Guest Post: Cybersecurity Tips for Small to Medium Sized Businesses

In this guest post from my friend, Chuck Clifford of Synobis Network Solutions, we'll learn about some of the precautions you should take when it comes to protecting your data.  There was a time when I thought only very large corporations and government agencies needed to concern themselves with cyber security, and that's not the case anymore.  So far this year, I know of three companies in the restoration industry ranging in size from 12 to 80 employees who were struck by a variety of cyber crimes.  Please read the brief article below and if you'd like to learn more, feel free to reach out to Chuck - his contact information is below.

-Scott

We all hear all the statistics about cybercrime. But the cyber criminals only go after the big
companies, right?

Cyber criminals are a threat to every business – no matter what size your business is. According
to a report published by cloud security company Barracuda Networks in March of 2022, small
businesses are three times more likely to be targeted by cybercriminals than larger companies.
But as a small business owner, what can you do to protect your business? You are out there
every day working hard to keep your business profitable, make payroll, have money to reinvest
in your business, etc. You really don’t have a big budget for IT Security.

While there are no solutions that will guarantee 100% that your business will be safe, here are
4 basic areas you to focus on to provide some peace of mind as a small business owner:

1. Endpoint Detection and Response 
Endpoints in this scenario are defined as physical devices that connect to and exchange
information with the organization’s computer network. Software solutions can be deployed
to monitor all the endpoint devices in the network for malicious activity. There are many
options for endpoint protection for companies today, all with slightly different capabilities.
The latest products feature not only cyber-attack detection capabilities but also an
immediate “response” capability that will quarantine the compromised device from the
network to prevent spread throughout the network.

2. Implement Multi-factor Authentication
By this point, we have all most likely encountered Multi-factor Authentication in our lives.
Most financial institutions require it. Many software applications do, also. When you get
that code sent to your phone or email, and you need to provide that code as an additional
login step; that is Multi-factor Authentication. It is just an extra safeguard to ensure that the
person asking for access is who they say they are.
Why not put this step into your access procedures for your company network? It provides
your company additional security and, in most cases, is not cost-prohibitive to deploy.

3. Security Awareness Training 
In 2021, nearly 40 percent of breaches were initiated through phishing attacks. It is a fact –
most cybersecurity breaches are caused by human error. Educating employees about the
threats that are out there and implementing a structured education platform can be crucial
to keeping your network safe. A Security Awareness Training program should include
simulated phishing attacks that provide reporting around the amount of phishing emails
that are getting opened, and then provide education to those employees who are opening
those phishing emails. It is a relatively small investment that can really pay off.

4. Backup, Backup, Backup
As mentioned earlier, no protection solutions are 100% guaranteed. So, if an attack is
successful, you need to make sure your data is backed up, safe and accessible. Do you
know how your data is backed up? Do you really understand how safe it is? Do you really
understand how long it will take to get access to your stored data in the event of a security
breach or disaster event? Today’s cloud backup solutions provide sound, dependable
answers to those questions.

Chuck Clifford, Synobis Network Solutions

Phone 215.710.0001 x114  |  Mobile 610.246.6879

[email protected]  |  www.synobis.com