Why small business budgets should include Cybersecurity
There is a good chance that in the past year you or someone you know has had their personal data breached from some company that they use. You know, because you’ve received a letter in the mail from said company admitting that they were breached, data was taken in the breach, and that means their cybersecurity was a little too lax. It’s a common, but expensive, occurrence for businesses. Not only is recovery from a breach expensive, but it also damages a business’ reputation which has its own cost.
The bottom line is you don’t want your business or organization to have to send out those notices. To avoid damage to your bottom line you need to budget for cybersecurity. As one example, just in the past year, 80% of banks have increased their budgets for cybersecurity. Here are some basic security features you should consider budgeting for:
Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
When a breach occurs, it usually is because bad actors got access to your network through stolen passwords and credentials. MFA is a secondary security process that requires physical authorization from the user whose device is being attacked. It can be added through a variety of ways, but the most common is to have a code sent to an authentication app on the user’s mobile phone confirming that they are the one trying to log in.
Many employees will bristle at having to use MFA at first, but it is vital. It can be compared to locking a car or house. There is a small hassle in having to lock them, but the improved level of security is important and so worth it that most people don’t think twice. Budget for MFA.
Business Continuity and Data Backups
Let’s say your network is breached. The bad-actors have now infiltrated and taken over your devices, locked them down, and are demanding a damaging about of ransom to return your data. What do you do? Do you pay the ransom and hope that these thieves actually give you back your data (and don’t still take a copy for themselves?)
If this scenario scares you, it should. But it can be greatly mitigated if you have a safe and secure data backup that is separate from the network. Should a breach occur, you can restore the data from a backup without having to pay the criminals to get it back.
Employee Security Training
Most data breaches are accidental and can be attributed to human error. An employee accidently views or downloads a document they shouldn’t, or is tricked into clicking a bad link in an email. Bad actors are incredibly good at social engineering, which is where they convince someone that they are a real person making a real request for information. Social engineering can come through email, phone calls, texts, and pretty much any kind of communication method.
To reduce the risk that your employees and staff will fall for such tricks, it is important that they be properly trained. Security training is a simple and cost effective way to make sure your team knows the signs of a scam. A few hours of training could save your organization a few weeks of pain.
Conclusion
MFA, backups, and employee security training are three ways that you can budget for right now to improve your cybersecurity posture. If you aren’t sure where to start, a Managed Services Provider like Stronghold Data (MSP) can help. As a nationally recognized MSP, we can help you implement these three areas plus so much more to keep you protected and safe. We’ll help you create a cybersecurity budget that makes sense for your organization so that it doesn’t become bloated with things you don’t need. Contact us today to get started.
