Small Businesses Face a ‘Perfect Storm’ for Cybersecurity

What is a Perfect Storm? Wikipedia describes a Perfect Storm as an event in which a rare combination of circumstances drastically aggravates the event.   In other words, a worst-case scenario.  Today Cybersecurity presents small businesses with a Perfect Storm as they try to protect their IT environments. Hackers are increasingly focusing on SMBs (43% of cyber attacks were focused on small businesses), and too often they are successful (SMBs accounted for 62% of all reported breaches).  The results can be devastating, with 60% of SMBs reporting a breach going out of business within 6 months of the attack.

There are three causes of the SMB Cybersecurity storm:

Lack of IT Resources:  SMBs have limited resources devoted to IT. The IT teams are small, or maybe even non-existent. Budgets are limited, and so is the bandwidth to stay on top of all the latest developments in technology.

Hackers are more motivated and sophisticated: Attacks are coming from all sides. Ransomware-as-a-Service makes it easy for a bad actor to launch an attack. Most SMBs rely on legacy, signature-based point solutions, but advanced and persistent attacks can easily bypass these systems. Worst of all, your employees are often the ones letting the attackers in by unknowingly downloading malware, ignoring updates, or falling for a phishing email.

The proliferation of cybersecurity vendors and solutions: There were over 600 vendors at the 2018 RSA cybersecurity conference in San Francisco. The cybersecurity market is filled with broad based marketing tactics and buzzwords, leaving SMBs overwhelmed as they try to figure out what solutions would work best for their environment.

So, what should a Small Business look for when selecting a security solution?  If you know what to look for, SMBs can find solutions that leverage the same solutions employed by Fortune 500 companies, but at a reasonable cost.

Cloud-Based Solutions: A Cloud solution can leverage massive computing, storage, and analytical power to deliver an advanced security platform. Additionally, cloud-delivered solutions follow a pay-as-you-go model, which is ideal for SMBs and don’t require a large up-front investment. Finally, a strong cloud solution will integrate different aspects of security such as Identity and Access Management, Email Security, Cloud Security, and Endpoint Security.

Employee Training: Even the best security solution won’t do any good if your employees aren’t security savvy. As threats become more sophisticated, and attacks increasingly target organizations of all sizes, every team member must be relied on to keep data and security secure. A good security training program provides employees with the knowledge and tools to quickly identify and stay ahead of cyber threats. 

Port53 Technologies was formed to assist SMB organizations in quickly and confidently testing, deploying and implementing the right technology solutions that best fit their needs and environment.  To find out more about the security solutions best suited for small and medium-sized businesses, contact us at email, phone, or explore out site at www.port53tech.com.