More than ever, SMBs need the expertise of IT managed service providers.
Key Takeaways:
- Last year, there was a 424% increase in data breaches for SMBs
- Top-tier cybersecurity is essential, yet 75% of these B2B companies don’t have the IT personnel with cybersecurity expertise
- 47% of these businesses don’t even know where to start
- Hiring the resources you need is too expensive
- The most cost-effective and efficient approach to get the expertise and cybersecurity you need is to partner with an IT managed service provider
The harsh reality is that when it comes to a cyberattack on your business, it's not IF, but WHEN. While it pays to be proactive in all areas of your company, cybersecurity should be at the top of your list.
Cybercrime costs small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) over $2.2 million annually, and in 2022, there was a 424% increase in small business data breaches last year. Cybercrime costs more than money – you risk your reputation and your entire business.
How protected is your company? Do you have the three most important cybersecurity policies in place? Do you have a cybersecurity expert on your IT team? Let's look at those essential cybersecurity policies, the risks you face, and why, to get absolute protection from cyber criminals, you should seek help from an IT managed services provider.
Cybersecurity in the B2B sector
While the news is filled with data breaches that affect consumers, B2B organizations are just as vulnerable to cyberattacks. These onslaughts can immobilize your company, preventing you from accessing the critical systems needed for day-to-day business operations.
At the same time that the statistics show growing threats to SMBs, 47% have no idea how to protect themselves, and 75% don’t have the IT personnel to address cybersecurity. Unlike B2C businesses, B2B companies must worry about a growing threat: cyber espionage. This means B2B companies have more to worry about than customer data breaches. Have an idea for a product that will revolutionize an industry? Bad actors would love to steal it.
While businesses have embraced some essential parts of digital transformation with ERPs, CRMs, and even online shopping, cybersecurity remains an afterthought, and 54% believe they are too small for a cyberattack. This translates to a lack of action on cybersecurity, turning a blind eye to the threats waiting in the shadows.
How cybercriminals infiltrate
Each year, the FBI issues a report on internet crime. Last year, the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) received almost 22,000 complaints from companies about business email compromise (BEC), with losses totaling more than $2.7 billion. BEC happens when legitimate business email accounts are compromised through social engineering or by using computer intrusion methods to transfer funds. IC3 also found that bad actors targeted investment accounts, not just bank accounts. You might be surprised by the many ways these criminals can creep inside your business systems. Let’s take a look.
- Phishing. This method of attack has grown 65% over the past year and comprises 90% of breaches. Phishing happens when a criminal poses as a trusted contact and lures the unsuspecting recipient to click a link, download a file, or give access to confidential information.
These attacks, on the surface, would seem easy to avoid, but attackers are using increasingly sophisticated methods. Their current focus is on the C-suite, convincing executives to give up their passwords and then stealing employee data to craft phishing emails requesting fraudulent payments.
Phishing is difficult to stop because they use social engineering to target humans rather than technology. Human nature being what it is, you can see why this is so.
- Malware. Malware is a term used for malicious code used to gain network access. Cybercriminals then steal data, destroy it, or delete it. This method poses an increased danger to employee-owned devices used for work.
- Ransomware. You see ransomware in the news a lot because it’s one of the most common types of attacks – they can be quite lucrative. Hackers encrypt your company data, so you have no access, and then demand payment to unlock it.
SMBs are not immune, no matter their revenue. In fact, 71% of these attacks target them, and the usual ransom demand averages $116,000. Smaller businesses are a ripe target because they rarely back up their data and can’t afford downtime.
- Weak passwords. Again, we encounter the human element in cybersecurity. Owners and employees alike often use easily guessed passwords or use the same one for multiple accounts.
- Insider threats. You want to trust all of your employees, but some bad apples can cripple your company. The sad fact is that 25% of data breaches come from insiders.
What’s a B2B SMB to do? Everything starts with cybersecurity policies that contain some essential elements.
The 3 most important cybersecurity policies
The statistics are alarming, and threats seem to lurk everywhere. For a business to remain competitive, or in business at all, takes a comprehensive approach with cybersecurity policies that mitigate risks. Instead of worrying about what could happen (and it’s only a matter of time until it will), you must take action. So what are the three most important cybersecurity policies?
1. An acceptable use policy. This protects in two ways – it protects your network's security and your company's security from employee bad actors. An acceptable use policy protects company assets by establishing and enforcing crystal-clear rules to govern computer and network usage.
Include language about acceptable use, unacceptable use, software and hardware security, confidentiality, expectations for privacy monitoring, and violation enforcement, among other details. Your policy should also include standards for mobile devices.
2. An incident response plan. You know it’s not if, but when. So how will you respond to an attack? Your incident response plan must be well-defined, with methods to identify attacks, minimize damage, and reduce costs, as well as detect and fix what caused the attack to prevent attacks in the future.
Your incident response plan seeks to prevent service outages, theft or loss of data, and criminal access to your systems. The plan should include an overview, roles and responsibilities, an incident log, the state of current security, and procedures for detection, investigation, and steps to be taken for eradication.
3. A disaster recovery plan. The worst has happened. What do you do now? How will you continue to do business after a cyber attack? Your disaster recovery plan should include a specified disaster recovery team, a risk evaluation, documentation of business-critical assets, of often backups should occur, and plans for testing and updating security.
Sound complicated? It is. Overwhelming? It can be – especially for SMBs. It’s unlikely that you have a large IT team with a seasoned cybersecurity specialist. So what’s an SMB to do?
For SMBs, an IT managed services provider is essential
The shortage of qualified IT professionals is all over the news. Even if you can find whom you need, it’s likely you can’t afford to pay them the going rate. Therein lies the beauty of a managed service provider (MSP) with its army of specialists ready to grapple (and win) against the most sophisticated attacks.
You’ll get the cybersecurity you need, and as threats evolve, an MPS can provide the monitoring, detection, response, and assessments required so you can stay secure. They’ll help you develop and perfect your acceptable use policy, incident response plan, disaster recovery plan, and more.
It’s a cyber-sophisticated world, and that requires cyber expertise. At Endsight, we’re industry leaders in cybersecurity. Year after year, we’ve won a CRN Managed Service Provider 500 award in the Security 100 category.
We offer complete cybersecurity protection and a variety of plans. We’re your complete technology support solution to create optimal IT management and human-friendly technical support for small and medium-sized businesses throughout California.
It’s more crucial than ever to ensure your people, your data, your ideas, and your business are protected from cyber threats. Here’s how Endsight can help.
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