In today’s digital landscape, the question is no longer if a business will face a cyber threat, but when. For small businesses, which are often the most vulnerable, cyberattacks are not just bumps in the road; they can be catastrophic events that permanently close their doors.
The cost of a cyberattack goes beyond the immediate financial hit. While paying a ransom or the cost of an investigation is significant, it is the residual effects of a breach that can be even more traumatic.
Many businesses operate on thin margins, so any interruption of business, even a short one, can be disastrous. Not all cyberattacks lead to stoppages but just the possibility can keep a business owner or executive up at night.
In the event of such a shutdown, operations grind to a halt and orders cannot be processed. Employees, without access to critical systems, are left idle. In this scenario, revenues plummet while expenses continue to pile up.
The financial fallout can be staggering. According to various reports, the average cost of a data breach for a small business can range from tens of thousands to more than a million dollars. This figure includes not only direct costs like incident response, legal fees and regulatory fines, but also indirect costs like lost business, reputational damage and decreased customer trust. Studies have shown a significant percentage of businesses that experience a prolonged data loss event — 10 days or more — go out of business within a year. For a business operating on a razor-thin margin, that timeline is even shorter.
This illustrates why having an extensive cybersecurity strategy is not just a good idea; it is vital for an entity’s future. It is about having a mechanism in place to not only protect company data but also to ensure the business can withstand a major disruption.
How To Prevent Cyber Attacks on Businesses
A comprehensive plan administered by an IT expert includes several key elements:
- Proactive Defenses: This means implementing basic, but effective, security measures. Elements like multi-factor authentication (MFA) to verify user identities, strong password policies (e.g., complexity requirements, regular rotation) and regular employee training on phishing and social engineering attacks are crucial. Keeping software and systems patched and up to date is another essential layer of defense that prevents hackers from exploiting system vulnerabilities. Additional measures include network segmentation to restrict lateral movement by attackers, endpoint detection and response (EDR) or managed detection and response (MDR) tools for real-time threat monitoring and response, and firewalls combined with intrusion detection and prevention systems (IDPS) to filter and block malicious traffic.
- Business Continuity Plan: A strategy needs to be put in place for when an attack occurs. It should outline who is responsible for what, from the initial containment of the threat to communicating with customers and stakeholders as necessary. It should also detail how a business will continue essential functions if primary systems are offline.
- Robust Backup and Recovery System: This is arguably the most crucial element. A reliable backup system, with data stored securely off-site or in the cloud, can be the difference between a minor inconvenience and a catastrophic failure. Backups should be regularly updated, encrypted and stored in immutable formats to prevent tampering. Off-site or cloud-based storage ensures data availability if primary systems are compromised. The 3-2-1 backup rule (three copies of data, two on different media, one off-site) is a best practice. If a company’s systems are encrypted during a ransomware attack, a recent, clean backup allows an organization to restore its data and operations without paying a ransom.
The question “How much can your business afford to be out of business?” is not a hypothetical one. It is a stark reality that every business owner must confront. Ignoring the threat of a cyberattack is like ignoring a ticking time bomb.
The key to making sure a comprehensive strategy is implemented is having experts on your team who not only understand what to do ahead of time but also know what to do when an actual attack occurs.
The technicians at FTC IT Solutions are both proactive every day and reactive when they need to be. If your company has its own IT department but would like the experts at FTC IT Solutions to provide assistance by assessing your plan or helping you implement one, please call 888-218-5050. Also, if you operate a company that does not have IT support, give them a call. They can handle all your IT needs.
In either case, making sure you have the software installed and a plan in place to mitigate the damage of a cyberattack is paramount. It could mean peace of mind today and staying in business tomorrow.
