As shown by recent high-profile hacking scandals – targeting everyone from Sony Entertainment to the extramarital-affair-facilitating website Ashley Madison – cyber crime shows no sign of disappearing any time soon. In fact, experts predict that 2016 is going to be an even busier year for cyber criminals, hackers and scammers. So what do you need […]
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The scale of the recent security breaches at Sony, which led to the cancellation of The Interview’s theatrical release, can make the company’s problems seem beyond the realm of the average small business. But the security mishaps that created the circumstances for the hack are as applicable to modest local and regional companies as they […]
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Cybercriminals will stop at nothing to prey on the uninformed. Help your employees be ready for scammers who may call them on the phone posing as support personnel. With a little education, you could save your business a lot of trouble. Unfortunately, there are people with bad intentions who want to cheat you of time […]
Read MoreWith the security software of many businesses becoming more and more advanced these days, cyber-thieves are resorting to socially engineered cyber-attacks to bait unsuspecting employees with scams like phishing to infiltrate IT systems. This is why it is important to train your employees against becoming victims of such underhanded strategies. One of the things many people fail to realize is that securing business data from malware and other sorts of cyber-attacks doesn’t stop with implementing the right security software. These days, cyber-criminals also use all sorts of tricks to bait unsuspecting employees into being catalysts for malware entering your system. Reports cite that as much as 60 percent of cyber and malware attacks on businesses are done through social engineering – meaning that instead of a direct attack on your system, hackers are using ploys found on email and social networks to get people in your organization to unwittingly introduce malware into your IT infrastructure. This is why it’s equally important to put emphasis on training your employees to recognize common cyber-attack strategies such as phishing, or how to use proper virus scanning software so any external or thumb drives they plug into their computers are malware-free. Remember, it only takes one mistake from a gullible employee to open the gates of your system to keyloggers and other sorts of malware and viruses. Keeping your company’s IT system safe is an investment. Getting the right security protocols and then training your employees to not only use and respect these protocols but also be more aware about security risks goes a long way in keeping your data safe and your operations stable.
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$12,500 a day – that’s the average amount an SMB stands to lose due to outages and service interruptions caused by a faulty or nonexistent disaster-preparedness plan. And according to a recent study by security giant Symantec, about 50% of SMBs have no security or disaster-preparedness plan to speak of. It seems that despite the risk, many SMBs (small and mid-sized businesses) are not taking security seriously enough, according to a recent survey by security giant Symantec. The study reveals that many SMBs lack a security or disaster-preparedness plan. The risks are real enough, with an SMB standing to lose somewhere in the ballpark of $12,500 PER DAY when operations are interrupted because of security breaches or malware attacks. According to Symantec, of the 1288 SMBs they surveyed worldwide, about half have no security or disaster-preparedness plan whatsoever. Of that 50 percent, 36 percent intend to get or create a plan in the future, while the remaining 14% have no plans on their agendas whatsoever. With these figures, it’s hardly surprising that the study also found that many SMBs only act when it’s too late – which causes not only lost revenue for them, but for their clients as well. More than half of the surveyed SMB clients – 552 – said that they have had to switch providers due to unreliable and irresponsible service. Numbers do not lie: security is more important than you might think. Don’t wait until the last minute to find out just how essential it is before enacting a security plan of your own – for your sake as well as that of your clients. Having the right kind of system in place is vital to keeping your operations smooth and efficient, as well as enabling you to better respond to your clients’ needs. If you want to know more about implementing the proper security and disaster-preparedness protocols for your business, please contact us and we’ll be happy to sit down and create a customized plan that will meet your specific needs and requirements.
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