10 Sure Ways You’re Most Likely To Get Hacked

Hackers are always trying to find weaknesses in your business, and when found, they will attack. A cyberattack causes immense loss to a business – time, money, goodwill, trust of customers and for small businesses, sometimes the loss of business itself. Knowing the ways you can get hacked, can help you be prepared to prevent hacking attempts.

Here are 10 sure ways you’re most likely to be hacked.

1. Strong passwords are not enforced

Ensure your staff use strong passwords to enter your network. The passwords should be different for every platform used and be a combination of letters, numbers and symbols. Also, make sure all these passwords are kept safe; you can use a password manager to keep them in one place and ensure your staff updates passwords periodically.

2. Having no BYOD policy

Is your team using their own devices (BYOD – Bring Your Own Device) for work? If, yes, this can cause security issues if the devices are left unmonitored. Businesses either use management software to install company apps on their staff’s devices for secure access or issue their own devices to their employees which have been secured. So, make sure to have a BYOD policy – your business has an IT person monitoring those devices to prevent any risk of data breaches.

3. Unrestricted access to data

Don’t let your staff have unrestricted access to all your business data. While you should trust your workers, you don’t have to give them access to everything. Restrict data access based on job profiles. Your priority should be your business safety. Moreover, restrict permission for people you no longer work with.

4. Ignoring system monitoring

You need to know that cyberattacks don’t happen overnight either—usually, it’s a case of hackers setting files on your server and obtaining the data over a period of time. This makes consistent monitoring of your systems a must.

5. Not updating your software

If you don’t take updating your software seriously, you are putting yourself at risk. You need to update your software regularly to fix the vulnerabilities that let hackers in. You can also be troubled by a system slowdown which will result in experiencing productivity issues. If you aren’t sure if this is being done, you can ask the IT Support Partner for assistance.

6. Neglecting staff training

Most security problems are from human-related errors like clicking on unsecured websites, falling for phishing etc. So, it’s a must to train your staffs regularly so that they will be well aware of cybersecurity issues and can avoid the traps set by hackers.

7. Old computers and operating systems

Ensure that all your devices are operating on the most recent versions of Windows or iOS. If a desktop or other device is unable to work with the new operating systems, replace it with a new one. The amount you spend on this will be much lesser than the cost you’ll incur if you’re hacked.

8. Not Using White Hat Hackers to test your systems

White hat hackers can find cracks in your security. This is a good way to resolve and rebuild your security system, especially if you are working with sensitive information. Computing Australia uses white hat hackers for conducting penetration tests.

9. Data and files not encrypted

By encrypting your data and files, hackers will find your files difficult to understand even if they do manage to intrude your systems. This is a basic defence method to protect your data.

10. Using unsecured Web URLs

The web page URLs beginning with ‘http’ indicates that your connection with the page is unencrypted. This means your information is vulnerable, and any hacker can obtain it easily. Avoid visiting or otherwise dealing with websites that are not secured. Not every site with ‘http’ will hack you, but it always pays to be cautious.

These are the most common ways hackers get into your system. But as the digital world evolves, so do hacking techniques. It is advisable to engage professional cybersecurity experts, so your business stays one step ahead of hackers. Our Cybersecurity consulting team has been helping clients for over 20 years in protecting their business. Talk to us to see how we can do the same for you. Contact us or email at cybersecurity@computingaustralia.group. Our cybersecurity experts in Perth are 24/7 available to assist you.

Computing Australia is a member of The Computing Australia Group of Companies.

Jargon Buster

URL – Uniform Resource Locator incorporates the domain name, along with other detailed information, to create a complete web address.
White hat hacking – ethical hacking done by a cybersecurity expert with a purpose to test security capabilities.
Hacking – activities that take advantage of system vulnerabilities and compromise digital data.