionary! Do not use real words spelled backwards! Never use your birthday, driver’s license number, street name, favorite color! Never use “password,” “123456789,” “1111111111,” “abc123,” and “qwerty” as passwords!
And so you freeze.
The issues of online security and privacy continue to be of utmost concern for businesses. Last year, nearly half a billion personal records was stolen by hackers; that’s a 126 percent jump from 2017. And so far in 2019, hackers have stolen over $4 billion via crypto crimes.
