Cyber Security: The key Myths that can Harm your Business

Few would disagree that technology has changed the way that businesses operate. It has made them a lot more efficient and means that most of us are used to an “instant information” culture.

Unsurprisingly, it’s something that does breed side effects though. While technology can answer a lot of prayers, at the same time there can be unscrupulous individuals who use it for the wrong reasons. As the title of this post might have already given away, we’re now referring to cyber security.

This is a topic that has exploded in popularity over the years. It is something that is the sole focus of some investment companies – like venture capital firm C5 Capital, created by Andre Pienaar – and that highlights the scale of it.

It is also a topic that is quite often grossly misunderstood. This is the reason behind today’s guide, as we take a look through some of the main cyber security myths that tend to harm a business.

Myth #1 – It’s only the large organizations which are at risk

First and foremost, don’t buy into the notion that it’s only the big companies that are at risk from a security breach. Sure, these are the ones which are commonly in the news, but this is probably because these are the topics that tend to sell newspapers.

In reality, small and medium-sized companies are just as much at risk. Want some hard and fast statistics? It’s understood that almost half of all cyber-attacks impacted small and medium-sized businesses in 2018.

Myth #2 – A good antivirus system is all you need

One of the biggest misconceptions doing the rounds is that as soon as you install some antivirus software, your company is immediately protected.

Well, it’s not quite as simple as that. Granted, it can make a big difference, but particularly with phishing attacks now so common it’s not a complete guard. In other words, you need to combine antivirus software with other means (and in the case of phishing, this revolves around employee education).

Myth #3 – It’s not just about external threats

This next myth can be quite scary. However, studies have shown that internal threats are just as more likely to happen than external ones. It means that your data breach can occur because of someone inside of your company.

Of course, there are different reasons for this. Sometimes, it can be from a disgruntled employee, but on most occasions it is done completely innocently. Again, it’s all about supplying the appropriate employee training so this doesn’t happen.

Myth #4 – All Wi-Fi is secure

Nowadays, it is much more common for employees to work remotely. This might be at another company’s offices, or it might because they are working from home.

This is something that you need to be exceptionally careful with. Even if you are using Wi-Fi with a password, it’s no guarantee that your data is going to be safe. All a password does is tend to limit the number of users on a network – not stop some data from being intercepted.

This means you have to be extra-vigilant when choosing your Wi-Fi network, and even consider a VPN in some cases.