Intelligent SME.tech Issue 15 | Page 29

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// FEATURE //

HILE THE HOLIDAY season

W serves as a time to rest and reflect on the year just gone , there is no doubt that business leaders will also be looking ahead to 2022 . And with digitalisation high on the agenda , technology investments will be a key element of overall business strategies .

To provide guidance , we spoke to several industry experts to find out exactly which technology tools small and medium-sized business owners should consider for the year ahead .
YUEN PIN YEAP , CEO AT NEUSHIELD
To keep the business thriving , most small business owners wear different hats and do everything from taking out the trash to determining company strategy . Luckily , due to the advancement of the Internet and related technologies , many company operations have been automated , thus increasing productivity and reducing costs .
However , there is a sinister side of technology and the connected world that small businesses live in which are often overlooked ; the convenience of having everything online means businesses can be targeted remotely by cybercriminals , often by ransomware attacks that extort money from their victims .
Ransomware is a type of malware that locks and encrypts data when deployed on the target computers . Victims are typically asked to pay a ransom before the hackers unlock the ransomed data . According to the DHS , about 50 – 75 % of ransomware victims are comprised of small business . Crooks target small businesses because they normally are not aware of the dangers of ransomware attacks and most don ’ t have a fully staffed IT department to install security solutions to deter cyberattacks . Many also lack the knowledge that it only takes an untrained employee one simple click on a phishing email to set off a whole chain of attacks on the company .
Although there is no silver bullet to block ransomware , there are many actions that
Yuen Pin Yeap , CEO at NeuShield

ALTHOUGH THERE IS NO SILVER BULLET TO BLOCK RANSOMWARE , THERE ARE MANY ACTIONS THAT SMBS CAN TAKE TO MITIGATE THE RISKS AND MINIMISE THE DAMAGES ONCE THE INEVITABLE ATTACKS OCCUR .
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