InTegriLogic Blog

Small and Medium Businesses (SMBs) usually invest less in cybersecurity, making them easier targets for cybercriminals. Close to 30% of businesses experience a cyberattack at least once per week.¹
The need for constant vigilance and defense against hackers has led many SMBs to complicate cybersecurity matters. Though the percentage of businesses that have adopted formal, business-wide incident response plans has increased from 18% in 2015 to 26% in 2020, the ability to contain an actual attack dropped by 13%.² This is because: (1) businesses do not consistently test threat-readiness of incident response plans and (2) many of them use too many security products that hamper the ability to identify and respond to a cyberattack.

It is here where a cyber resilience strategy can help organizations protect uptime and recover from incidents faster. Some people use the terms cybersecurity and cyber resilience simultaneously, but the meanings are different.

While cybersecurity primarily aims at blocking nefarious cyber players from attacking your network, cyber resilience is more about planning, defending, responding to and recovering quickly from a cyberattack. Endpoint protection, email security, network security, backup and data recovery, identity and access management and a host of other critical solutions together fuel a comprehensive cyber resilience strategy.

Arm Your Business with Cyber Resilience

The cyberthreat landscape is evolving at lightning speed and traditional security measures cannot keep up with it. Experts have predicted that a ransomware attack will occur every 11 seconds in 2021.³ The only way forward for businesses, including yours, is to draft a cyber resilience strategy that highlights ways to move forward in the face of a cyberattack.

Your business is cyber resilient when:

• You’ve implemented measures to guard against cyberattacks
• Proper risk control measures for data protection get deployed
• Hackers cannot severely disrupt business operation during or after an attack

The major components of a cyber resilience strategy are:

• Threat protection

By deploying efficient attack surface management and risk management, you can easily take your business through the path of cyber resilience. Doing so helps you minimize first-party, third-party or fourth-party risks that arise because of data leaks, data breaches or misconfigurations. Additionally, assessment reports identify key risk areas that require attention.

• Adaptability

Cybercriminals are shapeshifters who constantly change their devious tactics. Ensure your business can adapt to emerging cyberthreats.

• Recoverability

To quickly bounce back after a security incident, your business must have all the necessary infrastructure, including robust data backups. Conducting mock drills that let you understand the employee readiness to counter cyberattacks is also important.

• Durability

Your IT team can improve the business’ durability through constant system enhancements and upgrades. No matter what strategy the criminals use, prevent their actions from overwhelming you through shock and disruption.

 

 

5 Ways Cyber Resilience Protects SMBs

Adopting cyber resilience proves beneficial before, during and after cyberattacks. Five ways cyber resilience protects SMBs:

 

1. Enhances system security, work culture and internal processes

By implementing a cyber resilience approach within your business, you can easily design and develop strategies tailor-made for your existing IT infrastructure. Additionally, cyber resilience improves security within each internal process, so you can communicate desired behavior to employees.

2. Maintains business continuity

Cyber resilience ensures that operations are not significantly affected and business gets back to normal after a cyberattack.

3. Reduces financial loss

The financial damage caused by a breach can be so severe that businesses go bankrupt or even close. Cyber resilience keeps threats in check, reducing the chances of business disruption as well as limiting financial liabilities.

4. Meets regulatory and insurance requirements

Cyber resilience helps keep your business out of regulatory radars by satisfactorily following all necessary criteria. Also, complying with regulations can be beneficial to your business for cyber insurance claims.

5. Boosts company reputation

Having cyber resilience by your side gives you better control in the event of a successful cyberattack. It helps you block attacks, bounce back quickly if an incident happens and minimize the chaotic aftereffects of a breach. This improves your business reputation among partners and customers.

 

 

Don’t worry if the concept of cyber resilience is tough to crack. We can guide your business to and through cyber resilience. Start with an assessment to check your business’ cyber resilience level. Contact us now!

  
Article curated and used by permission.

Sources:
1.Infosecurity Magazine
2. The 2020 Cyber Resilient Organization Study
3. JD Supra Knowledge Center

Small and Medium Businesses (SMBs) usually invest less in cybersecurity, making them easier targets for cybercriminals. Close to 30% of businesses experience a cyberattack at least once per week.¹ The need for constant vigilance and defense against hackers has led many SMBs to complicate cybersecurity matters. Though the percentage of businesses that have adopted formal, business-wide incident response plans has increased from 18% in 2015 to 26% in 2020, the ability to contain an actual attack dropped by 13%.² This is because: (1) businesses do not consistently test threat-readiness of incident response plans and (2) many of them use too many security products that hamper the ability to identify and respond to a cyberattack.

It is here where a cyber resilience strategy can help organizations protect uptime and recover from incidents faster. Some people use the terms cybersecurity and cyber resilience simultaneously, but the meanings are different.

While cybersecurity primarily aims at blocking nefarious cyber players from attacking your network, cyber resilience is more about planning, defending, responding to and recovering quickly from a cyberattack. Endpoint protection, email security, network security, backup and data recovery, identity and access management and a host of other critical solutions together fuel a comprehensive cyber resilience strategy.

---

Arm Your Business with Cyber Resilience

The cyberthreat landscape is evolving at lightning speed and traditional security measures cannot keep up with it. Experts have predicted that a ransomware attack will occur every 11 seconds in 2021.³ The only way forward for businesses, including yours, is to draft a cyber resilience strategy that highlights ways to move forward in the face of a cyberattack.

Your business is cyber resilient when:

• You’ve implemented measures to guard against cyberattacks
• Proper risk control measures for data protection get deployed
• Hackers cannot severely disrupt business operation during or after an attack

The major components of a cyber resilience strategy are:

• Threat protection

By deploying efficient attack surface management and risk management, you can easily take your business through the path of cyber resilience. Doing so helps you minimize first-party, third-party or fourth-party risks that arise because of data leaks, data breaches or misconfigurations. Additionally, assessment reports identify key risk areas that require attention.

• Adaptability

Cybercriminals are shapeshifters who constantly change their devious tactics. Ensure your business can adapt to emerging cyberthreats.

• Recoverability

To quickly bounce back after a security incident, your business must have all the necessary infrastructure, including robust data backups. Conducting mock drills that let you understand the employee readiness to counter cyberattacks is also important.

• Durability

Your IT team can improve the business’ durability through constant system enhancements and upgrades. No matter what strategy the criminals use, prevent their actions from overwhelming you through shock and disruption.

 

---

 

5 Ways Cyber Resilience Protects SMBs

Adopting cyber resilience proves beneficial before, during and after cyberattacks. Five ways cyber resilience protects SMBs:

 

1. Enhances system security, work culture and internal processes

By implementing a cyber resilience approach within your business, you can easily design and develop strategies tailor-made for your existing IT infrastructure. Additionally, cyber resilience improves security within each internal process, so you can communicate desired behavior to employees.

2. Maintains business continuity

Cyber resilience ensures that operations are not significantly affected and business gets back to normal after a cyberattack.

3. Reduces financial loss

The financial damage caused by a breach can be so severe that businesses go bankrupt or even close. Cyber resilience keeps threats in check, reducing the chances of business disruption as well as limiting financial liabilities.

4. Meets regulatory and insurance requirements

Cyber resilience helps keep your business out of regulatory radars by satisfactorily following all necessary criteria. Also, complying with regulations can be beneficial to your business for cyber insurance claims.

5. Boosts company reputation

Having cyber resilience by your side gives you better control in the event of a successful cyberattack. It helps you block attacks, bounce back quickly if an incident happens and minimize the chaotic aftereffects of a breach. This improves your business reputation among partners and customers.

 

---

 

Don’t worry if the concept of cyber resilience is tough to crack. We can guide your business to and through cyber resilience. Start with an assessment to check your business’ cyber resilience level. Contact us now!

   Article curated and used by permission.

Sources: 1.Infosecurity Magazine 2. The 2020 Cyber Resilient Organization Study 3. JD Supra Knowledge Center

With the cyberthreat landscape getting more complicated with every passing minute, cybersecurity deserves more attention than ever before. Fully trusting applications, interfaces, networks, devices, traffic and users without authentication is no longer an option. Misjudging and misplacing your trust in a malicious entity can lead to severe breaches that can damage your business. Zero Trust Security practices, however, can go a long way towards helping small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) minimize cybersecurity risks and prevent data breaches.

Zero Trust was introduced in 2010 by John Kindervag, a former Forrester analyst. The concept has since gained wide acclaim and approval as a trusted framework for cybersecurity. The Zero Trust approach trusts nothing within or outside its perimeter and insists on verifying everything attempting to connect to the company systems before granting access. In simple terms, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) refers to it as a “never trust, always verify” approach.

Implementing Zero Trust Security within your business can help guard against data breaches, downtime, productivity loss, customer churn and reputation damage. Over 70% of businesses planned for the deployment of Zero Trust in 2020 and it is even more critical for SMBs in an era where workforces and networks are becoming heavily distributed.¹

Three Misconceptions and Facts About Zero Trust Security

1. Misconception: Zero Trust Security is only for enterprises.

The Zero Trust cybersecurity framework is a proven counterthreat strategy. While it’s true that enterprises prioritize protection of their data and networks by deploying the best solutions and approaches, SMBs must also protect sensitive data and networks by taking adequate measures to minimize internal and external vulnerabilities. Thus, Zero Trust Security isn’t just for enterprises. It is equally significant for SMBs as well.

2. Misconception: Zero Trust Security is too complex.

By applying Zero Trust concepts at a scale that makes sense for your business, you will realize it isn’t as complex as you thought.

3. Misconception: The cost of implementing Zero Trust is too high.

Zero Trust adoption is operationally and economically feasible if you focus on your most critical applications and data sets first.

 

Still Not Convinced?

Let’s look at a few statistics that should convince you of the seriousness of today’s cyberthreat landscape as well as the need for a Zero Trust approach:

 

• Human error causes close to 25% of data breaches.²

Unfortunately, you can’t completely mistrust an external network, nor can you fully trust even a single user within your network.

• Experts predict that ransomware attacks will occur every 11 seconds in 2021.³

This gives you no time to be complacent.

• Over 40% of employees are expected to work from home post-pandemic.⁴

When this happens, many devices, users and resources will interact entirely outside the corporate perimeter. This increases the risk of an incident occurring.

• Phishing attacks have increased by over 60% since the pandemic started.⁵

To counter such a scenario, cybersecurity policies must be dynamic and adapt to address additional concerns.

 
If you’re not equipped with a solid defense against cyberthreats, you may regret it later when a breach happens. Chances are your current approach to cybersecurity falls short of stopping cybercriminals from accessing your network. The Zero Trust approach can change all that.

 
Adopting Zero Trust Security within your business does not mean you throw away your existing security tools and technologies. In fact, according to NIST, Zero Trust Security must incorporate existing security tools and technologies more systematically.

 
Build an effective Zero Trust model that encompasses governance policies—like giving users only the access needed to complete their tasks—and technologies such as:

 

1. Multifactor authentication
2. Identity and access management
3. Risk management
4. Analytics
5. Encryption
6. Orchestration
7. Scoring
8. File-system permissions

 
Taking your business down the path of Zero Trust may not be easy, but it’s certainly achievable and well worth it. Don’t worry about where and how to begin. With the right MSP partner by your side, your journey becomes easier and more successful. Contact us to get started.

 
 
Article curated and used by permission.
Source:

1. com
2. IBM 2020 Cost of Data Breach Report
3. JD SUPRA Knowledge Center
4. Gartner Report
5. Security Magazine Verizon Data Breach Digest

 

With the cyberthreat landscape getting more complicated with every passing minute, cybersecurity deserves more attention than ever before. Fully trusting applications, interfaces, networks, devices, traffic and users without authentication is no longer an option. Misjudging and misplacing your trust in a malicious entity can lead to severe breaches that can damage your business. Zero Trust Security practices, however, can go a long way towards helping small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) minimize cybersecurity risks and prevent data breaches.

Zero Trust was introduced in 2010 by John Kindervag, a former Forrester analyst. The concept has since gained wide acclaim and approval as a trusted framework for cybersecurity. The Zero Trust approach trusts nothing within or outside its perimeter and insists on verifying everything attempting to connect to the company systems before granting access. In simple terms, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) refers to it as a “never trust, always verify” approach.

Implementing Zero Trust Security within your business can help guard against data breaches, downtime, productivity loss, customer churn and reputation damage. Over 70% of businesses planned for the deployment of Zero Trust in 2020 and it is even more critical for SMBs in an era where workforces and networks are becoming heavily distributed.¹

Three Misconceptions and Facts About Zero Trust Security

1. Misconception: Zero Trust Security is only for enterprises.

The Zero Trust cybersecurity framework is a proven counterthreat strategy. While it’s true that enterprises prioritize protection of their data and networks by deploying the best solutions and approaches, SMBs must also protect sensitive data and networks by taking adequate measures to minimize internal and external vulnerabilities. Thus, Zero Trust Security isn’t just for enterprises. It is equally significant for SMBs as well.

2. Misconception: Zero Trust Security is too complex.

By applying Zero Trust concepts at a scale that makes sense for your business, you will realize it isn’t as complex as you thought.

3. Misconception: The cost of implementing Zero Trust is too high.

Zero Trust adoption is operationally and economically feasible if you focus on your most critical applications and data sets first.

 

Still Not Convinced?

Let’s look at a few statistics that should convince you of the seriousness of today’s cyberthreat landscape as well as the need for a Zero Trust approach:  

• Human error causes close to 25% of data breaches.²

Unfortunately, you can’t completely mistrust an external network, nor can you fully trust even a single user within your network.

• Experts predict that ransomware attacks will occur every 11 seconds in 2021.³

This gives you no time to be complacent.

• Over 40% of employees are expected to work from home post-pandemic.⁴

When this happens, many devices, users and resources will interact entirely outside the corporate perimeter. This increases the risk of an incident occurring.

• Phishing attacks have increased by over 60% since the pandemic started.⁵

To counter such a scenario, cybersecurity policies must be dynamic and adapt to address additional concerns.

  If you’re not equipped with a solid defense against cyberthreats, you may regret it later when a breach happens. Chances are your current approach to cybersecurity falls short of stopping cybercriminals from accessing your network. The Zero Trust approach can change all that.

  Adopting Zero Trust Security within your business does not mean you throw away your existing security tools and technologies. In fact, according to NIST, Zero Trust Security must incorporate existing security tools and technologies more systematically.

  Build an effective Zero Trust model that encompasses governance policies—like giving users only the access needed to complete their tasks—and technologies such as:

 

1. Multifactor authentication
2. Identity and access management
3. Risk management
4. Analytics
5. Encryption
6. Orchestration
7. Scoring
8. File-system permissions

  Taking your business down the path of Zero Trust may not be easy, but it’s certainly achievable and well worth it. Don’t worry about where and how to begin. With the right MSP partner by your side, your journey becomes easier and more successful. Contact us to get started.

    Article curated and used by permission. Source:

1. com
2. IBM 2020 Cost of Data Breach Report
3. JD SUPRA Knowledge Center
4. Gartner Report
5. Security Magazine Verizon Data Breach Digest

 

Experts estimate that humans produce 2.5 quintillion bytes of data every day.¹ That is a lot of information. However, having a poor backup strategy can wipe out all or vast portions of your data in a single click. From accidental deletions and malicious attacks to natural disasters, there are multiple ways by which you can lose your business data. Therefore, make sure a robust backup and disaster recovery (BDR) solution is an integral part of your business.

When you lose crucial data permanently, the consequences can be devastating. Some costly aftereffects of data loss are:

1. Productivity Disruptions: Companies hit by an incident face an average of close to 200 hours per year of downtime.²
2. Loss of customer trust: One-third of customers end their association with a business following a severe data-loss incident.²
3. Regulatory penalties: The penalties may vary based on the regulatory bodies governing your industry, and they can cost millions of dollars.

It is your responsibility to equip your business with an effective backup and disaster recovery solution, irrespective of your business’s size, industry or location. Let us take a look at how significant backup and disaster recovery is to the following business industries:

Healthcare

There can be severe complications when data loss happens in the healthcare industry:

1. If a patient’s health records go missing when needed, a life-saving surgery could get delayed or denied.
2. Without the billing records, a hospital cannot process payments.
3. Regulatory bodies like HIPAA slap hefty fines on hospitals for carelessly handling data. HIPAA can impose penalties anywhere between $100 to $50,000 for an individual violation, with a maximum fine of $1.5 million per calendar year of neglect.⁴

Alarmingly, the healthcare industry was the worst-hit industry by cyberattacks in 2020.³ Therefore, backup and disaster recovery are critically important in the healthcare industry.

 

Finance

A robust backup and disaster recovery solution is an important part of any financial institution’s growth and survival.

Financial institutions must comply with requirements put forward by:

1. Regulations like the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA)
2. Financial agency regulatory agencies like the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA)
3. International regulators such as the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)
4. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)

An effective BDR solution is a mandatory requirement highlighted by all the concerned authorities mentioned above. Additionally, having one in place helps these institutions protect employee productivity and ensure customers quickly regain access to essential services following a data-loss event.

 

Hospitality

The information generated in the hospitality industry is in a precarious position. This is because the hospitality industry often invests less in backup and disaster recovery than other industries.

That said, survival in the hospitality industry can be tough. We live in an era where people check public ratings of a hotel room, even if they only plan on staying just one night. A minor dent in reputation could be an enormous blow to a hospitality business.

All critical data like credit card information and customers’ Personally Identifiable Information (PII) must be handled with care to avoid satisfaction issues and regulatory fines. Hence, backup and disaster recovery are an essential part of hospitality.

 

Adopt BDR Before It Is Too Late

Avoiding data loss at any cost is vital for your business to survive and thrive. It is, therefore, highly recommended to have the right BDR provider to maintain control of business-critical data. If you are confused about how to take the first step, do not worry. We are here to help. Our BDR expertise can help your business sail smoothly without being caught in the whirlpool of data loss. Contact us now to learn more.

 
 
 
Article curated and used by permission.
 

Sources:

1. Techjury.net

2. IDC Report

3. IBM Cost of Data Breach Report

4. National Library of Medicine