If you’re applying best practices for your website’s security, you should be prepared for cyber-attacks and other breaches. However, if you don’t know what to prepare for, your site could be at risk of a security threat.

We live in a time when every website needs to take precautions to protect against hackers and breaches. No matter your industry or the purpose of your website, you can’t afford to make cybersecurity an afterthought.

Are you prepared for these cyber security issues? Here’s a look at the Top 5 biggest threats.

1. Accidental Access

You can apply all of the top-recommended security measures to your website, but human error and unintentional access could be your biggest security threat.

Your employees mean well, but sometimes carelessness happens. Train your team not to click on suspicious pop-ups, leave their workstation unlocked while performing website maintenance, or leave collected data without encryption. A moment of careless activity can give a hacker the access they need through your website.

2. Ransomware

Hackers use ransomware to hold your website and digital assets hostage. Through a bit of coding (known as malware) that mysteriously appears on your website, a cybercriminal can lock down your website and demand money in exchange for setting it free again.

A click on a pop-up or a breach in the security of your website can launch the ransomware. Once it’s there, your website becomes useless for your employees and customers until the hacker receives what they demand from you.

3. Data Leaks

What kind of information do you collect through your website? If you store user data or personal or financial information that connects to an online storefront, you’re at risk for a security breach.

Cyber hackers love to collect the personal and financial information of consumers. Credit card numbers, passwords, social security information, names, and addresses are valuable items to a cybercriminal with the intent to use this information illegally or sell it to others.

4. Phishing

Your website includes your contact information. Disguised a potentially reliable source, criminals use these types of phishing cyber threats to extract data from you.

It can be a request from a “bank” or financial institution to check your account or reset your password. The phishing scam looks real, but en employee replies and releases sensitive cyber information to a hacker without realizing it was a scam.

5. Hacking

Without enough security through firewalls and restricted access, cybercriminals can hack their way into your system through your website. With access to your site, criminals can change text, reroute links, and steal private information.

Hackers exploit vulnerabilities. They’ll work until they gain access and take what they want or cause harm.

Protect Yourself From Cyber Security Issues

Cybercrime is challenging to stop without the right security in place. Hackers are difficult to locate and prosecute. Your best protection from cyber security issues is to stay ahead of the hackers with the right website security.

The Jonesen Team has the resources to keep your site safe from cyber threats. Contact us for help!