Network security should be top of your to-do list?
Now more than ever, every business is suspect to a cyber-attack. Whilst we agree it is very difficult to stop these attacks, you can take precautions to stop them affecting your business. It has been claimed, that 60% of large UK businesses have been hit by cyber-attacks over the past year.
The favoured vectors are currently Viruses, Spyware and Malware but who know what nasty little surprise could be around the corner. For every attack there is a cost to the business and depending on the time to repair, this could to be significant over the course of the fiscal year, especially, as a lot of these companies are experiencing monthly attacks! What is more alarming, is that only an estimated 10% of businesses has any form of security management plan. The only way to stop attacks is to ensure your network security is up to date and robust enough to counter these attacks.
You may be aware, that the UK government has taken its own steps to help you to better understand network security, by introducing the Cyber Health Check Report and has launched the Cyber Essentials Scheme to raise awareness. This followed the major Talk Talk breach in 2015 where almost 50% of the FTSE350 said cyber-crime was the single biggest threat to their business this was up from 29% in 2014 and is expected to be higher in 2016.
It was recently reported that the Minister for the Digital Economy, Ed Vaizey, warned that too many businesses were losing money and data, and this was effecting consumer confidence. Let’s face it, we have enough economic factors that we can’t control to worry about, without adding to the uncertainty with something you can take steps to control! Mr Vaizey has advised business that the minimum steps they should be taking is adopting the Cyber Essentials Scheme.
With all the publicity recently, I don’t have to remind you that lots of very high profile companies have had data stolen, which include passwords and bank details. There are also the thousands of companies that have been hit with the CryptoLocker virus that if you are lucky has just caused you a massive headache and a few days extra work. If you have been unlucky, then you could be looking at full system rebuild.
More information on network security.
There is a really good short video (4 Mins) from Cisco that will help you understand Advanced Malware Protection or if you prefer, I can send you the latest Unified Threat Management White Paper from another of our partners WatchGuard?
All the above just emphasises that you have to take security seriously.
How can Unleashed help you?
In the first instance, you have to ensure that your network security is of a level to protect your business. As mentioned above the Government has recently launched the Cyber Essentials Scheme to raise awareness of cyber-crime. This is an excellent starting point and will help you. Unleashed have qualified Cyber Essentials Consultants.
Business Continuity should be a top priority of every business, if you can’t work you can’t earn money and pay your staff. Ransomware, is an irritant, it is not going to put you out of business, but it can cost you time and money. Data loss is different, if you lose critical data, through virus’s or other methods then you could go out of business.
Unleashed, have spent many years researching and finding the best data management and backup solutions on the market, to suit every budget and business need. Unleashed believe the most efficient and cost effective backup is a hybrid approach. This means you store data on-site for quick recovery and then send a copy to the cloud. In the event of a ransomware attack or hardware failure you can spin up new servers on-site with access to the local data. If you have a total failure, you can spin servers and data up in the cloud. This means little or no downtime and the ability to react to any ransomware attack quickly and efficiently, without the need to pay.
For more details or free on-site health check, give us a call today on 0333 240 0565 or email unleashyourit@weareunleashed.com
