Having an IT security strategy is more important than ever with ransomware attacks increasing by 12% last year and costing businesses more than $8 billion. And according to Comparitech, downtime resulting from ransomware costs most organizations upwards of $64,000.
Spear phishing messages connected to ransomware now have a 6x higher engagement rate than marketing emails from real business organizations. So, it shouldn’t surprise you that 40% of company data is lost through employees who aren’t educated and aware of current security threats.
Proactively building out an IT security strategy is mission critical to protecting your business and remaining competitive.
Here are 3 important reasons to start building your IT security strategy right now:
1. The cloud is redefining IT security.
According to the latest industry data, organizations are focused on the cloud and security. In fact, according to CRN, small to medium businesses are transitioning to the cloud just as quickly as enterprise organizations. And it isn’t limited to individual business segments either.
“You see all industries moving in that direction,” Larry Fulop, our vice president of technology and marketing shares. “You see it as you talk to clients, as you talk to anybody that does any kind of manufacturing or deliverable of product. It is something they’re all figuring out how to get there faster and more efficiently.”
The recent CRN survey found that almost half of respondents ranked advanced security solutions among the highest spending prioritizes over the next year. The cloud is changing what’s possible and how to approach security with the latest threats that have become an undeniable part of today’s business environment.
2. Compliance is tightening around new security threats.
By law, organizations are required to act “reasonably” taking “necessary” measures to protect themselves from threats. If your organization isn’t proactively taking these measures, you can risk violating compliance laws and regulations. Having an IT security strategy in play keeps you in compliance while guiding your organization proactively through the latest IT challenges that can threaten your business. Because data breaches don’t only jeopardize your business from the standpoint of downtime, they can also mean costly class action law suits.
With all these risks in play, compliance requirements for awareness training are also changing. Spear phishing emails and text messages are constantly testing company employees. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) enforced new data protection and cyber security laws in the U.S. and around the globe just last year.
3. Security scans aren’t enough.
Frequently running scheduled security scans is important, but it isn’t enough to keep your organization and clients protected. Security software can’t defend your system if you aren’t running scans across all your organization’s data frequently, however; simply running scans isn’t enough anymore.
Having the right security is mission critical for small to medium businesses that are frequently targeted by ransomware attacks without being armed with endless IT resources and personnel for protection. Bringing in outside experts can support better anti malware and ransomware software, comprehensive training and a stronger security strategy overall.
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The best defense against ransomware and other IT security threats is a strong security strategy. MicroAge can help.
