Protect Your Business From Rising Cybercrime
Cybercrime is on the Rise
Colonial Pipeline. JBS Foods. You may not have known these companies before a couple of weeks ago, but now you do – and for the wrong reasons. Colonial Pipeline paid $4.4 million in ransom and JBS Foods paid $11 million in ransom to sophisticated cybercriminals after their networks were held hostage last month, both having no choice but to minimize disruption to their businesses and the national supply chain.
And now, The Steamship Authority (a local company) is reeling after a cyberattack on June 2nd. More than a week later and during their busiest time of the year, the company’s main website and online ticketing reservation system remain down, they are not taking reservations past June 15th, and credit card use continues to be limited. The attack has even prompted local officials, including Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey, to strongly urge Massachusetts businesses to take appropriate steps to upgrade their cybersecurity and data security measures.
If you think this only happens to big businesses, you are wrong. Small business cyber breaches increased by 424% last year. Nearly half of last year’s cyberattacks targeted small businesses, with 60% of those small businesses going out of business within 6 months after the attack. Although most business owners are aware of cyberattacks, they disregard them as a distant threat that can be eliminated through standard, traditional cybersecurity products – or worse, they think it simply won’t happen to them. Over the last year, the cybersecurity game has completely changed and the implications of inaction or half-hearted cybersecurity measures are grave. In most states, for example, businesses are legally obligated to disclose a breach, irreparably harming that business’s reputation, which undoubtedly took years to build (and only a few minutes of a cyber-incident to destroy). And that harm to your reputation is in addition to any ransom paid to unlock your network and the loss of profits experienced until it’s unlocked.
Hackers are constantly evolving their methods, and as they find new ways of causing a breach, new technologies are needed to combat these advances. The gap is widening and is also showing no signs of slowing. The most effective cybersecurity strategies today are comprised of layers of risk mitigation so that breaches can be contained, assets can be protected, and exposure is minimized.
Businesses that have managed to survive the disruption that 2020 caused need to reassess their security strategy for 2021. While business owners are being tested on every front, cybersecurity needs to be an immediate priority for every business in today’s cybercrime climate. NBM’s cybersecurity-as-a-service solution takes a layered approach to cybersecurity, through a series of tools and solutions aimed at mitigating your cyber risk at every turn. Call us today to learn more about our cybersecurity strategy and what it can do for your business.
Amie T. Geary, JD, CCFS | Director of IT Sales & Operations
ageary@nbminc.com
(781) 272-2034, x1970