The numbers
Through the years, the number of small and medium businesses falling victim to cyberattacks has drastically increased. Ransomware attacks, misconfigured systems, credential stuffing, and social engineering are among the many cyberthreats that SMBs face. Also, according to Verizon’s 2021 Data Breach Investigations Report, one in every five data breach victims was an SMB. What’s more, most small business cybersecurity protocols are lacking and only 47% of SMBs are able to detect breaches within days.
The financial consequences have also considerably increased. IBM’s Cost of a Data Breach Report 2021 shows that “data breach costs rose from USD 3.86 million to USD 4.24 million.”
The numbers don’t lie, so it’s only about time SMB cybersecurity is taken seriously. You can safeguard your business from cyberattacks and provide a more secure customer experience by working with a trusted MSP.
Why managed services?
MSP cybersecurity is one of the most effective ways to prevent attacks and defend against malicious threats. MSPs offer a full range of cybersecurity consulting that focuses on advanced techniques, such as around-the-clock monitoring, data encryption and backup, real-time threat prevention and elimination, network and firewall protection, security awareness training, and more. Here are some of the services MSP consultants can offer:
- Around-the-clock monitoring – A cyberattack can happen at any moment. By having someone watching your networks and systems 24/7, MSP consulting ensures that any potential threats are identified and dealt with quickly.
- Data encryption and backup – Data encryption transforms readable data into an unreadable format. This can be done through the use of a key, which is only accessible to authorized users. This way, even if the data is compromised, it can’t be read without the key. Meanwhile, data backup is the process of creating and preserving copies of data so that it can be restored in the event of data loss.
- Real-time threat prevention and elimination – By using technology that can detect and stop threats as they happen, this security solution can minimize the impact of an attack and keep your business data safe.
- Network and firewall protection – Networks and firewalls create a barrier between the business network and the internet, securing confidential data, such as customer information, employee records, and trade secrets. Networks can be configured to allow certain types of traffic through while blocking others, so that only authorized users can access specific resources.
- Security awareness training – Now, more than ever, SMBs need to be aware of cybersecurity threats and how to protect themselves. MSPs can facilitate security awareness training that can help employees spot red flags and know what to do (and not do) to keep company data safe.
Partnering with an MSP will help you to identify weaknesses in your IT infrastructure and develop a strategy to strengthen the environment. With this strategic partnership in place you will be able to prioritize the steps to improve your network performance, business continuity and disaster recovery–in advance!–to help with planning and budgeting. You’ll also get a dedicated team of IT professionals ready to assist you with any technology-related problems. This is much more effective and budget-friendly than having in-house personnel juggling all your business IT needs.
Being proactive when it comes to small business cybersecurity consulting is the only way to protect what you’ve worked hard to build. If you’d like to know more about how managed services can benefit your business, contact us today — we’re sure to help. Cybersecurity for small business made simple.