Cyber security warning for North Western Sydney small businesses

Local businesses in North Western Sydney are being urged to take some simple steps to safeguard their data from the growing threat of hackers.
While high profile cyberattacks on organisations such as Sony, the CIA and NASA have recently made news, studies from McAfee[1] and Verizon[2] show that small businesses face significant dangers from online criminals.
A report from the Australian Cyber Security Centre also reveals that the number of cyberattacks reported to government authorities has been steadily rising since 2011[3].
SponsoredLinX CEO Ben Bradshaw advised businesses to take particular care with their emails.
“In many security breaches, email is the central point of failure. By gaining access to an employee’s email account, hackers can potentially recover passwords linked to online services and steal sensitive information.
“This risk increases significantly for employees using the same password for multiple applications.
“Security experts strongly recommend using a different password for each of your email accounts.
“In this instance, if a hacker uncovers one of your passwords, the damage they can potentially inflict will be limited to one email account,” he said.
Ben added that further measures could be taken to enhance security.
“If you want to get really serious about protecting your email accounts, use two-way verification.

“Many email providers are now providing this service, which allows you to add an extra layer of security to your emails. Each time you access your emails, you will be required to also respond with an SMS message.

“Alternatively, you can choose to only receive SMS notifications when your email account is accessed from a device for the first time,” he said.

Further information is available at www.sponsoredlinx.com.au.