Unfortunately, business disruption and reduced sales aren’t the only COVID-related issues small business owners dealt with in 2020. This is why Breadcrumb Cybersecurity is sounding the alarm to small businesses that might be prey for accelerated fraud activity.
“We saw increased activity as threat groups leveraged the COVID-19 situation to defraud businesses from their funding,” says Brian Horton, CEO of Breadcrumb Cybersecurity, which helps companies navigate a wide range of advanced cybercrime, including ransomware, financial crime, intellectual property theft, destructive attacks and employee and insider fraud.
Threat groups are intentional and calculative regarding the timing of their strikes. They are keenly aware of when businesses are typically sending or receiving large amount of funds.
This is why Horton said that they encourage small businesses to reach out to security experts to establish a relationship now so they can jump in immediately if warranted. “Emergencies can happen to anyone, and every second matters.”
Wondering how to protect yourself? Breadcrumb Cybersecurity offers the following tips for small businesses to increase their security:
- Whenever possible, enable multi-factor authentication (MFA) for e-mail and banking services. By requiring multiple forms of verification, it increases your account security as passwords can be easily comprised.
- Fraudsters are improving their techniques, but malicious emails still typically contain broken English or improper use of grammar. If anything feels out of place, call and verify with the other party before clicking on a link.
- Always call to verify any requested banking/ACH updates. Even if the email looks legitimate, it’s wise to make a proactive call, using a number you find independently, rather than the one provided in the email.
- Be wary of an unsolicited email that implies a sense of urgency or threat; i.e. “we need funds now or we will turn off your account.” This is often a red flag for malicious activity.
- Have contact information at the ready so you can reach out to a cybersecurity company in response to a potential data breach.
