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INDUSTRY NEWS
NATIONAL
Grocery, Supermarkets, Bottleshops, Timber and Hardware Businesses
The 6 things family and privately owned businesses need to know about Cyber Security. MGA TMA members businesses are constantly at risk of being breached by a cyber-attack. It is awful when it happens as it creates unprecedented chaos within a supermarket environment. A store operator loses complete control over the most basic IT applications that are used in the day-to-day operation of a grocery store and supermarket. Members please be warned a cyber-attack will cripple your business – vital point of sale systems, data bases and customer information are at risk if you do not take the appropriate precautions to protect your IT systems and software. Entrepreneurs and SMBs can do a lot to build strong shields and mitigate the risk of breaches, in addition to minimising the damage if a breach occurs. To help your business develop a stronger cybersecurity posture, six security professionals provided some of their most useful advice – and you can bet it is about more than passwords. 1. You are not too small to be targeted: Erik Knight, Founder and CEO of SimpleWAN Many entrepreneurs, start-up founders and small business owners might think of themselves as minnows compared to Fortune 500 whales. They assume they are too small to attract the attention of hackers and cyber attackers. But that is not how bad actors see it.
if you have something worth taking, a hacker will try to take it.” Knight says small businesses are easier targets because they often fail to perform security audits, put in the resources to protect themselves or even carry the right insurance coverage. Hackers see small businesses as easy cases to crack. 2. Think of security as a business problem: Vats Srivatsan, President and COO of ColorTokens
employees, causing them to switch to a more prominent brand name they think can do a better job protecting them,” Srivatsan says. A recent survey showed that 37% of small businesses have lost customers and 17% have lost revenue due to downtime, proving that security should be considered a business problem. 3. It is not “if,” but “when”: Thomas Supercinski, Head of Product Development at Frogslayer
Do not think you are too small to be affected!
Vats Srivatsan, the President and Chief Operating Officer of ColorTokens, warns against thinking of security as a nice-to-have. Security is something that requires 100% investment and effort, not something that can be approached halfway. The truth is that the effects of an attack can be disastrous to any company’s bottom line.
With the growing rate of data breaches, phishing schemes and other cyberattacks emerging from the coronavirus pandemic, members can no longer keep their heads buried in the sand. “It is not a question of if you will have an issue, but when,” says Thomas Supercinski, the Head of Product Development at Frogslayer.
“Do not think you are too small to be affected,” says Erik Knight, the founder and CEO of SimpleWAN. “Every place you have an employee or office is a potential entry point. Take it seriously;
Cybersecurity attacks can result in monetary loss, stolen IPs and downtime. “If a small business were to have a data breach, it could create a lack of trust among customers and
Assume your business will suffer a cyberattack and remember that the detection and response are just as important as prevention efforts. Supercinski says it is vital to outline
mga.asn.au | October 2021 | Edition 6
