5 Reasons Why Cyber Security Should Be Top On Your List In 2021

While cybersecurity has been a hot topic for several years now, it has never been more important. Did you know that 60% of small businesses end up shutting down in approximately six months after a cyberattack as they find it too difficult to recover? With that and the COVID-19 pandemic threatening businesses and changing the way we work, cybersecurity needs to be top on your agenda this year.

Security policies must be reviewed and updated; employees need to be given compliance training on cyber security and new procedures; these should be reviewed and changed regularly to keep employees' knowledge up-to-date. This article touches on five reasons why:

1. There Have Been An Increased Number Of Phishing Scams

As employees have been working from home, they have become more reliant on their emails as they can no longer interact with their colleagues face-to-face as they would have. According to a recent report, there has been a 600% increase in reported phishing emails since the end of February, and 78% of remote workers who worked on their personal devices during the lockdown period between March and July 2020 said they received phishing emails, either in their work or personal inboxes. In addition to this, 68% said they clicked on a link or downloaded an attachment from the phishing emails they received on their personal devices.

2. Many People Are Working From Their Personal Devices

As not all companies are able to provide workers with laptops, many people have to work from their personal computers. According to CISO's Benchmark Report 2020, organizations struggle to manage remote workers' use of phones and other mobile devices as they don't have the security protection such as firewalls and blacklisted IP addresses that office systems often provide. 52% of respondents said that mobile devices are now very challenging to protect from cyber threats. 

3. Weak Passwords Account For More Than Half Of Data Breaches

Did you know that weak or insufficient passwords cause more than half of all data breaches, yet only 24% of small businesses have strict password policies in place? You need to have this, and you also need to actively enforce it, especially as people tend to feel more relaxed working from home. 

4. Remote Working Requires Education

With people working remotely, communication between employees is key, and employees are less likely to discuss cyber security. While employees may discuss receiving an odd-looking email with a colleague sitting next to them, they are less likely to discuss this when working from home. Now that more employees are working from home, they need to know what to look out for and what to do in the event of an attack. 

5. Customers Need To Be Able To Rely On You

At the moment, customers have enough to worry about without the added stress of not knowing if their information is safe with you or not. As a company, you can assure them that this is the case and that you will do your job to keep their data secure.