Is Your Business Protected Against Cyber Risk in 2024?

For businesses, there are many cyber risks you need to be aware of. These can range from ones that are relatively easy to detect, to more complicated and complex scams and tricks. 

Due to the prevalence of email communications and phone calls, phishing is a common form of cybercrime. Phishing is where someone pretends to be someone or something else (such as a key stakeholder or an organisation like a bank) in order to extract either personal information, steal money or get you to click on a malicious link.

Another common risk comes from malicious links which is malware. Malware is a type of software that is designed to cause harm to a certain computer, server or network. It can be broken down into a few different areas, namely viruses, worms, Trojan horses, ransomware and spyware.

All are slightly different, with viruses and worms making a computer difficult or impossible to use, whilst Trojan horses pose at something trustworthy or reliable to install malware. Ransomware can encrypt or block access to data, holding your company’s work and data to ransom, and spyware can spy on you and your device.

There are a few steps you and your business can take to ensure you’re better equipped to deal with instances of cybercrime or to prevent it from happening entirely. The first step is being aware of the risks, spotting the signs and making employees in your business aware of these risks.

When it comes to things like phishing, if you receive a suspicious email which claims to be from the CEO asking for a favour, you should first look at the email address it’s being sent from. If they’re asking for details such as a personal phone number or items like gift cards you should be sceptical, and you should look to contact the person in question through alternative means (such as a phone call or an instant message) to flag this suspected phishing.

For malware, the best practice is to not click on anything that appears to be a malicious link. As a general rule of thumb, employees should resist clicking on any unusual-looking links composed of random letters and numbers, especially if they don’t have HTTPS in the URL.

One of the best prevention strategies you can have is being aware of the prevalent risks across the business, ensuring everyone knows how to identify a possible cyber attack, and also how and where to report it inside the business. In addition to this, you should also look to have protection if cybercrime does strike, through cyber insurance.