The cost of cybercrime can be devastating. 

Sixty per cent of businesses that experience a major cyberattack will completely collapse within six months. 

The financial cost of recovery coupled with a loss of service, potential legal actions under data protection laws and the simple damage to your reputation can all prove to be seriously lethal.

Many of you reading this will have put in place some protection measures against cyberattacks, hoping to ward off the danger of digital threats. 

But you may not be doing enough. Myths surrounding cybercrime can perpetuate risk-addled cybersecurity practices — practices that could leave your business vulnerable to attack. 

In this article, we’re myth-busting cybersecurity misconceptions, helping you to save your business from potential ruin. 

Myth 1 — Antivirus Software Will Protect You Against All Attacks

Antivirus software is a starting point, it’s not a solution.

Protective software can block and halt attacks and is particularly effective at staving off attempts to infiltrate your systems through classic malware-style programmes.

However, antivirus cannot cover all your security needs.

Software can only protect you against known or suspicious programmes, which means those that are cloaked properly can get past your security measures.

Hackers will regularly test their malware against popular cybersecurity software, developing it in such a way that it cannot be detected before unleashing it upon the world. 

Antivirus also doesn’t protect against other forms of attack, like data phishing or more direct attempts at hacking into your network. So, while the software is really important for business cybersecurity, it cannot be relied on for complete coverage. 

Myth 2 — Most People (Your Employees) Can Spot a Cyberattack a Mile Off

We all like to think we’re pretty cybersecurity savvy these days, especially if we’re professionals who work in an environment with digital technology.

We’re quite confident that we, and those around us, could spot attempts from phishing fraudsters trying to steal our data, passwords and business access information. 

But that’s not the case.

Most targeted phishing attempts are successful and will enable the hacker in question to access at least some form of your encrypted information. 

How can this be? 

Phishing attacks are far more complex than you might expect. Hackers use social media to source relevant information on their targets, craft very convincing emails and carefully consider how they’re going to carry out their attack.

Many employees will get messages they think are from somebody like you, their boss or manager, only to discover they’ve been duped when it’s all too late.  

Myth 3 — Cybercriminals Only Target Big Businesses

This could be the most harmful cybersecurity myth of them all. Many small business owners believe that they’re not at risk of cyberattack. Common beliefs include:

• We have nothing worth stealing
• We’re too small to notice
• The hackers are focused on larger businesses with more money.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Over 90% of SMEs are the target of cybercrime. You are more than twice as likely to suffer a cyberattack than a large company. 

Cybercriminals specifically monitor the activity of small businesses because they are acutely aware that you are more vulnerable. Hackers know big businesses spend big bucks on their security, while SMEs are more likely to have weaker safety measures in place. 

Instead of spending lots of time attacking one large corporation, they spread their resources, hitting many different SMEs for potential financial gain. 

But why target you in the first place? 

Confusion over this can come down to another big cybersecurity myth.

Myth 4 — You Have Nothing Worth a Cybercriminal’s Time

The modern business can have almost all of its assets tied up in digital property. This isn’t just consumer data but also access to software and hardware. 

Think about it this way:

If a hacker took control of your systems, could you still operate?

Many hackers will use cyberattack strategies to deploy ransomware. They’ll take control of your business’s digital platform and hold it to ransom. Until you pay up, you can’t work. Hackers can make lots of money from this practice, but your value to them doesn’t stop there.

Stolen customer contact information can be sold on the digital black market for thousands, and personal information or financial information for even more. 

Just one hacked customer profile could give attackers access to their personal wealth through both their card details and the data required for identity fraud, which — depending on the net worth individual — could potentially be the score of a lifetime for a hacker.

Even if you’re small and working with only a handful of customers, you have data worth a hacker’s time. 

Myth 5 — Changing Your Passwords Keeps You Safe

We’re all encouraged to keep changing our passwords regularly to stop others from gaining unauthorised access to our information. While this is definitely a good strategy, it is not going to keep you safe on its own.

Skilled hackers can get around passwords, while others can use keylogging software to see what passwords you are entering. Even if you regularly change your passwords, some hackers can still find out what they are.

Passwords on their own are just not a strong enough protective measure to keep out the best hackers in the business, and you should always be measuring your security standards against those kinds of risks — anything less and you’re vulnerable.

Two-step authentication platforms, such as messages to personal phone numbers with access codes, are simple ways to double up on access controls and put more barriers between your system and a hacker. 

How to Combat Cybercrime Myths

Great cybersecurity follows four core tenets:

• Up-to-date and accurate information about cybersecurity threats.
• Targeted cybersecurity strategies developed to protect your specific vulnerabilities.
• Training and awareness plans for all members of your team.
• Effective software and protective measures that defend against intruders.

Cybersecurity is an investment, but it’s an investment worth making. With the sting of a cyberattack potentially dealing a death blow to your business, it’s wise to work closely with cybersecurity service providers to protect your organisation from these deadly digital threats and avoid falling prey to cybersecurity myths that could dismantle your brand.