October is considered North America’s Cybersecurity Awareness Month. Once again, it is that time of year where conversation resolving around cybersecurity has risen in popularity. For some, it’s a helpful reminder of its importance, and for others it’s a harsh wake-up call. For those who have kept up-to-date with the best cybersecurity practices, this time of the year can be taken to congratulate themselves and to reflect on the effectiveness of their efforts. For others who have made little-to-no progress in this field, this time period of increased discussion regarding cybersecurity should be taken advantage of, in the hopes of catching up.
Cybersecurity has proven to be important to all businesses, regardless of their industry. The cyber environment is not to be taken lightly. Its ever evolving nature entails that ensuring one’s business is fully protected is a daunting task. In fact, cybercrime has been recorded to increase 600% during the COVID-19 pandemic, entailing a global annual cost of $6 trillion, equating to 1% of Global GDP. Thus, cybersecurity is currently a more relevant topic than ever before. The truth is, cybercriminals target all businesses, not just the “big” ones. On average, malware attacks can cost businesses up to $2 million to resolve. 71 million people are directly impacted by these attacks (that’s about one fifth of the American population). Of course, these criminals don’t abide by any moral code either, for more than 90% of healthcare organizations reported a security breach in the past three years.
If your business doesn’t have a large enough I.T. department to develop your own infrastructure security there is no need to fret because most other businesses don’t either. In this case, it makes more sense economically to employ a reputable third party company to undertake your security needs. There are a variety of things to look for in particular when searching for a company to secure your infrastructure. This includes a robust security system capable of identifying and eliminating potential threats, but also user education, security features, infrastructure configuration and management, privacy law compliance, support, and much more. Nowadays, implementing the bare minimum security measures is unsatisfactory. One must go above and beyond to secure their business. Independent research is valuable, but talking with a security professional is always beneficial, and can highlight important intricacies you may miss on your own.
Extortion, identity theft, data breach, non-payment, and phishing attacks are considered to be the most common cybercrimes. Keep in mind, it’s not just your business operations which are at risk, but also your business’ reputation. When push comes to shove you want to be prepared for the worst. In this case, any indication that you neglected to take precaution may spell the downfall of your business. Thus, investing time and resources into implementing a reputable, third party, cloud infrastructure service may provide your business with the secure infrastructure it has been missing. Who knows, maybe Cybersecurity Awareness Month has brought something your business has been lacking to your attention. Regardless, if you’re interested in finding out how vulnerable your business is to cyberattacks, reach out to us today to speak to the specialists!
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