The IT Support Risks Every UK Business Needs to Know About

Introduction

Before we jump into our advice on managing the risk involved with business IT support, it’s important to know one thing: risk can never be entirely eliminated.

Just as described by the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), risk cannot be abolished, but instead must be recognised and managed. This is the equivalent of an insurance policy for your car: you might never need to use it, but you know why you need it in place.

Likewise, when running a business, understanding the risks posed by IT-based threats and – crucially – how to mitigate and manage them, will be a huge boost for the company.

With that in mind, let’s jump into the most common IT support risks in business and how to tackle them in your organisation.

The dangers of human error

For many years, it’s been something of an open secret that the biggest potential IT risk to any company is human error. According to a report by IBM, a massive 95% of IT security breaches are due directly to human error.

This is nothing personal, of course, but a simple matter of human nature. It’s impossible to absolutely guarantee that every member of a team – especially a distributed or remote team – is operating with total compliance at all times. This could manifest in them responding to a phishing email by mistake, using a password which is far too easy to guess, or not having multi-factor authentication enabled for their account.

Whatever the type of human error may be, the result is the same: a security breach. And sadly, there’s no cyber security platform or IT support team in the world which could protect a business against this type of error. The only solution to human error in IT is to educate and inform teams so that they can recognise potential risks before they become a problem.

The inherent risk of business assets

Your business is made up of several component parts, one of which is your people as discussed above, and another is your company assets. These can be both physical and virtual, and can consist of:

• Hardware (like desktops, laptops, and mobiles)
• Software (including bespoke systems or SaaS-based products like Microsoft 365)
• Customer / CRM data
• Transactional or financial data

Cyber-attacks and malware

As we reported recently, one of the primary threats for businesses in 2022 is from cyber-attacks and malware attacks such as ransomware.

Since the global pandemic, and the shift in the modes of working we’ve adopted since, cyber-attacks have become even more common, with ransomware topping the bill for now. If you’re not familiar with the most commonly deployed cyber-attacks faced by UK businesses, be sure to check out our dedicated guides:

• What is Ransomware? The Essential Guide for Small Business
• What is Spyware? The Essential Guide for Small Business
• What is a Trojan Horse? The Essential Guide for Small Business

You’ll find our top tips on tackling each of these types of cyber-attack and malware infections, but it’s also important to understand the mechanics of each one. In many ways, prevention is far better than cure when it comes to cyber security, so we’d always recommend talking to one of our IT support experts for up-to-date advice.

Phishing and social engineering

We’ve talked in the past on the Get Support blog about how to identify small business scams, and it’s advice we recommend to all organisations – big or small.

It’s all too easy for phishing attacks to go undetected, especially when they’re executed by professional criminals who know exactly how to manipulate unsuspecting employees. Common social engineering attacks include ‘CEO fraud’ or ‘whaling’, whereby the scammer will pose as an executive member of the team to intimidate an employee into transferring money, revealing confidential data, or otherwise compromising IT systems. Again, this all goes back to human error, but phishing attacks are so sophisticated that they’re getting much harder to spot.

Any UK business looking to keep IT systems safe and secure needs to have a policy in place for managing the risk of social engineering and phishing attacks.

Physical risks to IT systems

As the UK has experienced first-hand in 2022, businesses with premises here are not immune to the elements. We rightly focus on a lot of the digital threats which businesses face, but there is an ever-present risk of physical threats, too.

It’s important to focus on all aspects of risk, not just those that you can manage behind a computer screen or outsource to an IT support team. All of the following can pose significant risks for a business and its IT systems:

• Burglary, theft, and other breaches of physical premises
• Hardware failure (due to age or malfunction)
• Fire, flooding, and other natural disasters
• Accidental damage

It might not seem like these are particularly likely, but having measures in place to mitigate them is yet another string to your bow when it comes to protecting against IT support risks.

Looking for more long-term IT support for your business?

We hope these suggestions have helped you to better protect and support your business and employees.

If you’d like to know more about keeping your business safe from IT threats, or you’re simply looking for help with the day-to-day IT-related tasks in your organisation, the Get Support team can help.

Our dedicated IT support team are available as part of our IT support agreements, with decades of combined experience helping UK businesses make the most of technology.

To learn more about our IT support services, or to discuss how we might help your business specifically, drop us a line on 01865 594 000 or fill in the form at the bottom of the page.