Category: CyberSecurity

Key Takeaways: Cyber threats and hacks are a nuisance to many businesses today. They disrupt your operations by infecting your IT systems, damaging your brand reputation, stealing your intellectual properties, and pushing loyal customers to your competition. Six percent of businesses have paid ransoms to regain control of their IT systems, and if you think the state of cybercrime is bad now, hold tight – it will only get worse. Cybersecurity Ventures predicts that cybercrime will cost over 10 billion dollars by 2025.  Is doom by cybercrime inevitable, then? Hardly. If you know what to do, you can set your system up to minimize, if not eliminate, any cyber threats your system will face. This doesn’t mean you need to learn cybersecurity, though. You can outsource the task to the experts at cybersecurity companies. This guide explains how a cybersecurity company can help your business and why you should choose to hire out your cybersecurity over traditional in-house teams. Let’s start with what a cybersecurity company is and why you should care about what they do. What are Cybersecurity Companies, and Why are they Important? The main goal of a cybersecurity company is to safeguard IT network systems’ confidentiality, integrity, and availability from cyberattacks and uninvited access.  There have been record numbers of cyberattacks lately, so there are quite a few cybersecurity companies to choose from. Famous names in the cybersecurity space, like Avast and McAfee, are some of the most popular examples.  There have been questions about whether these cybersecurity companies are needed around, and the short answer is: absolutely. As a business owner, you know information is critical in driving revenue to your business. However, that same information in the wrong hands can bring disaster to your doorsteps. Here’s what that means. Cyber intruders are always on the hunt for vulnerable systems to penetrate. That could be your system, depending on the security you have in place. You will face many cybersecurity risks without a robust system in place, some of which include the following: Phishing Phishing attacks are social engineering strategies that steal vital information from users, such as login credentials and credit card information.  The attacker poses as a trusted entity with important information for the user. This can be in the form of emails, text messages, and the like. The intent is to lure the reader into leaving sensitive information on a spammy website or downloading malware into the user’s computer system.  Unfortunately, only one phishing attack takes your system to its knees.  Ransomware Think of ransomware as kidnapping – only this time, it’s digital, and the kid, in this case, is sensitive data. With ransomware, an attacker encrypts your data with malware and denies you access to that data. As you’d guess, the attacker then asks for payment (ransom) before relinquishing access or a decryption key to you.  The ransom payment is usually thousands of dollars or intangible currencies like Bitcoin or Ethereum. For small businesses, or even for large ones, this ransom payment can be crippling.  Ransomware attackers are ruthless. They usually target organizations whose only feasible option is to pay a ransom, but small-scale businesses are generally the hardest hit. -IoT Attacks IoT devices have embedded software and sensors that allows them to share information from one point to another. Sharing information between these IoTs is vulnerable to hacking, however. That’s why businesses are sacrificing the cost of 4 Burj Khalifas to secure IoT security. -Endpoint attacks  Most cyberattacks target software and IT systems, but endpoint attacks target the user system itself. Instead of going after an app on your phone, for example, endpoint attacks will target the phone itself. These types of attacks are rare, as they’re expensive to pull off and may require the attacker to move around the organization’s workplace.  This doesn’t mean endpoint attacks aren’t a real threat to organizations. A study by the Ponemon Institute shows that 68 percent of businesses have been victims of one or more endpoint attacks compromising organization data.  -Formjacking Simply put, it’s when hackers hijack forms on your website, so any time a user completes a form on your site, the attackers get access to that information. Formjacking hackers usually target payment gateways and shopping carts, as that’s where users reveal their payment details and other sensitive information.  Formjacking is a stealthy and destructive way to steal user information – just like someone tapping your phone. It’s no surprise that close to 5,000 sites are formjacked every month. The attacker makes a copy of your responses without permission from you or the website you’re filling out a form on.  Your way out of these cybersecurity risks is through cybersecurity companies. These companies make it their business to keep the wolves at bay so you can focus on serving your customers and growing your business. Cybersecurity companies are not your only option; you can also get an in-house cybersecurity team. The only question now is, which do you choose – in-house cybersecurity or outsourcing to experts? Hiring Cybersecurity Companies vs. Using an In-House Cybersecurity Team Many business owners remain drawn to the stability and dependability of hiring a typical, full-time specialist to fill the cybersecurity role. Although choosing an internal expert may be tempting, it is always wise to consider all of the implications of this decision.  Here are the facts for you so you can weigh them for yourself. Pros of Hiring Cybersecurity Companies for Your Business Cons of Hiring Cybersecurity Companies for Your Business Pros of Hiring an In-House Cybersecurity Person Cons of Hiring an In-House Cybersecurity Person Outsourcing cybersecurity establishes a baseline for improved online threat protection for your business, but you can choose to go in-house if you want control over every aspect of your setup. 3 Ways Cybersecurity Companies Save Your Business Time and Money We’ve covered the pros and cons of outsourcing cybersecurity to a professional cybersecurity company, so now, let’s look at some ways cybersecurity companies can save your business time and money. 1. Get

Cyber security is a hot subject for organizations to discuss. Challenges regarding cyber security are growing, not fading. That means that you need an IT strategy that will go the distance to keep you in business. The National Cybersecurity Institute reports that half of SMBs are victims of cyberattacks. Of those businesses that are attacked, 60% go out of business. Unfortunately, breaches are tremendously harmful not only to your company’s data but to your bottom line too. The global economy incurs damages of $445 billion each year because of cybercrime, with over $160 billion because of theft of intellectual property. If cybercriminals keep you up at night, worrying that they will compromise your company, what you need is a proactive IT strategy to protect your business and its data. Here is a guide to help. Cyber Security Programs First, you need a superior cyber security program for your IT strategy. This will document your company’s information security policies, guidelines, procedures, and standards. It is a roadmap to ensure you have effective cybersecurity management practices and controls. At Techromatic, we created CyberShield to help you achieve your goals with a turn-key cyber security program.  Other services, such as vulnerability scans and penetration tests may be required for data compliance, depending on the regulatory requirements of your industry. In fact, PCI-DSS, or the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard, requires vulnerability scanning and penetration testing. What is a Vulnerability Scan? This will look for vulnerabilities that are known in your system. It will report potential exposure. A vulnerability scan is usually automated. A vulnerability scan will identify chinks in your armor.  For example, many companies don’t change the default credentials of computing devices inside (and sometimes outside!) their network.  This could lead to a hacker who gets inside your network easily gaining access to critical devices and information. Another common worst-practice is when companies don’t regularly patch and update their machines, including servers and workstations.  (It’s one of the reasons we like to outsource to cloud providers, since that is hopefully taken care of for us!).   Unpatched systems can lead to the same kinds of data breaches.   And if you’ve ever heard of zero-day attacks, then you know it can happen as soon as a vulnerability is detected, almost before you blink. A vulnerabilty scan is a test we run against your infrastructure to identify these kinds (and other kinds) of vulnterabilities in an environment, so that they can be corrected.    What is a Penetration Test? A penetration test is a simulated attack on your network infrastructure.   Typically white-hat hackers and cybersecurity engineers will expliot vulnerabilities and use specialized tools to try and get past a system’s defenses.    Some of these tools use finesse and great technical knowlege to wield, and others are easier to use.   Good engineers will use a variety of tools to find a way into the network. Usually, this is a manual test that is performed by a cyber security professional. All penetrations tests should be closely coordinated with the customer and are often done outside of business hours so as to minimize disruption to the firm. Data Compliance Data compliance is not only important to your business but also to your customers. The most challenging part for the business is keeping personal data safe as waves of cybercriminals continue to attack and steal data. That is why you find so many laws and regulations now to ensure that companies are handling data responsibly. The most notable laws and regulations include PCI-DSS (as we have already mentioned), HIPAA, and GDPR. What is HIPAA? HIPAA is the acronym for the “Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996.” This is a federal law. It requires the creation of national standards aimed at protecting a patient’s sensitive health information. You cannot disclose a patient’s information unless the patient gives consent. Further, there is the HIPAA Security Rule. This covers organizations requiring protection of ePHI, or electronically protected health information. It ensures that the company has the protection that can defend against an administrative, physical, or technical breach. What is GDPR? In April 2016, the European Parliament adopted GDPR. GDPR is a regulation protecting citizens of the European Union. To adhere to GDPR, businesses must protect individuals’ privacy and personal data. Also, it demands exported data to be monitored when outside of the European Union. Violators of GDPR will receive a fine accordingly. Cyber Security Training for Staff The way to minimize risk is a good line of defense. This means educating your staff about external threats and arming them with cybersecurity awareness basics. Here is how to get started. First, you want to make an explicit statement to your employees about the importance of cybersecurity. Say it in a way that they can relate to so that they can better understand how important it is. Next, instruct your staff to take care of their company’s devices. According to a survey by Forrester, 15% of company breaches happen because of lost devices. You also want to teach employees the basics about how to recognize suspicious activity. Instruct them on signs like a device that slows down, strange pop-ups when they start up, new apps suddenly appearing, not being able to control a mouse or keyboard, etc. If your employees find suspicious signs or activities on their devices, they must report them immediately to your IT department. Then, teach employees the importance of unique passwords. Tell them to change their passwords periodically. Plus, let them know universal passwords are dangerous. Finally, cybersecurity basics are a great start, but you want ongoing training and awareness. Cybersecurity training for your entire staff should always, always be a part of your priority list. All it takes is one person’s lack of understanding to cause a major data breach. Encrypted Email Last, for your IT strategy, you want to investigate the use of encrypted email and how it can benefit your business. Email encryption leverages an authentication process. It prevents a message from

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