Did you know? 

• In 2020, the average business cost of a cyberattack was $3.4 million and it took over 200 days to detect the breach. (Source: IBM)
• Ransomware attacks cost businesses over $20 billion in 2020, having grown by over 50 times in just 4 years. (Source: Cybersecurity Ventures)
• Speaking to the urgent demand for cybersecurity help, in the US, there are over 500,000 OPEN cybersecurity jobs waiting to be filled. (Source: Net Sparker)
• The average cost for ransom with a ransomware attack increased from $5,000 in 2018 to $200,000 in 2020. (Source: National Security Institute)
• Public companies lose an estimated 8.6% of their value after a cyber breach. (Source: Comparitech)

7 Critical and Preventable IT Mistakes

• Not Identifying cybersecurity risks and vulnerabilities.
  • The greatest threat to your network is from negligent, potentially well-intentioned employees who simply fail to follow your own agreed-upon protocol. The National Institute of Standards and Technologies (NIST) determined “Identify” within their Cybersecurity Framework to be the first step that companies must take to reduce their risk and thwart potential attacks.
  • What can you do? Develop a thorough organizational understanding of your own systems, people, assets, data and capabilities. Also, set protocol and permissions for which employees can access what information. 

• Failing to protect critical IT systems with updated and enterprise-quality solutions.
  • In the realm of cybersecurity, many small businesses fail to adopt a layered approach to cybersecurity, causing unmitigated vulnerabilities. NIST’s second function within their Cybersecurity Framework is “Protect”.  
  • What can you do? Implement processes that support your ability to limit or contain the impact of a potential cybersecurity event. A layered approach provides protection of your assets in key areas.  Many common “protection services” for small businesses do not provide multi-layer protection.  Sadly, many small companies have a false reliance using “off the shelf” cybersecurity and anti-virus products. 

• Implementing Detection systems that are insufficient for their business.
  • Slow, incomplete, or ineffective detection systems provide a false sense of security.  Many “out of the box” detection systems do not respond quickly enough with a prompt to act, or they respond so frequently that companies simply disregard them.  As a result, the detection system is of almost no value to the company. “Detect” is the third function of their Cybersecurity framework.
  • What can you do? Develop and implement appropriate activities to identify the occurrence of a cybersecurity event, and focus on detection systems that specifically address your unique needs. The key is to spend enough on a state-of-the art detection and notification capabilities that will provide the proper alerts and recommend the best action. 

• Inability to respond quickly or effectively during or after a cyber event.
  • When a cybersecurity incident occurs, you must be able to respond quickly and contain the impact of the event. One recent example is a client who found themselves the victim of a ransomware attack.  Before calling Linked MSP, they were about to make a bad decision to power off their servers.  Fortunately, they called and advice was given to prevent further damage as well as providing a course of action to recover. “Respond” is the fourth function of the NIST Cybersecurity framework. 
  • What can you do? Develop and implement appropriate activities Run Books or Security Plans to act regarding a detected cybersecurity incident.  Successful responses flow from thorough response planning. Spend time with your IT team discussing what could happen and developing clearly communicated strategies and documentation. 

• Failure to have strong recovery strategies in place before a cyber event.
  • If data is lost, it is critical to recover that lost data as quickly as possible.  Two important data recovery processes that are commonly overlooked are: 1) maintaining a secure offsite backup, and 2) validation that the data backup is recoverable. NIST’s fifth and final function within their Cybersecurity Framework is “Recover”.  
  • What can you do? Develop a plan with appropriate activities that you will use to prioritize the recovery process.  Maintain documentation to efficiently restore services that are impaired due to a cybersecurity incident. 

• Insufficient training of employees to spot malicious emails.
  • Cyber Attackers have become incredibly sophisticated.  Gone are the days when you might receive an obviously suspicious email saying, “your cousin is in dire straits in a foreign country and you must pay cash now to free them from peril.” Today, a phishing email may look like it comes from your boss, your best client, or even your bank. 
  • What can you do? Explore email phishing education programs and training for your team. Some Cybersecurity partners (such as Linked MSP) provide this service as part of their monthly client support. 

• Taking the wrong actions when you discover potential malicious emails. 
  • One of the most dangerous things an employee can do to a spam email is simply click “unsubscribe”! By clicking on that link, they could activate the downloading of malware, ransomware, or other viruses onto a computer!
  • What can you do? Seek a meeting with a cybersecurity expert.  Linked MSP is one of many potential partners available to you to guide you and educate you on steps to take to improve your cybersecurity effectiveness. Take advantage of the resources available to you. 

Linked MSP is an Outsourced IT and Cybersecurity partner, supporting companies and non-profit organizations with 10-500 employees in a wide range of industries. Linked MSP is based in Northern California and serves clients in the Western US. They serve in many different roles to guide clients.  To meet with their team, visit www.linkedmsp.com to learn more.