We all hear about disasters when they occur on a major scale; things like hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, etc., and we hear about data breaches and intrusions when they affect major companies or the general public. We don’t hear about the phishing schemes, ransomware attacks or data intrusions that affect small businesses every day, and that relatively low profile activity can lead to complacency among business owners. They often see themselves as too small or insignificant to be a target, and they feel that they will always have time to prepare for a “cataclysm” of nature. But while natural disasters might be business size agnostic, cyberattacks are not. In fact, in 2018, small and medium-sized businesses are being targeted more than ever. And data breach from outside actors is not the only threat. All small and medium-sized businesses have to contend with other potential threats, for instance:
Ransomware attacks. Often, these come from “mom and pop” scammers, not European or Asian organized crime enterprises. And they often target easy to hack IT environments wherein the employees may not have the sophistication to recognize that a “security alert” on their computers is actually an attempt to access their company’s data and hold it hostage.
Employee mistakes. Something as simple as a file being accidentally erased can have very negative consequences for your business if you don’t adequate backup.
Disgruntled employees. What a “great” way to say goodbye. The disgruntled employee may decide that a bit of data sabotage makes an appropriate parting gift. And, if the malcontent is your IT guy…
Dishonest employees. Like the disgruntled employee, the dishonest employee may be in a position to do major damage to your enterprise. This could even be at the behest of an unscrupulous competitor.
Hardware failure. This can hit any business of any size at any time. It can be caused by things like power surges; water leaks from storms or broken pipes; spillage of a refreshment on a desk or aging equipment that has been patched together over years and years of usage.
Like a raccoon that’s made a home in your attic, if you ignore it, before long you will be playing inadvertent host to a community of raccoons, and you’ll have a house in danger of being severely damaged, its value negatively impacted or even destroyed. The threat of data loss is the raccoon in your business’s attic. You can’t afford to ignore it.
What Can Businesses Do to Protect Their Data?
Given that you can train employees not to open emails unless from trusted sources (We can certainly help with that) and deploy quarantine software, one part of the problem is easy to resolve. But what about the others? You can’t quarantine a hurricane or a dishonest employee. You can’t train hardware not to fail, and you can’t be 100% reliant on anti-virus software.
You can rely on someone in-house to run your IT and ensure that you have a backup plan, but will that person have the wide-ranging expertise he or she would need to cover every contingency? Probably not, which means that you are probably going to have to seek the help of an outside IT consultant on occasion, not an inexpensive or foolproof solution. You may even end up utilizing different vendors and employ a patchwork of solutions. And what if your in-house staff leaves? Frankly, there’s a better way.
Ciegate’s Business Continuity Solution
Cliche’ notwithstanding, a good managed service provider like Ciegate is a true “one-stop-shop” for all of your IT needs, and specifically, for your data security, backup and disaster recovery requirements. To this end, Ciegate Technologies offers its customers a free, no obligation IT assessment. There’s no need for guesswork. Ciegate will find your points of vulnerability and address them. Your time will be spent running your business, not presiding over a costly and vulnerable in-house IT infrastructure.
Best of all, Ciegate will provide you with the peace of mind that comes from knowing that your data will never be lost; that even should a catastrophe’ occur, like a hurricane that hits the Florida coastline, recovery will be quick. Working alone or in conjunction with your internal IT resources, Ciegate will keep your data safe. Ciegate will keep your business whole.
Does your business have a Backup and Recovery Plan?
Contact us to receive a free consultation on our robust backup and recovery solution for Miami businesses.