If you’re a business in the tourism sector that regularly handles customer bookings or queries, one of your main forms of communication will be done via email. Yet do you ever consider how secure your email system is when handling so much potential sensitive information?
With 43% of all cyberattacks targeted at small businesses, the threat is real and growing. As a small or micro business, improving your cyber resilience is invaluable, both from the point of view of protecting your own business but also to protect your customers.
A simple way to help improve the security of your business is to turn on two factor authentication.
So, what is two factor authentication, otherwise known as 2fa?
It is designed to help stop cyber criminals accessing your accounts even if they obtain your passwords. It means that two different types of information are required before access is be permitted to an account or computer system.
Often, you can set it up so that you only need to input the second piece of information if you’re logging on from a new device, so it doesn’t need to cause you any inconvenience.
In the EMA 2020 report it found that the password is still the top attack vector for organisations of all sizes, with 42% of respondents indicating they had been breached as a result of a user password compromise.
Poor password hygiene is also a top cause of data breaches, with 31% of respondents indicating their business had been violated as a result of user credentials being shared with an unauthorised colleague.
Breaches like this can be significantly reduced by embracing two factor authentication because as a user, you have to input a second form of secure information before access can be gained.
Most for example do this automatically and you are required to provide more information to prove your identity, such as:
a PIN, a password, or code
Biometrics - a fingerprint or face ID
To help improve your business’s cyber resilience, there are some simple steps you can take to protect systems you use every day. Click on the link here to find out how to turn on 2FA to protect your online accounts.
Tourism businesses across the South West can sign up for a free Core Membership online and receive a welcome pack full of practical resources and tools that will help you identify your risks and vulnerabilities and the steps you can take to increase your levels of protection. Through your membership, you will also get regular updates on new threats, designed to help you stay safer.
Sign up for membership at https://www.swcrc.co.uk/membership.