I was genuinely surprised when reading this article in Sundays Inquirer “Be on Alert at work for Cyber-Scammer“. It wasn’t because there’s an increase of cyber scams and phishing targeting small businesses. It was because it is happening so close to home. It quoted a member of the cyber criminal squad for the FBI’s Philadelphia office. Incidents noted where right here in the Delaware Valley. The article reported that “hackers crack these small companies’ email systems, monitor the lingo between employees and customers, then pose as the boss or a supplier”.
Guarding against social engineering hacks is more about training and awareness than technology. However, there are some technology areas where a small bushiness can improve and the cloud model can help. Online backups can be a cost effective way for a business to ensure it can recovery if data is compromised. Cloud e-mail services like Microsoft’s Exchange Online have spam and anti-virus detection software scanning your email and a dedicated staff of professionals tasked with keeping your email servers running, updated and secure. Maybe your business is not a giant enterprise conglomerate, but there’s no reason you can’t handle your email like one.