So often we hear in the news about the latest Cyber-attack, costing millions in system downtime or in fines from the Information Commission due to the loss of confidential data. (See our GDPR article about the increased fines for data loss) This typically pricks up the ears of a small business owner just enough to spark a conversation that evening, but they consider their business ‘too small to be a target. Unfortunately, the threat is real and small businesses are falling victim to the exact same “attack” as the NHS, TalkTalk or British Airways. We all need to improve our IT security.

Surely a Cyberattack will never target my business???

The reason small business IT is just as at risk is because these aren’t so many attacks but more a cyber disease. Obviously, cyberattack looks and sounds better in headlines, but it is leading people to believe that these attacks are sophisticated and targeted real-time attacks by a hooded hacker in a dark room. Unfortunately, the truth is far less sexy but a method that can leave any sized business on its knees.

The spread of the Cyber Disease

Malware, Ransomware, viruses, Spearphishing… they all have something in common, they can spread themselves like a cold or flu virus! Rather than spread by a sneeze or physical contact, a cyberattack spreads itself via email or from opening files that have been downloaded from a website or uploaded from a USB stick/storage device.

We’ve all done it every now and then; perhaps you found a set of keys with a USB attached and plugged in the USB to see who they belong to, or perhaps you accidentally opened an email when you were tired and working late in the office. Unfortunately, once you fall victim to an attack they can spread themselves. A script may send the ransomware across the entire local network and infect every computer and file it can see, or it may send itself to everyone in your address book and email history, going beyond your local network and across the globe. It’s not surprising to hear that IT security is the fastest growing technology sector in the world!

The effects of a Cyberattack (Cyber Disease)

Prevention is the best policy because once you are infected it is probably too late. You should call Liberate IT as soon as you suspect a virus or ransomware on your computer, or even just to check a suspicious email. If you have been infected, then a ransomware virus will encrypt every file on your computer, your network, your storage devices and on your servers. Once encrypted your files are completely useless and cannot be opened – all access to your data is lost! You will be offered the choice to make an anonymous payment to undo the encryption but not only could you be funding terrorism, but you also have no guarantee that your files will be unlocked afterwards, so like all other IT experts we recommend you never pay a ransom.

Reliable and complete backups both onsite and offsite are essential to protect your business-critical data. With a healthy backup, you can restore your entire IT environment in a few hours rather than losing your data forever. Better yet you can talk to Liberate IT about our zero downtime IT solutions, which can replicate your live data to bring you back online in minutes, and without any data loss.

Preventing a Cyberattack (Cyber Disease)

As mentioned previously a complete backup and even replication solution is your backstop, we hope you will never need it but it is essential to protect your business, but protection is always better than cure…

Using a good email filter, such as Mimecast or Every cloud can stop the virus before it even reaches your network. At Liberate IT we can implement cyber security solutions and improve your IT security proactively to keep your business a step ahead of the next threat.

A good firewall and virus product such as ESET, Symantec or Sophos endpoint will provide an added layer of protection meaning that if something slips through your email filter, web filter or firewall, then the virus can be stopped before it can run. We are seeing some great total solutions that combine all three products (antivirus, email filter, firewall) working together to provide better protection and a complete solution.

Training your users is always the best policy and not one that our small business IT clients think of first. When hiring you should use a basic IT test to make sure you do not put your business at unnecessary risk. All modern exploits take advantage of the weakest point in the IT world, the user (sorry but true). They rely on a user opening an email attachment or file, and training your users on what to look out for provides the best protection and prevention. Liberate IT can provide one on one IT security training sessions with the employees that work with sensitive data, or whole of business training sessions to raise the level of awareness and protection across your organisation.

Contact Liberate IT today about our IT security solutions.