Cybersecurity threats against businesses like yours have grown exponentially in size and sophistication in recent years.
It’s clear that no business is completely safe.
As a matter of fact, Inc.com states that even as of 2017 almost 50 percent of businesses had experienced some sort of cybersecurity attack.
Protecting your hardware, software, and technology assets, from servers to applications to files, can be complex. The best way to overcome these threats posed to your company is to have a constant threat management process in place, along with network monitoring and intrusion detection to confidently protect your company.
The question comes down to this: Do you have these resources and experience in place to secure your network and your data?
Whether you do or you don’t, here’s five strategic aspects of your IT and technology to consider when managing your IT security.
Are You in a High-Risk Industry?
Any industry that deals with sensitive data, customer information, patient records, confidential research or IP-related information is a hot target for hackers.
High-risk industries include:
- Finance
- Healthcare
- Government
- Manufacturing
- Legal
Even if your business doesn’t fit into one of these high-risk verticals, you’re not in the clear. If you share tangible business ties with any of these industries through vendors or partnerships, you could be an ideal target for malicious, cybersecurity attacks.
The best way to overcome these is to hire a specialized IT specialist or an outsourced IT consultant, like Cooperative Systems. Specialists are gurus and experts. They have access to the best and latest industry knowledge regarding these technology pain points. They’ll also know which security solutions are necessary to protect your sensitive information.
Look for a security company or specialist that specializes in your specific vertical. You don’t want a generalist.
With a cybersecurity expert, there will be less of a learning curve if they have experience with your high-risk industry and the regulations and requirements that go along with it.
You’re Dealing With BYOD Issues
Whether you have a bring-your-own-device (BYOD) policy or not, you can bet your employees are using personal devices for work purposes.
Employees more than likely use their devices to check company email on their smartphones or using an unsecured laptop to store company files.
Most of your team members have the best of intentions and certainly don’t want to be malicious, they just don’t understand the implications of using devices without proper security protocols.
Having the freedom of allowing your staff to use different devices, software, and operating systems in your corporate environment will make you more vulnerable to cybersecurity attacks. This is why having (and enforcing) BYOD policy is so critical. It gives you more control over company resources while allowing your employees work on the devices they want.
Creating a BYOD policy on your own can be draining. It can drain precious time and resources. Not to mention, small IT teams don’t have the expertise to implement a policy that covers all your security bases. By outsourcing it, as an example, you’ll be able to create and enforce security controls, password requirements and acceptable use guidelines for your BYOD policy. It’ll be done right and efficiently.
Cloud Use and Expansion
Investing your resources in the cloud is smart business… but it can also be very risky.
According to CIO Dive, the average company is using 4.8 private and public clouds in combination to run their applications and services.
Spreading your data and resources across multiple clouds can get disorganized. It can also be incredibly time-consuming to manage all the different securities of these cloud environments and maintain visibility across these.
An IT security firm should be able to help you implement a consistent infrastructure and set of operations to unify and protect your growing cloud infrastructure.
You’ve Experienced a Cyber Attack
Recovering from a cybersecurity attack and/or data breach is not easy, and it’s certainly not cheap!
It can take months and/or years to recover lost resources and earn back the trust of your customers.
Your technology systems need to be updated on a consistent basis and you’ll be expected to create new rules, policies and systems to double down on your security efforts in order to prevent another attack.
Ideally, your IT team should be monitoring your security systems 24/7. They should be providing you with peace of mind, removing the burden of outdated technology, and working with a possible outsourced IT vendor to guarantee your sensitive data is protected, and your staff can focus on their job functions.
You Don’t Have Any Security Pros on Staff
Assuming your IT staff is like most and has enough work on their plates to keep them busy through Christmas of 2025, you need to have a resource that can handle your security needs on a full-time basis.
Having your team manage your technology security, along with everything else, could end up spreading them too thin. And when resources are spread too thin, projects don’t get completed and your security becomes second rate.
Not to mention, hiring dedicated IT security employee (or team) can be expensive. You can easily shell out six figures to hire a technology professional with the required experience.
As technology changes, which it does daily, you’ll need to pay for ongoing training, certifications and classes to ensure they have the best, most current credentials and expertise.
But when you outsource the security of your technology, you gain instant access to a team of highly qualified IT security professionals who bring years of hands-on experience in managing one-hundred percent of your security needs, behind the scenes. According to Gartner research, outsourcing security pieces of your IT like your security could save you 25% to 60%.
Outsourced IT Security and Compliance for your Hartford Area Business
In-house staff will become overwhelmed by complex, time-consuming security strategies.
If any of the above struggles above sound familiar, then you should consider outsourcing your IT security and compliance responsibilities to an expert.
Cooperative Systems can easily manage your IT security and compliance.
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