How seriously does your organization take cybersecurity? In today's technological landscape, ensuring that your organization is protected against cyber threats is essential and should be one of the top priorities for any business, especially small-medium sized businesses. According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, 60% of small businesses say they are concerned about cybersecurity threats. These organizations are understanding the potential cost of a successful data breach and the widespread impact one could have on their organization. It is time to ask the question: Is your SMB concerned about cybersecurity?
SMBs should be particularly concerned about the impacts of a successful cyber-attack on their business. These organizations are traditionally under resourced and have limited technological or financial support to dedicate exclusively to maintaining cybersecurity, making it difficult to completely protect their entire attack surface. SMBs may also lack the expertise necessary to implement many of these controls. While the most fundamental practices can go a long way, technical knowledge is still necessary to protect against advanced threats. Lack or resources and expertise lead to increased vulnerabilities that cyber criminals will exploit.
In the event of a successful cyber-attack or data breach, SMBs will face extensive financial, reputational, and even legal damages. Cyber criminals will often steal data or halt services in exchange for a ransom payment (ransomware). This payment can make or break an SMB that is not insured (more on Cyber Insurance). Additionally, if it is found that your organization is unable to protect its client's data, then your clients will move on in favor for a more secure partner. In many cases, organizations may be held responsible by the law in the event where compliance is not maintained, or cyber events aren't properly reported. Any of these consequences could lead to the closure of a business.
Additionally, SMBs often serve as suppliers or partners to larger companies. Cybercriminals might target an SMB as an entry point into the more secure networks of larger corporations. This makes cybersecurity not just a necessity for the SMB, but also a requirement for maintaining business relationships with larger companies. It may be tempting to think that because an organization is small, they aren't a target, but often times it's for that reason they are targeted.
SMBs must take a proactive approach to their cybersecurity rather than a reactive one. According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, 27% of small businesses claim they are one disaster of threat away from shutting down their business. Before this disaster strikes, your organization must implement the necessary security controls to protect your private data. Fortunately, many of the most effective controls are extremely practical. Every organization should practice essential cyber hygiene including mandatory security awareness training, password polices, and MFA. These tactics will help protect employees from phishing attempts or social engineering schemes. However, these cannot be the sum of your cybersecurity efforts.
Many SMBs should consider enlisting the help of a managed service provider (MSP) to support their security goals. An MSP offers expertise and resources that may be unattainable for an SMB by themselves. These resources help small business implement the required security controls to protect against advanced threats.
Corporate Information Technologies (CorpInfoTech) is an MSP that is dedicated to providing enterprise level IT and security solutions to SMBs. Our services address the unique cybersecurity issues of SMBs across various industries' and are adaptable to every client's needs. We offer 24x7 monitoring so that your network is protected no matter the day or hour. Using tools like Cylance|ENPOINT, CorpInfoTech is able to secure every device and endpoint that is exists within your IT infrastructure offering organization wide security.
CorpInfoTech (Corporate Information Technologies) provides small to mid-market organizations with expert I.T. services, including security assessment, cybersecurity penetration tests, managed services (MSP), firewall management, and vulnerability management. CorpInfoTech can help organizations, quantify, create, refine, and mitigate the risks presented by business threatening disasters in whatever form they may be disguised.