Small businesses and the security breach

There are many different forms of a security breach that could occur in a small scale business. There are two types, Physical Security Breach and Electronic Security Breach. A physical security breach is more to do with theft of hard copy files compared to an electronic security breach which is to do with computers and the network.

Security breaches are often defined as:

"An act from outside an organization that bypasses or contravenes security policies, practices, or procedures. A similar internal act is called security violation".

Breach of Password Security is one of the most common in network security due to an employee sharing their password and login information with an outside source. It is important to ensure employees understand the importance of password security, don’t share this information with anyone and change it regularly to ensure your information is protected.

Employees, particularly those who have mobile or remote working patterns should also ensure they lock any devices used for business purposes when it is not in use to minimise the threat of leaked data.

Security breaches within major companies appear to happen with alarming regularity these days. Recently eBay suffered an attack that led to its entire user database being compromised. eBay lost control of data that contained usernames, contact information, and even encrypted passwords. Users were advised to change their passwords and check on their account to make sure nothing had been changed.

Although it seems as though large enterprises are the main target for cybercriminals, small and medium size businesses are actually targeted much more often. The only reason this is not the public perception is down a bias of large corporations.

Smaller businesses often employ consumer products to protect their data which seem like a quick and easy solution however, these products are designed for light home use of the internet and technical support may be limited.

Related Links:
Symantec.Cloud