CCBR Business Review

20 B U S I N E S S T I P S International Cyber Security Awareness Month aka “Hacktober” You have to give up things when you advertise Welcome to International Cyber Security Awareness Month. It’s a lesser-known fact that small and medium business are being targeted more and more by cybercriminals and there is a valid reason for this; hackers tend to focus on easy and vulnerable tar- gets - it’s a random selection based on the hackers search on the Internet for vulnerable devices, easy access or it can be a case of less savvy staff being ‘socially engineered’ to allow hackers access to your business systems. Cyber security has a lot of moving parts, and they all need to work together to strengthen your security posture against cyberattacks. If you own a computer or any device attached to the Internet, you are a target. There are a number of common vectors for cyberattack including insecure remote access, compromised or poor passwords, system misconfiguration and unchanged defaults, malicious insiders (accidental or intentional personnel and staff ), insecure physical access, Denial of Service (DoS), vulnerable operating systems, vulnerable applications, vulnerable hardware, social engineering (phishing, spear phishing, whaling, smishing, vishing), trojans, viruses, worms, ransomware, malicious advertising (or malvertising), malicious websites, man- in-the-middle attacks, session hijacking, cross-site request forgery… and to put these in perspective, a 2-year-old laptop with a popular Windows operating system, even with antivirus can be vulnerable and attractive to cybercriminals. There are several steps to mitigate attacks from the vectors mentioned. Have you implemented these? If you answer no to any of these, you could be exposed: Antivirus, Endpoint Detection and Response (or advanced antivirus), web filter, spam filter, secure remote access via a VPN, ad-blockers in your browsers, password best practices, password managers, multi- factor authentication, physically secure your servers, a robust backup solution, perform automated patch updating of your operat- ing systems and applications, appropriate company policies, and training for all staff on cyber security and social engineering identification. You need to remember, attackers only By Michael Trimblett Certified Ethical Hacker General Manager, Loyal I.T. Solutions By Trevor Marchant, Marchantdallas Consulting get smarter and better, they never get worse - and they have sophisticated appli- cations in their toolbox. This means your cyber security posture may be effective today, but tomorrow it may not. Like all security scenarios, you must identify, then minimise your risk. Cyber security is a shared responsibility— one in which governments, the private sec- tor and education all play a role. October is International Cyber Security Awareness Month. What a great time for businesses to expedite the enabling of cybersecu- rity shields. Loyal I.T. Solutions in partnership with the Gosford Erina Business Chamber and the Australian Federal Government, is running the Cyber Security Business Connect and Protect Central Coast initiative. Loyal I.T. Solutions will conduct a free one-on-one cyber security assessment of your business so you can understand your cyber security posture. This can be done onsite (under COVID safe conditions) or remotely via Zoom. Each assessment is customised for your business and a report will be delivered to you in a follow up session which gives you the opportunity to ask questions to fully understand your cyber security vulner- abilities. Book for your free, no obligation one- on-one cyber security assessment today! http://loyalit.com.au/register Things like: • Wondering where your next sales is com- ing from. • Letting people know what you sell and how you are better than the competition. • How to help people get what they want So, it makes sense to advertise doesn’t it – just need to make sure your advertise- ments are interesting enough for people to buy you and your product or service. They will need to be convinced it’s a quality product, worth the investment and will do something they want done. As more and more brands enter the market businesses are starting to struggle for the attention of their target audience because consumers have more options - compared to before. So, why is advertising important when this happens? Simply because an average person sees at least 5,000 ads per day which means it is possible for your brand’s advertise- ments to reach out to a large audience while conveying the unique selling points of your products or businesses in just a few minutes or even seconds. Be it whether you are advertising for your start-up or for the company you’re working for, one simply cannot deny that advertising has grown to be an essential aspect of every business. However, advertising has more benefits than you think. Studies made by the market research firm, Yankelovich in 2007 have shown that an average person would have seen at least 5,000 advertisements in just one day. Just imagine the number of adver- tisements that one has come across in their lifetime. Be it through the internet, print, broad- cast, or outdoor media, those advertise- ments you have seen are efforts made by companies to increase their brand aware- ness and also entice consumers to pur- chase their goods and services. As advertising enables businesses to reach out to a larger audiences, more con- sumers are able to discover the products and services your company offers while understanding the key features of it within a few minutes or even seconds. Everyone knows that consumer wants, and needs are constantly changing and by advertising about one’s business, it raises the awareness of their brand and may even uncover a potential audience group - one day. Here’s a quick list of some of the benefits of advertising: • Get your message across. • Penetrate into new markets. • Showcase your value proposition. • Extend your brand values. • Differentiate yourself from the competi- tion as well as CONTINUED ON PAGE 21 CENTRAL COAST BUSINESS REVIEW OCTOBER 2021