82% of SMB’s who experience a #ransomware attack are closed permanently within 1 year.
If that doesn’t scare you, it should.
Any successful business working in the 21st century is undoubtedly relying on online and computer-based services for at least some operations.
It is just the way things work now, whether you are processing customer orders through your website or doing your own record keeping on your computer.
The prevalence of computers, including the pocket-sized ones that still go by the name of “phones”, has made the use of them seem so normal and innocuous that we do not really consider just how vulnerable our data is.
When we say “data,” we are referring to things such as your customers’ credit or debit card numbers that are used in transactions, or your employees’ sensitive information stored in your company records.
What most business owners do not realize is that the vast majority of businesses’ networks are easy pickings for even a moderately skilled criminal hacker.
Digital is More Exploitable Than You Realize
Most business owners invest in cybersecurity in good faith, as they do not know much about cybersecurity or even why it is even needed in the first place.
However, it is this lack of knowledge that can lead business owners to skimp on cybersecurity, which should never be done. In fact, some business owners do not even bother with protecting their network, assuming that IT solutions exist to fix slow Wi-Fi.
The fact is that even enterprise businesses suffer from cybersecurity weaknesses. Just look at top meat supplier JBS, which suffered an $11 million loss after hackers managed to shut down its operations by exploiting a vulnerability in its network.
Typically, hackers install what is called a “ransomware” in your network that shuts down your operations, making you unable to access the services that make it possible to run your business.
The name ransomware is appropriate, because the hacker(s) typically ask for a ransom in exchange for restoring your business operations back to normal. Take the JBS example as proof that hackers will not be asking for pocket change once they infect your network with ransomware.
Another aspect of these attacks is that it allows hackers to gain access to sensitive information, which happens often in schools that have information about students that should not be made public.
Cybersecurity Solutions for Your Business
It should be clear by now that cybersecurity is a serious issue, and that no business or organization is too big—or small—to be the target of criminal hackers.
A quality cybersecurity company will cover many essentials, such as detection software that will recognize a threat as soon as it appears, eliminating it and alerting you just as fast.
Another increasingly important solution is data encryption, which ensures that anyone who steals your data, such as employees’ social security numbers, will not have access to that data. Think of encryption as like putting your data in a heavy-duty lock box—someone can steal that lock box, but without a key, they cannot open it and get the goods.
Of course, anti-virus and anti-malware software should be considered a must for any cybersecurity plan. As should firewalls, which help monitor and control the flow of inward and outward traffic on your company network, blocking any suspicious activity.
Cybersecurity Solutions
If you are looking for a cybersecurity solution that is fit to address the increasingly intense cybersecurity threats emerging as we go deeper into the 21st century, then reach out to us to protect your business against ransomware, criminal hackers, and other business-interrupting threats.
