Recently, the new federal budget
was announced. The underlying theme? More money for cybersecurity. It seems the timing couldn’t have been better, as two weeks later an Ottawa city treasurer fell prey to an advanced
spearphishing scam that had her wire-transfer approximately $130,000 of taxpayer funds to a cybercriminal. Citizens
could have been tapped for an additional $200,000 if the city manager who the phisher purported to be wasn’t sitting next to her when the follow-up email arrived. Perhaps the timing of the budget increase on cybersecurity spending could have been better after all.
It’s important to note that the example above is more of an exception than the rule. Good news? Nope. Because when we say exception, we mean it’s not government agencies and large-scale corporations that cybercriminals are targeting most, but small to medium businesses (SMBs) and enterprises (SMEs). The problem is that the stories regarding cyberattacks in the SMB/SME sector don’t get as much press, which lulls many into a literal false sense of security. That is why Fully Managed is here to shed light on this critical concern, complete with a direct solution that small to medium companies may not have considered - an enterprise-level security solution.
4 Big Reasons Why Your Small to Medium Business Needs to Adopt Enterprise Cybersecurity Today
1. You’re Currently Using the Most Commonly Exploited Productivity Software
There’s a good chance that your staff is currently outfitted with the “standard”
MS Office. According to Cisco’s
recent Annual Cybersecurity Report, the most malicious file extension used by email hackers is Microsoft Office formats, including Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. It makes sense, given that Microsoft Office is the most common productivity tool for corporate users, and that said users have a tendency to open attachments that they believe are relevant to them. Why wouldn’t cybercriminals target this channel? Obviously abandoning MS Office is not an option (cybercriminals will invariably go where business go anyways) so what are you to do? Go enterprise.
With an
MS 365 subscription, you will gain an enterprise security solution that stays on top of compliance updates (more on this below), employs AI and machine learning, and offers advanced threat protection for your cloud productivity tool. Learn more about how Fully Managed’s provision of
MS 365 in your SMB/SME environment will help you leverage enterprise security.
2. There Are Nearly 700,000 New Malware Variants Released Per Day
Statista
reports that leading into 2019, there were about 246 million variants of malware released over the annum. That’s an average of 673,972 new malware strains per day. Ask your IT personnel if your current antivirus subscription can mitigate that. Or, let us answer that one for you - common SMB/SME AV cannot. The only way to offer endpoint threat protection is through the provision of an endpoint security solution that detects zero-day threats (a threat that exploits an unknown computer security vulnerability), advanced malware (and all new variants), targeted attacks, and secures endpoint patient zero. View more on
how Fully Managed employs tools to address this ever-advancing malware concern, and how you will reap the benefits.
3. The Rise Phishing, Smishing, and Vishing
Phishing variants have replaced malware/ransomware as the primary cybersecurity threat in 2019. Given the sheer number of malware threats that we addressed in item #2, it’s pretty alarming to hear that there is an even greater threat. Phishing variants include spearphishing, SMiShing, and vishing. It may be fun to let these terms roll off the tongue like a Dr. Suess fable but there is nothing amusing about them.
As mentioned, the Ottawa city treasurer spearphishing attack referenced above is a drop in the ocean, an ocean that carries wave after wave of targeted attacks that will land on the shores of your small to medium business/enterprise. Your staff, from cubicle to corner office, will continue to be bombarded with highly advanced phishing-based attacks. These attacks will also target them via SMS phishing (SMiShing) and voice (vishing). While staff education and development of a reporting system for suspected phishing attacks are the
primary keys to prevention, so is the adoption of enterprise cybersecurity. This is because AI and machine-learning code is being used to
craft phishing URLs that dodge auto-detection by traditional security software. The only way to combat this is to adopt the same AI and machine learning technology that is leveraged by enterprise security.
Beyond better phishing identification, enterprise security solutions will also employ
multi-factor authentication (MFA) to bolster security by ensuring it’s the intended user – and not the hacker – at a given access point. Advanced (read: enterprise) MFA approaches will include device recognition and will catch instances where a user is suddenly logging in 20 minutes later from hundreds or thousands of miles away.
4. Compliance Failures Can Cost Even More
Ransomware and phishing attacks can cost you thousands, hundreds of thousands, or more, depending on the financial reserves of your SMB/SME. That alone demands investment in enterprise security. However, the potential leak in the capital faucet doesn’t stop there. Last year, the adoption of the EU’s
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and update to Canada’s
Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) introduced a new risk to your business’ post-breach fiscal well being. The financial penalties tied to a data breach and failure to comply with the respective protocols can be big enough to sink your ship. And that is a reason in itself why adoption of an enterprise security solution is no longer a luxury, but an absolute necessity.
In the past, small and medium companies feared the phrase “enterprise cybersecurity solution” almost as much as the threat of cyberattacks themselves. That is because they associated a cost and workload so great that adoption could render them unprofitable. But when you secure the IT support services of Fully Managed, you will be offered our FM Security solution that provides for a more efficient and affordable means of accessing enterprise-level security for your SMB/SME. You will receive email security, advanced endpoint threat protection backed by AI, monthly email phishing testing, company training, and so much more. Learn more about FM Security
here, and/or simply
contact us for a friendly conversation about what we can do for your unique business.