Here we are months later, still dealing with the changes this pandemic has created. Most changes haven’t been fun, but it’s made for very interesting times. Many businesses are focused on figuring out how to maintain staff, motivate existing staff remotely, and keep staff busy while preparing for what tomorrow will bring as we slowly start to come out of the COVID-19 quarantine. Now more than ever is the time to re-evaluate your business’s Security Posture and implement solutions you may have been hesitant to consider previously. It’s predicted that by 2021, cyber crime will cost the world $6 trillion annually. Even more frightening is the fact that, on average, there is a hacker attack every 39 seconds.
In the past week, Google states it has identified more than 18 million phishing emails daily, all of them featured the theme of coronavirus. This threat speaks directly to Google clients but acknowledges that everyone is a target of phishing attacks. Many businesses have already taken the opportunity during this downtime to implement security solutions to address security vulnerabilities, specifically phishing attacks, and to educate or train their employees on how to better protect your business. Things to consider:
- Recall from our previous blogs that 95% of cyber-security breaches can be traced back to human error. It is most important to remind and train users on what to look for, as well as what behaviors make users a high risk for phishing attacks. With many employees working from home at some level, now is the time to provide them with self-paced training opportunities. Recent findings identified that increased investment in employee training can reduce the risk of a successful cyber-attack by 45-70%.
- Increase the level of email security. There are many options available for hardening your email security, including targeted threat protection, impersonation protection, email encryption, content and attachment filtering, and email continuity. By utilizing these types of tools, you can avoid the intrusion and stealing of company data and intellectual property. Protecting the technology is only part of the security mindset.
- Understand the costs of Cyber breaches and compromises. There is no doubt these are tough times for everyone, but staying vigilant with establishing your security mindset will prevent making tough times infinitely worse. 44% of small businesses estimate they could lose $10,000 or more during just one hour of downtime. Other studies have found that 60% of small businesses go out of business after a breach. In addition to the hard costs associated with a breach, consider the costs of downtime, lost productivity, missed deadlines, slow responsiveness and brand reputation! By assessing where your network is today, you can prevent becoming a target.
The Bottom Line:
For many established businesses, the risk is too great not to begin thinking about your security mindset and where you stand as an organization. There will always be some level of risk in today’s cyber landscape, but partnering with the right managed security services provider will substantially lower your risk level. We can help you to define what acceptable risk looks like for your business and determine what it will take to keep risk at an acceptable level. Call us today to Talk with one of our live experts!
