7 Cybersecurity Mistakes That Put Southwest Licking County Businesses at Risk
The most damaging cybersecurity mistakes small businesses make aren't exotic — they're basic gaps like unpatched software, reused passwords, and undertrained staff. Research cited by Ohio State University's Center for Design and Manufacturing Excellence shows that small businesses absorb two-thirds of attacks, often because they serve as convenient entry points into larger corporate supply chains. For chamber members in Southwest Licking County, where many businesses work with or supply larger employers throughout the Columbus metro area, that connection makes your security posture someone else's concern too. Here's where the gaps most often appear — and how to close them.
Skipping Software Updates
Every unpatched piece of software is an open invitation. Vendors release updates specifically to close vulnerabilities that attackers are actively targeting, and delaying those updates — even by a few weeks — leaves known holes exposed. Turn on automatic updates for operating systems, browsers, and business applications. Periodically audit your installed software and remove anything your team no longer uses.
Weak Passwords and No MFA
A short, reused, or guessable password is often all it takes to hand an attacker full access to your systems. CISA's Cyber Essentials guide for small businesses requires MFA for all users, especially privileged, administrative, and remote access accounts, as one of the most critical foundational steps any small business can take.
Multi-factor authentication (MFA) requires a second verification step — a code sent to your phone, for example — on top of a password. It doesn't eliminate risk, but it renders stolen credentials significantly less useful to an attacker.
In practice: Start with email and accounting software. Those two accounts cover your most exposed surfaces with the least rollout effort.
Undertrained Employees
Your staff doesn't have to be careless to fall for a phishing attack — they just have to be busy. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, employees drive most data breaches because they serve as direct pathways into business systems.
Phishing scams — fraudulent emails or messages designed to trick employees into revealing credentials or clicking malicious links — are the most common entry point for attackers. Quarterly training sessions don't need to be lengthy; even 30-minute refreshers on recognizing suspicious emails and handling sensitive data can meaningfully reduce your exposure.
No Backup and Recovery Plan
When ransomware hits, it encrypts your files and demands payment to restore access. Without clean, recent backups stored somewhere other than the infected machine, your options narrow fast — and fast is when you'll be making decisions you can't afford to get wrong. CISA recommends the 3-2-1 backup rule — three copies of critical files on two different storage types, with one copy stored off-site — as a foundational defense against data loss.
An external drive sitting on your desk counts as on-site backup, not off-site. Cloud storage or a second physical location is what covers that requirement.
Neglecting Network Security
An unsecured or factory-default router is one of the easiest targets in any small office. Change default router passwords, keep firmware updated, and set up a separate guest network for visitors and personal devices so outside traffic doesn't share a path with your business systems.
For businesses handling financial, health, or legal data, a loose network isn't just a security problem — it may create regulatory liability. In 2024, the FBI reported over $2.7 billion in losses from business email compromise alone, and no business is too small to be on an attacker's list, according to CISA.
Ignoring Mobile Device Security
Employees access business email, documents, and applications from personal phones and tablets every day — devices that often have no enterprise security controls. Those devices store login credentials, client contracts, and financial records. They also get lost, stolen, and compromised.
Password-protecting sensitive files is one practical layer of defense. Using password-protected PDFs for contracts, proposals, and financial records limits exposure even if a device falls into the wrong hands — if you need to add pages or reorganize an existing PDF before locking it down, here's a possible solution that lets you reorder, rotate, or delete pages online without rebuilding the document. Beyond file protection, require device passcodes and enable remote wipe on any phone or tablet that connects to business accounts.
Skipping Regular Security Audits
Cybersecurity isn't a one-time setup — threats evolve, and protections that were adequate last year may not hold this year. Regular audits help you find gaps before attackers do. The Federal Trade Commission directs small businesses to manage cybersecurity risk for free using the NIST Cybersecurity Framework 2.0 — a voluntary tool covering six areas including Govern, Identify, Protect, Detect, Respond, and Recover — designed for businesses of any size and sector.
An annual review against this framework, even if handled internally rather than by a dedicated IT team, gives you a consistent baseline and a structured list of what to address next.
Where to Start in Southwest Licking County
Ohio State University's Center for Design and Manufacturing Excellence runs a cybersecurity pilot program specifically for Ohio small businesses — a structured, expert-led resource for any business that wants real support without enterprise-level costs. The Pataskala Area Chamber of Commerce's Lunch & Learn seminars are another local avenue for getting up to speed on topics like this, without having to sort through the noise on your own.
Most businesses already know they're exposed — an SBA survey found 88% of small business owners feel vulnerable to a cyberattack, yet many don't know where to start. The answer is usually to start small: a password audit this week, an MFA rollout next month, a backup check the month after. The goal isn't perfection — it's making your business a harder target than the one next door.
