The chances are extremely high that you’re guilty of making some big business cybersecurity mistakes. Is this intentional on your behalf? Of course not; most cybersecurity mistakes are never intentional and stem from a slight bit of negligence. It’s understandable given how diverse the cybersecurity world has become, and how tech-centric our lives are. You’re bound to let certain things slip through the cracks, but you need to be aware of them so you can stop the cyber threats from happening.
Cybersecurity’s biggest issue is that it’s way more complex than the average person realizes. You could have loads of security measures in place that you assume are protecting your business while massive breaches lie unprotected elsewhere. That being said, let’s explore and run through some of the most worrying cybersecurity mistakes you’re probably still making to this day.
Only Protecting Your Computers
An enormous percentage of businesses go wrong when it comes to protecting different devices from cybersecurity threats. The assumption is that your computers are the biggest liabilities. You need to protect them – and the network they’re on – from hackers and outside threats. That’s a good cybersecurity starting point, but you’re neglecting something incredibly serious.
Your business will use many other devices that are connecting to the internet in one way or another.
This is especially true in hospitals and other health-related business settings. Yes, you use computers, but you also use x-ray machines, scanners, and countless other medical devices that can easily be hacked into if left unprotected. You need to adopt a specialist medical device cybersecurity strategy to protect these devices as well as your computers.
The same is true for retail businesses, as another example. Your point-of-sale connects to the internet and holds so much important and valuable data. It’s a prime target for hackers, and it’s easy for them to sneak in and take what they want when all of your cybers defenses focus on the backroom computers.
You can call upon so many other examples across infinite industries, but the sentiment remains the same: protect all of your technological devices, not just your computers. It’s easy to think that your cybersecurity is in an excellent place because there’s antivirus and anti-malware software on all of your PCs, but the other devices create massive holes that you must patch up.
Not Using Good Enough Passwords
It’s 2025, and there’s an increased sophistication to cyber threats that will only develop further in the future. Hackers come up with new and inventive ways to break into systems and get whatever it is they’re after. That being said, you’re also still guilty of giving them a virtual key into important systems by using terrible passwords.
What constitutes a bad password?
- It’s too short – The shorter the password, the easier it is to crack.
- It’s too obvious – Passwords that relate to you in some way are easier for hackers to crack. All it takes is a bit of online research to discover your dog’s name on social media, so don’t assume that’s a good password.
- It’s repetitive – Repeating the same password for multiple accounts is a recipe for disaster. Hackers need to crack one code to be given entry into all of your accounts at once.
Passwords are a problem in all walks of life, yet they’re even worse in the business cybersecurity realm. Why? Because people within businesses use simplified passwords that are easy to remember. It stops them from needing to think or reset a password whenever they log into various accounts at work.
You need to stop this. Go for a complete password revamp and reset everything. This sounds extreme, but it’s something you should do every month or so. Resetting passwords makes them harder for someone to crack, so get into this habit throughout your business. It’s also smart to use features like Google’s “suggest a password” which basically gives you something that includes random numbers and characters. Stuff like that is near enough impossible for someone to guess.
Using Unsecured Networks When Working
There’s a very low percentage chance that you’re using unsecured networks while in a professional business setting. Remember, you’re already good at the general computer cybersecurity side of things, and that includes your general network security. Everything is nice and secure when you’re working in these professional settings – but what about when you venture elsewhere?
Here’s the thing: 22% of the workforce now works remotely. That’s nearly a quarter of all workers – and this figure used to be 6.5% before the global pandemic in 2020. It’s a figure that keeps trending upwards as people prefer to work out of the traditional professional business settings.
It’s great from a productivity and mental health perspective (one study found that working from home boosts productivity by 19%), but it’s not great from a cybersecurity point of view. As a business, you have no control over the networks people use to access important business information away from a professional setting. What if someone’s sitting in a cafe using public wifi? What if their network at home isn’t password protected?
Remote work can sometimes create cyber breaches that are easy for hackers to manipulate. How do you solve this? The best way is to set up a VPN for all employees to use when working remotely. It lets them log into a secure network when they have to access or handle any business information. VPNs are encrypted and protected from outside threats, so this should close up a lot of holes.
Forgetting To Update Everything
There’s not a lot to say about this mistake, so let’s keep it as brief as possible. Outdated software will contain breaches that cyber criminals can take advantage of. Most of the time, software updates are literally done to improve security because the developers detected some breaches.
Failure to update your software applications will mean you leave gaping holes in the virtual fence that surrounds your business. You’re basically cutting holes for hackers to crawl through without needing to work hard. In brief: always update your software the moment an update notification comes through.
There may only be four mistakes on this list, but they’re pretty gigantic in the grand scheme of things. Don’t assume that you’ve got cybersecurity locked down when there could be all manner of breaches hiding around every corner. Do a thorough cybersecurity audit of your business to identify any weak points and then work on tightening everything up.
