Why Do Businesses Need To Take Cybersecurity Seriously During COVID-19

Every time you read an article about some business gets cyber attacked, you feel it is not going to happen to you.

What does a cybercriminal want from your business? You might be small, do not have a huge turnover, and might not be innovating on futuristic drone tech.

In a perfect world, no cybercriminal would give your business a second look, right? Wrong!

A business that feels that no one will ever attack it is the one that gets targeted the most. The simple reason is that these businesses have not invested in cybersecurity measures.

Hackers and criminals find it far easier to get into the mainframes, emails, and website points. They get in, steal customer data, business information, and sell the same on the darknet.

In this article, we are going to look at why businesses need to take cybersecurity seriously during COVID-19. Additionally, we are going to look at digital identity management solutions.

If you are a business owner looking to improve cybersecurity infrastructure, pay attention to the contents of the article.

Cybersecurity during COVID-19 Pandemic: What happened?

While businesses were slowly transitioning to online platforms in the pre-pandemic period, the pandemic accelerated it. Every business, big or small, wanted to have a presence on search engines and social media platforms.

With lockdowns, social distancing, and restricted working hours acting as obstacles, businesses needed a way out. They had to carry out and execute their daily operations, sustain themselves and even adopt strategies that would help them grow in the crisis.

This meant that the following things happened-

1. Businesses shifted to a Remote Working Model that exposed digital vulnerabilities.
2. Data started being shared, collated, and stored online leading to exposed touchpoints.
3. The company firewall and its protocols could no longer be in operation.
4. Public networks, personal device use, and email ids started being used increasingly.
5. Ecommerce presence, storing customer data attracted attention from criminals.

For businesses, the COVID-19 pandemic became somewhat of a Catch-22 situation. They had to aggressively pursue digital adoption, but could not cover their cybersecurity bases.

A lot of professionals did not have the training or background about cybersecurity best practices. Even when they were committing mistakes, they were not conscious of the same.

This made them prime targets of the cyberattacks that were orchestrated in 2020-2021.

5 Major Reasons why Cybercriminals are going to Target your Business

As we mentioned, every business thinks that there are plenty of good options (other than itself) for cybercriminals to attack. However, let us list down five reasons why you, yes you and your business are prime targets for cybercriminals.

Reason 1: The Data That Is Valuable To Your Organization

Every business tries to store data and make sense of it in ways that best suit its purposes. This means data on customers, vendors, business plans, reports, and more. As a business owner, you know how valuable this information is for your survival and running. Cybercriminals know the same and can lock this up. You will be asked to pay a ransom amount to get back access!

Reason 2: Using Your Computer Systems, Servers To-Plan Bigger Attacks-

Sometimes, cybercriminals would only be interested in gaining access to your computer systems. Their aim might be to plan a big and coordinated DDOS attack to crash the server of a bigger target. The simple premise is overhauling a server by attacking it with a huge amount of traffic. When the system breaks down, it makes it easier for hackers to gain access.

Reason 3: Getting Access To All Your Business Relationships, Vendors, And Suppliers-

Modern businesses are getting increasingly digitally interconnected. This means that while you may not be the target, you might be the vulnerability that will allow cybercriminals to get access to someone bigger and more important. Targeting your weak systems, and then gaining access to someone else would be far easier for hackers and criminals.

Reason 4: Cybercriminals Want Your Money: Plain And Simple-

A majority of cyberattacks against small businesses are directed to make them pay. Using complex phishing attacks and malware, hackers will lock you out of your own data points, dashboards, and mainframes. They will even lock down your desktops and laptops by planting malware. You will have to make them a payment following which they will unlock it.

Reason 5: The Attacks Can Be Motivated And Encouraged By Competitors-

There is evidence to believe that business rivalries and competition have also given rise to motivated attacks. A rival brand can very easily hire a cybercriminal and request him or her to cause irreparable losses. This is something that is increasingly happening in the small business ecosystem. Employees that are paid an amount become insiders for the attacks.

Digital Identity Management: How this can help you with your Cybersecurity?

Every business has an online identity. According to cyber experts, using a digital identity management system can help strengthen the cybersecurity measures of a business.

Think of the current work scenario now. Remote working is the norm and there is no talk of professionals going back to the office anytime soon. In such a situation a digital identity management system can help with-

• The creation of Digital Signatures that can be utilized by employees of the firm. These are mathematical algorithms that can help improve online safety and security in accessing cloud solutions, data points, or financial documentation.
• Create physical access points for employees whenever they are visiting and working using public networks. You can think of it as an additional security net that you will be routed through every time you are logging in as an employee.
• Providing online authentication to remote working employees. In simple words, every time you try to log in to a company resource, you will have to authenticate yourself. This can be through an OTP sent to your phone or something far more complex.

A digital identity management solution always works through ‘verification’. It is all about establishing that the right person is accessing data in a connection that is safe and secure.

In other words, all the vulnerabilities of the various digital touchpoints that are used on a day-to-day basis are covered. Using a digital identity management service is a simple, affordable and robust mechanism to strengthen your business against cybercriminals.

The Bottom Line

Having an attitude that begins and ends with the thought- ‘no one is ever going to attack my business’; needs to be eliminated. With all of us working with data in some way or form, there is reason to believe that cybercriminals have all the right reasons to target you. This is why every company should invest in continuous cybersecurity services and ensure safety.

In this article, we have tried to look at some important issues around cybersecurity. We have also looked at how digital identity management solutions can help businesses with online protection and safety.

If you have any other questions, you would like us to address, please let us know in the comments below. We will be more than happy to help you out.

Read Also:

• The Benefits Of Penetration Testing For Your IT Systems
• 8 Best Threat Intelligence Platforms For 2021
• 5 Small Business Security Systems In 2021