Headlines today are filled with news of cyber attacks on some of the biggest corporate houses. Recently, media players such as the NY Times and The Washington Post have borne the brunt of cyber attacks. You may think that if such big companies are vulnerable to cyber threats, where does your small or medium-sized enterprise stand a chance? Well, certain safe practices can ensure that your enterprise IT security is maintained so that it is hard for hackers to just break into your networks.

Myth 1: Hackers Only Target Large Enterprises

There are some small business owners who think that it won’t happen to them. They believe that hackers are only interested in large companies. However, it is a big misconception. According to a survey by Symantec, almost 40% of the 1 billion cyber attacks were targeted at small or medium-sized businesses. This is because hackers are aware that small businesses don’t generally have elaborate security mechanisms in place to defend them. Entering into the network of such companies can give them access to larger supply chains including customer data, credit card details, and other confidential information. A small security breach can not only cost dollars but also hurt the reputation and brand value of a firm if its intellectual property or highly sensitive data is leaked.

Myth 2: Deploying an Anti-Virus Software is Enough to Safeguard Networks

Don’t think that you’ve done your job by simply installing an anti-virus software package on your system. Although, no doubt, Anti Virus packages such as Symantec Endpoint Protection etc. safeguard your systems to a great extent, they are certainly not enough. Strong password policies along with the use of firewalls or Virtual Private Networks (VPN), disaster recovery and management plans, backing up data at regular intervals, etc. are some of the ways in which enterprises can ensure IT security. To maintain IT Security for Small Businesses, it is not necessary to employ all of these techniques. Usually, two to three security mechanisms in place can help a great deal in defending enterprise networks from internal and external threats.

Myth 3: Companies Are at Risk Only from External Agencies

Little do they know that a small firm’s own employees pose a greater threat to the company’s information resources than external hackers. Employees tend to click spam links, create easy passwords, forget to change passwords regularly, leave their workstations unattended, or store business-sensitive data on personal devices such as smartphones or laptops. These unsafe practices can be avoided by adopting a more informed and responsible approach towards handling company data and business-critical information.

So now that you have these enterprise IT security myths busted for you, make sure you learn to follow safe IT practices in the future!