When massive breaches of cybersecurity like the Heartbleed Bug or the Target Corp. hack make headlines, it often sends us straight to our computers to check our accounts and change passwords.
But on a day-to-day basis, too many small businesses aren’t taking the proper steps to protect themselves from cyberthreats both large and small.
“No company is too small too get attacked,” says Kurt Kappa, senior vice president and market leader for Westfield Bank. “Historically, companies have devoted the most resources to preparing for big cybersecurity threats, often leaving themselves vulnerable to the smaller ones.”
The perpetrators of such breaches are known as “fraudsters,” and they’re usually one or two individuals — often located outside of the U.S. — who troll the Internet testing for vulnerabilities in online accounts.
Corporations and government agencies face an uphill battle trying to anticipate and prepare for fraudsters’ next moves. In fact, the federal government has allotted more than $13 billion annually to cybersecurity initiatives through 2015.
Smart Business spoke with Kappa about how to protect your business, your money and your customers from cyberattacks.
What are some examples of things a small business can do to protect itself?
Set up a computer for banking and nothing else. Don’t use that computer for emails, downloads or any other functions. When your banking is contained on one computer, it’s a lot harder for cybercriminals to access it. Never use a public computer to do online banking and don’t conduct any financial transactions on a laptop over a public Wi-Fi network.
Create a secure, unique password for your bank account and change it every three months. It should be different from any other account, like email or social media. The strongest passwords include a combination of uppercase and lowercase letters, as well as numbers and symbols. Check your bank accounts every day, but don’t store your login information anywhere that someone else could access it, such as your smartphone.
What protections can companies expect to get from their banking institutions?
Many banks offer online security products to help protect your accounts. For instance, there’s a product called Trusteer Rapport that essentially creates a bubble around your banking activities. If it detects a virus, it automatically removes it from your computer. It encrypts your keystrokes so fraudsters can’t recover your login information. And it verifies that you’ve connected to your bank’s website instead of a fake website created by fraudsters.
Another thing to consider is signing up for email or text message alerts with your bank that will notify you when each withdrawal or deposit is complete, or when unusual activity is detected.
Ultimately, there has to be a balance between setting up security to protect the customer without making it too cumbersome to get into their accounts to access their money and efficiently run their business. Banks are aiming for a mix of reliable security products to protect you and your accounts while being user friendly enough to access your money.
Is it possible to insure my company against cyberthreats?
Your insurance agent may offer an insurance rider or policy to protect you against cyber liability. It’s fairly inexpensive and most people don’t know it’s available. With banking and commerce going more and more online, it’s something everyone should have.
How can I be sure that I’m protected against future threats?
You can have all the security in the world in place today, but fraudsters are so sophisticated that they’re always coming up with other ways to get into accounts. Prepare for the worst. Do you know your risk? How quickly can you respond if there’s an issue? How quickly can you identify that something has been breached? How prepared is your team to fix a problem? Take precautions to protect yourself but also understand the risk if someone does breach your accounts. You can’t guarantee no one will, but how do you protect yourself if they do? ●
Insights Banking & Finance is brought to you by Westfield Bank
