Welcome to our first of the year Security Byte! It is great to be back and writing about cybersecurity. It seems everyone else for the last few weeks has been predicting what cybersecurity trends and threats we will see in 2024, so like everyone else, it is time for the 2024 cybersecurity predictions!
My 2024 prediction
My 2024 cybersecurity prediction is small businesses will continue to be targeted by cybercriminals, but there is no need to panic. You have the power to improve your cyber resilience and to reduce the risk to your small business! Wait, didn’t I just type that last week? Wait just another minute, didn’t I predict exactly that last year? Yes and yes. It is all, 100% true though!
Nothing but the facts
So yes, small businesses will continue to be targets. That will never change. That may sound kind of scary and it kind of is. Cyberattacks will always happen. The good news though, there’s no reason to panic. There are countless no cost and low cost resources available to get you started on your cybersecurity journey. We are one of those resources and we can get you in touch with many of the other ones as needed. There are also cost conscious solutions for small businesses to implement. Not to mention the no cost solutions you can implement too. We will go over some of those no cost options in the best practices section below!
Some best practices
As mentioned, sometimes there is no cost involved when implementing cybersecurity. Sometimes this is because these solutions are included in services you already pay for. Many times the services you already have allow for configuring many different security settings. For example you might be able to enable multifactor authentication and enable complex password policies for your users. Other settings you might be able to turn on are alerts for suspicious logins and block suspicious login attempts. Maybe you can enable activity tracking to be alerted when large amounts of data is transferred. All of these can be useful solutions for improving your cybersecurity standing.
Here are some more first of the year ideas for no cost solutions that improve your cybersecurity. These are all things that you can start today and require no 3rd party services to implement.
- Write and enforce acceptable user policies
- Write and enforce other cybersecurity policies
- Regularly train employees on cybersecurity threats and trends
- Create a cybersecure culture
Happy new year everyone!
To learn more about cybersecurity threats, trends, and topics with a focus on small business, check out Small Business, Big Threat!