Do you know why you need small business cyber security consulting? Because locking your front door after a burglar has already ransacked your house doesn’t help much, and the same is true of cybersecurity.
With the help of a cyber security provider, you can stay ahead of security threats with well-tested, leading-edge technologies.
Ransomware, Trojans, crypto mining, and more make the news regularly. Businesses and consumers are both aware of the threats. The volume of threats is growing. Cybercriminals mix things up all the time to outsmart targets. The result is more sophisticated cyberattacks.
Password theft and password-based breaches remain a normal occurrence. But that’s only one area of concern. Cybersecurity experts warn that, “the worst is yet to come.”
Small Business Cyber Security Consulting services help you to stay on top of evolving threats.
For a small, fixed monthly cost, you add a team of experts to your arsenal. Instead of reacting after the fact, they work to identify any vulnerabilities. Instead of reacting, they work to identify vulnerabilities and prevent attacks.
When security is internal, a single person or small, overworked team tries to stay current. Partner with an IT Company to allow you to keep focused on your business tasks. You can trust the IT team to know the latest, greatest technologies. The experts do the necessary training and attend the security conferences, and your business benefits without having to spend finite resources.
Investing in Small Business Cyber Security Consulting makes a difference
An early order of business for your IT Provider is learning your system, network, and applications. These IT experts get to know your business and its workflow needs. Then, they recommend the best tools for you to use.
They make suggestions that prioritize productivity, ease of use, cost, and security. You don’t have to deal directly with a vendor salesperson. You gain an objective perspective on what technology truly suits your needs.
Regrettably, your technology users remain a weak link, but you can boost your employee cyber education and awareness (and you should). A managed services provider (MSP) partner adds levels of precaution. They will test and track staff cyber behavior on-site and off-premises.
An MSP partner understands your entire technology ecosystem. They determine how your business solutions operate together to keep your business protected.
This proactive approach can save you data breach devastation. Financial damages can be large. In a 2018 Cisco study, 54% of all cyberattacks resulted in damages of more than $500,000 USD.
Those costs aren’t the only risk of a data breach, though. Your business also risks:
- theft of international property;
- loss of competitive advantage;
- damage to brand reputation;
- customer churn;
- regulatory fines.
No matter your business size or industry, you are at risk of a Cyber Security attack. It’s that simple.
Cisco found 40% of companies with 250–499 employees had experienced a severe security breach in 2018.
Key Takeaway
The threat landscape is always shifting. You will be at risk of targeted attacks against your employees, or other advanced threats.
Small Business Cyber Security Consulting services ensure you have the people, processes, and technology to prevent attack. Plus, if the worst happens, they have the skills to mitigate the damage and get you back up and running quickly.
Now That You Have Learned Why Cyber Security Protection is so Important for Your Business – Here Are The Top 5 IT Security Issues We Typically Find.
Companies that suffer security breaches nearly always have at least one of these IT security issues. Is your company guilty of any of them?
No Backups
A shocking number of businesses are not backing up their data properly. According to market research company Clutch, 60 percent of businesses who suffer a data loss shut down within six months.
Reactive and Not Proactive
The world is constantly changing. The IT world doubly so. Attackers are always figuring out new ways to break into businesses, hardware evolves faster than most can keep up, and old systems fail due to wear and tear far quicker than we would like.
A huge number of businesses wait until these issues impact them directly before they respond. The result is higher costs, longer downtime, and harder hitting impacts.
Being proactive about your IT needs means systems do not have to break or be compromised before they are fixed. The result for your business is less downtime, fewer losses, and lower IT costs.
Weak Passwords
A surprising number of people will use the password “password” to secure some of their most important accounts. Even more still will write their own password on a post-it note next to their computer.
With an insecure password or worse; none at all, tracking the individual responsible for reports or accountability becomes impossible. This can result in both auditing disasters on top of technical ones.
Insufficient Staff Training
Humans in the system are commonly the weakest point in IT security. Great IT security can be a bit like having state-of-the-art locks on a door, but the door is propped open with a milk crate. If staff are not trained to use the lock, it’s worth nothing at all.
Often times businesses can justify spending big on security for the latest and greatest IT defenses. The very same firms may exceed their budget and spend almost zero on training staff to use them. In this instance, a little goes a long way. Security training can help staff to identify a threat where it takes place, avoiding and mitigating damage, often completely.
Weak Data Controls
It can be easy for both employees and firms to focus on the costs of devices and hardware purchased for the business. The reality is that the data held on devices is almost always worth many times more than the device that holds it.
For many companies, their approach to data hasn’t been changed since the business was first founded. Critical data is often held on single machines that haven’t been updated precisely because they hold critical data. Such machines are clearly vulnerable, outdated, and prone to failure.
Common problems with simple solutions
Each of these common issues have simple solutions to secure against IT failure. With a professional eye and expertise in the field, every business should be defended against IT issues that risk the firm. If you would like to implement Cyber Security Protection for your business, let us know by calling (888) 596-3998.
We currently provide Cybersecurity services for clients in the following cities: Atlanta, Jacksonville, Orlando, Tampa, Miami, Fort Lauderdale, NYC, Los Angeles, Houston and Dallas.
Cyber Security FAQ
What is SMB in cyber security?
SMB is an abbreviation for Small to Medium sized business. For some time now, Small and Medium sized businesses have become more of a target for hacking. Making it just as important for them to protect their systems, end users and network as a large enterprise size organization.
How many small businesses get hacked?
The Small Business Administration tells us there are over 30 million small businesses in the US. It has been reported that approximately 20% of small businesses experience a data breach each year. And roughly 60% of those small businesses that experience a breach close within 6 months.
Why do small businesses need cyber security?
Small Businesses should be focused on cyber security for the same reasons as a large corporation. That is to protect their clients data and insure their own small business longevity, keeping all business systems and networks secured along with ongoing employee security awareness training is highly recommended.
What is cyber security consulting?
Cyber security consulting by an independent consultant or IT company provides remediation, vulnerability assessments and end user security training based around the companies entire IT infrastructure. Most providers offer both one-time consulting and long term monthly security monitoring and management.
Give us a call today at (888) 596-3998 to get started on your Cybersecurity Services.
