Cyber-security, a term that almost seems outdated in 2014, has surged to the forefront once again as the hackers and malware and spyware proliferators are at an all time high.
And as their sophisticated pilfering becomes ever more successful their funding base also broadens allowing them to have the resources to hire talent and expand operations.
What does this mean to the small business owner?Danger, and danger in so many ways.
Payroll deposits are being emptied, data is being stolen and ransomed or sold to competitors, trade secrets are under attack; and the troubling thing is that so much of this is happening out of sight and therefore out of mind.
And further concern is warranted as there seems to be frequent nonchalance concerning the steps necessary to keep as secure as possible.
Look at the recent hubub over the sunsetting on security updates for Windows XP.
We've encountered cavalier attitudes and even some defiance that all the warnings must be a hoax, an attempt to force an upgrade and therefore a windfall for Microsoft.
Yes, Microsoft stands to gain by the upgrades, of course, but XP's been around long enough to have run its course and MS has been warning users for years that 4/11/14 was coming.
It's now come and gone and some 26% of all systems still sport the outdated and unsupported software.
Not smart.
But let's look at what a business can do to maximize their data security.
Make sure you have an up to date firewall and then make sure you, your I.
T.
person or vendor is absolutely religious about making sure the updates and patches are made promptly to the firewall and all of your software applications.
But let's face it, when you have PC's and employees surfing the internet, and opening odd emails the likelihood of having issues is there.
It becomes not a question of "if" but "when" you'll get hacked.
If you ask to see your security statistics and everything's in order you'll no doubt see how many times the attempt's been made to infect your system.
And it's possible it's already infected and you don't even know it.
It's not uncommon at all.
So why to these organizations and individuals from Russia and the former Eastern Bloc nations attack small business networks?In the words of master bank robber and disguise artist, Willie Sutton, "Because that's where the money is.
"And when the malware is installed and every keystroke on a computer is recorded they can monitor account numbers, passwords, security questions and then boom!Once the payroll deposit is made the funds are siphoned off.
If this happened to you personally the mighty FDIC would back your account up and the funds would be covered.
But since you're a business there is no FDIC coverage.
And every bank's fine print will make it clear that if someone breaks into your network and engineers a theft there's no recourse as there's no way for them to tell if it's a thief or if it's you.
So it's incumbent upon you to fortify your network at every turn.
One way you can eliminate a lot of the worry and concern is to convert to a cloud network.
With the cloud you potentially have no more PC's in your offices and your server is virtualized on a super computer in a military bunker style data center behind a state of the art and up to date firewall.
With Cloud Access Devices instead of somewhat dangerous and labor intensive PC's you'll be much safer as they have no moving parts and cannot be hacked.
With the server gone, more moving parts are out and your virtualized server is just much safer.
So your network in the cloud is now accessible from anywhere and everything is 256 bit encrypted, just like online banking.
So you're more secure, your data is more secure, your uptime is better and you'll only see an IT person due to the lack of moving parts there on the rarest of occasions.
And now your bank account is secure, a major relief.
If you cannot move to a cloud network soon consider doing your online banking on a separate PC that you only turn on for banking and only use for banking.
This will greatly reduce but not eliminate your risk.
If you're asking yourself daily, "What can I do to make my network more secure?" and posing the same question to your I.
T.
personnel, employee or vendor, you'll be much safer over time than those who ignore the issue and hope everything's fine.
Trust me, it's not.
And as their sophisticated pilfering becomes ever more successful their funding base also broadens allowing them to have the resources to hire talent and expand operations.
What does this mean to the small business owner?Danger, and danger in so many ways.
Payroll deposits are being emptied, data is being stolen and ransomed or sold to competitors, trade secrets are under attack; and the troubling thing is that so much of this is happening out of sight and therefore out of mind.
And further concern is warranted as there seems to be frequent nonchalance concerning the steps necessary to keep as secure as possible.
Look at the recent hubub over the sunsetting on security updates for Windows XP.
We've encountered cavalier attitudes and even some defiance that all the warnings must be a hoax, an attempt to force an upgrade and therefore a windfall for Microsoft.
Yes, Microsoft stands to gain by the upgrades, of course, but XP's been around long enough to have run its course and MS has been warning users for years that 4/11/14 was coming.
It's now come and gone and some 26% of all systems still sport the outdated and unsupported software.
Not smart.
But let's look at what a business can do to maximize their data security.
Make sure you have an up to date firewall and then make sure you, your I.
T.
person or vendor is absolutely religious about making sure the updates and patches are made promptly to the firewall and all of your software applications.
But let's face it, when you have PC's and employees surfing the internet, and opening odd emails the likelihood of having issues is there.
It becomes not a question of "if" but "when" you'll get hacked.
If you ask to see your security statistics and everything's in order you'll no doubt see how many times the attempt's been made to infect your system.
And it's possible it's already infected and you don't even know it.
It's not uncommon at all.
So why to these organizations and individuals from Russia and the former Eastern Bloc nations attack small business networks?In the words of master bank robber and disguise artist, Willie Sutton, "Because that's where the money is.
"And when the malware is installed and every keystroke on a computer is recorded they can monitor account numbers, passwords, security questions and then boom!Once the payroll deposit is made the funds are siphoned off.
If this happened to you personally the mighty FDIC would back your account up and the funds would be covered.
But since you're a business there is no FDIC coverage.
And every bank's fine print will make it clear that if someone breaks into your network and engineers a theft there's no recourse as there's no way for them to tell if it's a thief or if it's you.
So it's incumbent upon you to fortify your network at every turn.
One way you can eliminate a lot of the worry and concern is to convert to a cloud network.
With the cloud you potentially have no more PC's in your offices and your server is virtualized on a super computer in a military bunker style data center behind a state of the art and up to date firewall.
With Cloud Access Devices instead of somewhat dangerous and labor intensive PC's you'll be much safer as they have no moving parts and cannot be hacked.
With the server gone, more moving parts are out and your virtualized server is just much safer.
So your network in the cloud is now accessible from anywhere and everything is 256 bit encrypted, just like online banking.
So you're more secure, your data is more secure, your uptime is better and you'll only see an IT person due to the lack of moving parts there on the rarest of occasions.
And now your bank account is secure, a major relief.
If you cannot move to a cloud network soon consider doing your online banking on a separate PC that you only turn on for banking and only use for banking.
This will greatly reduce but not eliminate your risk.
If you're asking yourself daily, "What can I do to make my network more secure?" and posing the same question to your I.
T.
personnel, employee or vendor, you'll be much safer over time than those who ignore the issue and hope everything's fine.
Trust me, it's not.