According to the Australian Cyber Security Centre, cybercrime reports in Australia increased by 13 per cent in the 2020-21 financial year. In addition, the recently released Sophos State of Ransomware 2022 report showed that 75 per cent of Australian businesses are expecting to be hit by a cyberattack over the coming year. With cyber security such a critical issue for Australian businesses, we sat down with Susie Jones and Adam Selwood, founders of Cynch Security, a specialist cyber fitness advisor for Australian small businesses.
1. Tell us about Cynch Security
Our mission at Cynch is to help small business leaders prevent a cyber security incident from becoming one of the worst days of their career. We are entirely dedicated to supporting small and micro businesses, focusing on empowering the individuals at their heart with everything they need to build and demonstrate cyber fitness. Our focus on small, continual changes instead of massive disruptive ones, makes cyber security achievable for businesses of all sizes and ultimately creates more resilient and successful outcomes for everyone.
2. You speak to Australian small businesses about their cyber security daily. What do you see as the biggest exposure businesses have to a potential cyberattack?
People are both fundamental to the success of small businesses as well as their biggest exposure when it comes to cyberattacks. Having the latest and greatest antivirus and firewalls installed is vital but it won’t do you much good if someone in your team inadvertently updates bank account details based on a dodgy email or sends a sensitive attachment to the wrong person. Attackers have figured this out and target our flaws as humans more often than our technical vulnerabilities. Our Cyber Fitness approach recognises this and helps businesses prioritise and work on all aspects of their cyber risk, not just the shiny tech bits.
3. What do you say to business owners who think, “we’re really small so nobody will hack us” or, “we don’t collect much personal information, so we don’t need to worry about data security.”
It might feel as though your business is “too small” or “not important enough” for cyber criminals, nation states or other cyber baddies to care about. Realistically, they don’t care about your business, your team or your customers. They’re interested in your customer data, the cash in your bank account, the hard-earned reputation your business is built on and everything else not bolted to the virtual floor. The good news is there are straightforward ways to keep you secure and in business, even if the worst-case scenario is realised.
4. What’s the first step a business owner can take to enhance the cyber security of their business?
Business owners should start with what’s critical to their operations. Think about the technology you use on a daily basis; your smart phones, computers, email and social media accounts, online banking, cloud-based applications such as accounting or inventory software. Then, consider how you would continue carrying out your business if any of them stopped working suddenly or if you couldn’t trust what was happening with them anymore. If any of that makes you uncomfortable, look for one step that you can take today to improve the situation. It could be adding multi-factor authentication to your business account, setting up regular back-ups or automatic software updates to protect against vulnerabilities. What’s most important is that you don’t stop at just one step. Keep taking small, frequent steps to build your business’ cyber fitness.
Cynch Security is a Melbourne-based company on a mission to support small business owners on their cyber fitness journey. .au members have exclusive access to a free cyber-fitness assessment to gain an instant snapshot of their cyber security risks. By completing a self-assessment, business owners can benchmark their cyber-fitness against hundreds of other Australian small businesses.
.au members are also invited to take advantage of an exclusive 10 per cent discount on any of the Cynch Security monthly plans, which start at $29.00 month (less ongoing discount). The plans provide access to security guidance, threat alerts and cyber security reporting to protect your business and critical customer data.
Get started with your complimentary cyber-fitness assessment today!
