Every October, National Cybersecurity Awareness Month (NCSAM) is held as a collaboration between government and industry to raise awareness about the importance of cybersecurity and to ensure that all Americans have the resources they need to be safer and more secure online. This is according to the people at niccs.us-cert.gov.

WHY IS CYBERSECURITY IMPORTANT TO BUSINESS?

With a given rise in cyber threats, it has become vital to know what it is and why is it mandatory to ensure cybersecurity. It is needless to say that businesses need to save their business data safe from  breaches, as it can bring disastrous results. In many cases, cyber threats and breaches have made national news.

Some examples include:

• Facebook has lost user records of 540 million through cloud computing
• First American Corporation has lost the bank account info, mortgage paperwork, wire transactions, and social security network of 885 million people
• Equifax suffered from the loss of $439 million because of the security breaches
• Yahoo has lost the data of three billion users costing them $350 million dollars

Cybersecurity for your business should be mandatory given the fact that 4000 hacks are reported each day. Other than money, security breaches can affect user and customer privacy. Customer data such as account numbers, social security numbers, and residential addresses are just some of the info that can be breached. This information can be used to threaten and bankrupt your customers.

Today, every business collects user’s information, and if that data isn’t secured, it can pose disastrous results. First of all, when customers get to know about the attack, they will lose trust in your business, and the frequent incidents can lead to the obsolescence of the business itself. In the year 2019, the business sector made 67% of the security breaches, which exposed 84.6% of their business data.

With this number of security breaches, it has become important for businesses to adopt a proactive approach regarding security, and be ready for the issue before it occurs.

WHAT CAN BE DONE TO KEEP YOUR BUSINESS SAFE?

Now, what can be done to reduce the volume and frequency of cyber-attacks? It is impossible to get rid of them entirely, but if systematic and proactive strategies are implemented, the number can be reduced. On the other hand, the employees can be trained to deal with the sudden threat and design the immediate response.

If the businesses have the resources, they should try acquiring encryption software to keep the data safe and secure the information through potent and strong passwords. It is also suggested to change the passwords on a regular basis because prevention is the key! And last but not least bring in the professionals. Working with a licensed security professional in keeping your business safe should be your top priority.

National Cybersecurity Awareness Month

Don’t just focus on the safety of your data and networks in October. Even though it’s good to have a month to help remind us of the importance of it protecting your business needs to be done year-round.