There are dozens of challenges with managing modern technology, but the most troubling — and expensive — for small to mid-size companies is cybersecurity.
Cybercrime is a growing threat throughout the US, with nearly half of these attacks aimed directly at small businesses. While many small business owners may feel as though they are immune due to their size, they often fail to consider that their business is often digitally connected to their vendors or large customers — the perfect target for hungry cybercriminals. Today’s enterprising criminal masterminds have an arsenal of tools at their ready command, with Bitcoin and other digital currencies allowing them to quickly lock down business systems with ransomware before demanding an untraceable sum to unlock your systems. Ransomware and other malware are a multi-trillion dollar industry that now exceeds even the global impact of the drug trade. How can small to mid-size businesses expect to defend themselves against these evolving digital risks?
Keep Watch for These Threats on the Horizon
Considered a “softer” target than an enterprise, small to mid-size corporations should be wary of these threats:
- Ransomware can lock your access to critical files and folders — or to your entire network and even business applications. There are few choices when you’re hit with a ransomware attack: pay the ransom and hope to receive a working unlock key or restore your systems from a clean and current backup. All other options involve a great deal of time, effort and rebuilding your systems.
- Phishing attacks start as a simple email, which may have links that you can click or perhaps an attachment. These emails may look innocent enough, but they can quickly gather personal or system-related information that can be used to infiltrate your business systems.
- Denial of service is a particularly disturbing attack, simply because it is explicitly focused on disrupting web-based services. This could be anything from your business applications to a customer-facing website, and can quickly wreak havoc on your operations.
The best way to stop each of these attacks is through proactive cybersecurity and an ongoing schedule of aggressive training for your staff.
Cybersecurity Solutions for South Florida Companies
Attacks could be coming at your business from all directions, which is why you must create a holistic 360-degree view of your business risks. This could include ensuring your software patches are up-to-date at all times, endpoint security and protection of your mobile devices, data privacy and compliance reporting, active monitoring and more. Web-based filtering of email and website content has also proven effective at stemming the tide of attacks that are encroaching upon small to mid-size businesses. Consider this multi-faceted approach a “protect and prevent” strategy, both reducing the possibility of an attack and also tightly defining the steps that will be taken in the event your preventive measures are not successful. This includes how to fully restore your business operations after an attack while actively communicating with key business stakeholders.
Maintaining secure and consistent operations is a top priority for corporations of all sizes, but that’s an impossible task without the right IT support. Fortunately, ECW Network & IT Solutions provides South Florida companies with the knowledgeable IT services and support that you need to be successful. Contact our team at (561) 306-2284 or request a free security assessment and network review online by using our quick form. We offer simple solutions to the most sophisticated technology problems, all backed by our service guarantees.