Costs of cyberattacks against small businesses are going up

According to CNBC article (https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/13/cyberattacks-cost-small-companies-200k-putting-many-out-of-business.html) cyberattacks cost small companies $200,000. According to this same article, over half of these that get attacked are out of business within 6 months of the attack.

The question for today’s business owner is not a matter of if anymore. You need to be prepared for the “when” by being prepared to win.

Some ways to be prepared:

1. Check your passwords: use passphrases instead. Make sure they are not known hacked passwords. (Here is a small list) Make sure they do not use any personal information.
2. Don’t rely just on passwords: use some form of multi-factor authentication. We recommend a solution like DUO that uses a push notification and can utilize the Touch ID or Face ID from your phone as an added layer.
3. Firewall: make sure your current firewall is up to the task. Older firewalls may not be. Ensure that the security services have not expired on it.
4. Threat Protection Software: utilize a product like Bitdefender Advanced Protection, TrendMicro, or similar. Don’t rely on the free versions especially for your business. Go ahead and get the advanced version as it offers more protection against ransomware and zero-day attacks. In the long run, this will save you money. Make sure you password protect the uninstall or management of the solution.
5. Backup and Recovery: make sure you have a good recovery strategy. Note I did not say backup. A good recovery strategy starts with backup but does not end there. Ask yourself: How long can my business be down? This will assist in what kind of solution you really need. Test the recovery of your data regularly. A good recovery strategy includes, nightly backups with offsite replication, data retention based on your business, yearly tests, and a plan to recover not only onsite but in the cloud.
6. Annual Assessments: check your risk and security postures at least once a year. This will give you a good indication of where you are, what you have done to improve from the previous year, and what still needs to be addressed.

If you are curious as to the risk level of your business, GreenQube can provide a network assessment of your company. Contact us here to request an evaluation or for more information on what you can do to protect your business.