Top 7 Security Risks for SMEs and Protection Solutions

Small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have limited resources, and sometimes, these limits lead to a need for more focus on proper security measures, primarily digitally speaking. But if you ignore them, it’s a regret that would lead to many issues that could compromise your business. That’s why, in this article, we’ll cover some security risks that are common to encounter and some security protocols you can apply in your organization to help give you some barriers against these potential security issues.

1. Phishing Attacks

It isn’t the high-level cyber attacks that get companies in hot water security-wise. It’s simple approaches like phishing attacks that seem inconspicuous at first but reveal sensitive information. These attacks involve cybercriminals attempting to deceive individuals or organizations into revealing things, such as passwords, credit card details, or login credentials.

Phishing attacks are dangerous for SMEs because they often need more robust security measures and resources than giant corporations. The particular blind spot for SMEs here would be their employees’ training.

When you don’t train your employees to watch out for these seemingly innocent prying, they can reveal sensitive info without meaning to.

Once an unsuspecting employee falls victim to a phishing attack and unknowingly provides their sensitive information, it can lead to severe consequences such as financial loss, data breaches, or even reputational damage.

By being aware of the threat posed by phishing attacks and taking appropriate precautions, SMEs can significantly reduce their vulnerability to these security risks and safeguard their valuable data from falling into the wrong hands. Utilizing a malicious link checker can further enhance security by helping to identify and block harmful links in emails or messages before they can cause damage.

One effective strategy SMEs can employ is partnering with a managed service provider (MSP). An MSP can offer specialized cybersecurity services, including employee training, to help SMEs bolster their defenses against phishing attacks and other cyber threats.

2. Malicious Software

Another security risk that you might encounter is dubious software. Usually, these are third-party software you need more control over in the backend.

These harmful programs can exploit computer and network vulnerabilities, causing damage or unauthorized access to sensitive information. Sometimes, they might not start that way, but an external security issue from a third-party software developer might spread to you.

One of the reasons why malicious software is a top security risk for SMEs is its ability to spread quickly and without you noticing. Once inside a network, malware can spread rapidly across multiple devices, compromising data integrity and system functionality.

It would help if you also pinpointed the offending software, which might be a work tool you use often.

However, being vigilant with the third-party software that you use and keeping it up to date as much as possible can help prevent some of these risks at the very least.

3. Weak Passwords

There’s a reason why many things that need a password in your accounts these days have a comically long list of requirements for people when crafting their passwords. That’s because humans are predictable and lazy, so there are common weak passwords that people use that are easy to guess.

Therefore, if you plan on creating a password for your SME’s software or accounts, make sure that you reiterate to your employees that they need to create strong passwords. Give them some samples of passwords not to emulate and the required elements.

4. Software Vulnerability Exploits

If you will be using third-party software as part of your work tools, it’s a good idea that your IT or cybersecurity team is aware of any common exploits for these standard software tools.

You can avoid using this malicious or compromised software by being up-to-date with the details and information about the software vulnerabilities the public has known for a while. If you still want to use that software, your team can make the right choices so that you can still use said software, even with known vulnerabilities.

5. Lack of Employee Training

Many standard security risks a business can encounter are entirely preventable simply by ensuring that your employees know and are aware of them. And no, it shouldn’t just be your IT support that knows them.

If your employees interact with many external members, you should involve them in cybersecurity training. For example, your customer support team should be informed since they commonly talk with customers. That way, they’ll know which questions could be dubious.

6. Ransomware Attacks 

A more proactive and direct attack on your security would be ransomware attacks, which are when hackers take your secure information and sensitive company data and hold them for ransom. If you don’t pay, these hackers will sell your data, delete it, or expose it to everyone.

Stopping a ransomware attack is much more complicated than preventing them. That’s why it’s a good idea to have proper cybersecurity measures to defend your company from these attackers.

7. Lack of IT security responsibilities

If your IT protocols and task management are smooth and efficient, you will be more vulnerable to cyberattacks.

You should standardize and formalize all of the IT security responsibilities that your business needs, especially if you’re involved in tech. Otherwise, your cybersecurity measures will be all over the place and hard to track and maintain.

How to Avoid Security Risks

Now that you know some of the most common security risks an SME is prone to, here are some good practices that contribute to a healthier and more robust digital security protocol for your business.

Have a robust email security gateway.

One way to avoid phishing scams is by having a secure email gateway so that these emails filter out before they even see the light of day or at least your employees’ eyes. That way, your employees aren’t constantly wary of every email that goes their way. However, it’s still a good idea to have the presence of mind to know whether an email is phishing or not. Another important step is using a DKIM record checker to verify the sender’s domain and ensure the email is legitimate.

Invest in antivirus software and keep it up to date.

If you provide employees with laptops for work purposes, ensure they all have antivirus software. Also, ensure that those are updated often since sometimes those have updates.

If your employees will be using their devices whenever possible, then make sure that you also tell them to get antivirus software. Or, encourage them to use work laptops instead if their line of work is particularly confidential and sensitive.

Enforce a strong password policy.

Another easy security risk fix is encouraging employees to use strong passwords for work-related accounts. You should also have IT regularly ask employees to renew or change their work passwords at specific intervals. It would be slightly okay if a password is compromised since you will change it soon anyway.

Regularly update and patch systems and software.

Keeping track of all of the software your company uses collectively is crucial because it will help your IT team remind people to update their software and send security or other updates their way.

Since some of these updates and patches involve resolving previous security issues, ensuring everyone updates the software and systems when new updates are available is essential.

Train employees on cybersecurity best practices.

It shouldn’t only be your IT team who knows some basic best practices in cybersecurity. The rest of your employees should as well. It might be additional work for the IT crew to train departments, but it’s helpful in proactive fights against security attacks.

You can also hire an external software support service that can help with 24/7 monitoring or even help assist and train your IT team whenever they need to upskill. 

Implement regular backups of all your files.

Some cyberattacks can lead to the loss of essential files. By ensuring you have backups at all times, this unwanted result is not as devastating for your organization but can be a short setback. That way, you can focus more on closing these security holes than recovering the data.

Implementing data privacy measures

Your IT team should apply structural practices to your organization’s ecosystem to ensure data privacy. Some of them would be:

• Access controls
• Data collection minimization
• Data encryption
• Proper data storage

These approaches are vital to protecting your data and your customers’ and employees’ data so they can feel secure interacting with you as a business.

You can also implement a digital visitor management system. Such a system not only streamlines the check-in process but also ensures that visitor data is stored securely and in compliance with data protection regulations. These systems offer features like encrypted data storage, restricted access, and the ability to quickly remove visitor information in compliance with privacy laws.

Moreover, a digital visitor management system can enhance the overall security of your premises. It can integrate with other security systems, provide real-time monitoring of who is on-site, and ensure that only authorized personnel have access to sensitive areas.
A holistic approach to SME cybersecurity includes Visitor data security, underlining the need to protect all types of sensitive information.

Conclusion

Knowing these security risks will help your IT team have a more proactive approach against cybersecurity risks. Aside from that, it should let you know what basic security practices you should apply to your employees to ensure that you won’t become an easy victim of security issues.