In the wake of the WannaCry attack, cyber security concerns have escalated, as they should. The statistics on data breaches are harrowing. SMBs represent more than 50% of data breaches. The National Cyber Security Alliance found that 60% of small companies are unable to sustain their businesses over six months after a cyber-attack. The proliferation of ransomware alone is astounding. In 2016, there were 167 times the number of this breed of attacks than the year before.* These attackers know that SMBs don’t have the resources to dedicate to robust security. What protection can these smaller operations possibly have against this new wave of crime?
The industry leaders at SAP have some smart suggestions:
For starters, when it comes to your business applications—things like your financial, marketing and production systems—one of the smartest moves small businesses can make is to move to the cloud.
The advantages are compelling. They include the constant monitoring of infrastructure by highly trained solution providers. Also, secure servers are hosted in a variety of locations, safeguarding data better than an in-house datacenter. And, need I mention the convenience aspect? Think about it. Things like data storage, security patch management, vulnerability scanning, web application firewall, advanced threat management (you get the idea) are no longer your problem, but your cloud provider’s. And these things are managed better, which in turn makes your business more secure.
Yes, there have been high-profile cases of cloud security breaches—say, Target and Apple’s iCloud. But, as Trip Wire points out, these “breaches were a result of human error, not shortcomings of the cloud.” In fact, human error is the primary cause of the majority of security breaches. A 2014 IBM report indicates that, in more than 95 percent of all the security incidents they investigated, human error was a factor.
Breaches via mobile devices is another burgeoning security concern. Citing again Intuit’s e-book: “Nearly half of small business owners use a smartphone as the primary device to run their operations.” As smartphone use and capability continues to boom, and as “bring your own device” policies continue to grow, mobile will increasingly become a security concern. We’re already seeing some of the problems.
These include connecting to public Wi-Fi hotspots, which can expose your data or can be malicious themselves. VPNs are a simple fix to this problem, yet, according to CNBC, it’s a step only 18 percent of consumers will take.
The need for up-to-date cybersecurity measures is something that is only growing in importance. As cybercrime evolves, and as its reach and impact increases, the attention it will demand will only increase too. This is especially true for the small business community, which can no longer afford to remain blissfully indifferent. Not when it is their entire business that is on the line.
CTG can help move some or all of your operations to the cloud. Corporate Technologies Group is vendor-agnostic. We have strategic partnerships with over 140 different Cloud, VoIP, WAN and, of course, Security service providers. We support clients from network design to implementation, post-installation support and remediation. We can ensure your cloud computing infrastructure is built to suit your business needs now and into the future.
Download our white paper 10 Problems Solved by the Cloud to learn more ways the cloud can benefit your business.
