Up until now, you might have thought that you have seen or at least heard of it all.
With regards to the risks your business is exposed to and or the amount of possibilities that you could wrongly be set back, you’re constantly preparing.
Usually for a small business, risk is already factored in at each stage of expansion or growth.
You will go through a painstaking process of factoring in the risks you take on when releasing a new product.
There could be a competitor backlash and they might purposely design a product that achieves something similar just to edge you out of the market.
As an entrepreneur you already have the mindset of taking blows in order to reach the top.
So it’s common for people in your position to be cautious but still ambitious in the creation of their products and services.
2018 saw a lot of improvements for small businesses. The cloud system concept truly got going and offered a lot more security to small businesses.
You also had smaller cybersecurity companies popping up with the purpose of supporting just small businesses.
Physical security became more affordable than ever with CCTV and laser movement detection products being bought for all kinds of retail businesses as well as manufacturing facilities.
But what about 2019, how might your business be attacked in the next 12 months?
The most popular broken system
YouTube is now the main platform for all businesses to not only advertise their products, but to also build up a presence.
Finally, businesses of all sizes have succumbed to the grip and attraction of new media platforms.
Mainstream media is slowly fading away or at the least, diminishing in outreach. Not only does YouTube give your business a free platform, but it allows for expert marketing with regards to consumer interaction.
You can interact with customers in the comment section that leave behind their opinion on the advertisement.
This is great for discussion and stirring up your name on the platform. It also gives you a chance to grow in subscribers showing your popularity to the world.
However, recently the platform has come under the scrutiny of it’s most subscribed users. The copyright system that YouTube employs is very shaky and unreliable.
In a nutshell, anyone can make a copyright claim on your video, whereby they simply can claim all the ad revenue or they can have it taken down.
It’s a claim system but has not authority figure that does arbitration. YouTube will ask the claimant if the claim they are making is true, they then simply need to say yes it is and the claim goes through as valid or holding legitimacy.
It’s up to you then to prove the other party wrong and not the other way around. If this were in a court of law, it would mean that that you would be guilty until proven innocent. Be wary of this fact and make sure you are vigilant on your YouTube account to keep your advertisements up on the platform’s servers.
Fighting AI with AI
There used to be a time when hackers were feared most by businesses.
These individuals would have full time jobs, making codes and viruses that would attack a business from the inside.
The customer data that a small business acquired after a lot of hard work, would suddenly be missing, scrambled beyond use or used against them as bargaining chips.
However, now that security systems for business servers have become so advanced, it’s no longer the best way to infiltrate.
Amazingly, machine learning is now being used to learn the defences of a business and then probe until a virus or malware can breach. AI is now fighting against AI.
This is somewhat alluded to in these 10 elements of cyber security for businesses.
As small businesses will be using a lot of software that is on contract, the only way to update them is to access the servers of the company that makes the software. But you should first secure your configuration.
Patches and updates that are installed on your computers at work should be protected from attacks that try to get in at the same time as an update.
This what is referred to as ‘backdoor vulnerabilities’ in either your cybersecurity software or the software used for work purposes.
It’s very important to stay in constant contact with your software supplier so that you’re both aware of this new threat.
Essentially, you’re hoping that the software company has a better machine learning AI than the attacking AI.
The lack of updates
Whatever kind of system you are using or creating for your customers, you must continually make updates.
Regarding security, whatever new threats you have encountered and won, then researched and understood what happened should be implemented into your products and services.
The lack of updates to your systems is what will allow even a mediocre attacker or virus to infect your data.
Data breaches happen many times because there has been a relaxed approach to security.
Those that design malware and viruses don’t rest, so why should you?
If you’re working with different partners, you should be asking and maybe even reminding them that they need to send you regular updates regarding security and not just improvements to their product or service that you utilize.
Drawing up a schedule with your partners so you can update them as well as receive updates from them might be a good idea but realistically, they should be automatic and around the clock.
Whenever you are ready with an update or patch release it to your partners as soon as you can.
In 2019, there will be a battle that we have never quite seen before. Machine learning AI that protects businesses will go up against machine learning AI that wishes to steal data and or corrupt it for businesses.
Be sure to employ the best you can in this endeavour.
Be wary of your YouTube account and the videos you post, be vigilant of false copyright claims that could disrupt your marketing ad campaign this year.
