Cybersecurity entails protecting IT data and infrastructure against cyber-attacks and having cybersecurity policies in place is integral to any business. The lack or inadequacy in this matter can prove to be precarious and lead to data theft, system hacking and many more catastrophic consequences. Although, organization spend millions to improve their cybersecurity, there still may be a chance of vulnerability of IT infrastructure. Myths revolving around cybersecurity have prevailed in the corporate world for long, causing a swirl of errors and issues within the organizations. That’s where you need to break down common misconceptions and perpetuated myths about cybersecurity. Let’s talk about it:
- IT Department is Responsible for Cybersecurity
It would be right to say that IT department implements new systems in place to ensure security of data. However, it wouldn’t be wise to completely rely on only IT department. If your company is highly dependent on the IT guy to solve even the miniscule of the computer issues, then it may be alarming. Reality check: Every employee must be aware of cybersecurity policies and must be careful while using the email services as most of the cyber attacks are through emails. Once a computer or email is hacked on a system, the infection may spread to other departments too.
- My Firm is Too Small for This!
Hackers thrive on data value; no matter if you are a big or small company. Symantec’s 2016 Internet Security Threat Report shows that small businesses are becoming big targets for hackers; Over 43% of cyber attacks target small businesses. The cyber attacks in the form of malware and malicious content have seen to be rising every year, many of which are random.
- Antivirus Is Enough
Antivirus is certainly an important part of security; however, it alone can safeguard your business from potential cyberattacks, is an old-school thought. Hackers can be quite creative in finding ways to disable your antivirus and plant their attacks in your systems. Moreover, with ransomware, it is matter of seconds to hack & lock the data after your systems are affected. Hence, organizations need good and comprehensive cybersecurity program that inculcates safe practices for users’ behaviors and that offers protection to data and systems, detects and isolates the threats and prepares for response.
- My Password is Good to Go
This is one of the most common misconceptions. Of course, you think setting a strong and complex password with caps, numbers and special characters should be enough. But that’s not the case. Hackers can use complex malware attacks to decode your password and breach into your account. Further, with an array of bots and auto-attacks by malicious third parties, your accounts and passwords are vulnerable in the company network, unless you have a 2F (two-factor) authentication and certain level of encryption.
- Threats Come From External Sources Only
When putting an effective and competent cybersecurity program in place, both, internal and external sources must be factored in, meaning, the internal staff and external attacks. Internal threats can be in the form of human error, for instance, an employee using a flash drive, infected by some malware or virus. This can infect all the data on the system and network. And hence, such internal threats must be considered too.
- Personal Devices Are Not a Threat
Many organizations have grown to adopt a popular and cost-effective culture of allowing personal devices like laptops, smartphones, etc. to plug in to the company network for work. Every personal device has custom apps which access the data from the device. Assuming these are secure can be a costly optimism to have. Accessing business data from a personal device can make it vulnerable to data breach and theft. If employees must follow strict guidelines when using personal devices for work.
