After one of the worst security years on record, I think there is a great deal of importance in focusing on Security as a focus for small businesses. 2021 showed at least a 17% increase in security breaches, and with a growing lack of transparency of when security breaches occur, that number may be even higher.  What this means for small businesses is clear - you are a target, and with the average cost of a breach reaching $4 million dollars, the cost of doing nothing has become too significant to ignore.

Some of the reasons I've been given or the past year by small businesses for lack of action in 2021 are interesting, and I've taken a few to demonstrate data and why it is still important to consider security as a focus moving forward.

Attackers don't care about me, I'm a small business!

Untrue, Forbes reported on this back in July - but Congress listened to experts and came to the conclusions that many small businesses are being targeted, simply because they are small businesses!  Attackers know the limits small businesses have on security spending, and how dependent on your computers being operational are to your success.  As such, they know you're likely to pay a ransom in order to have access to your computers again.  We've seen a surge in small business targets, with as much as 71% of ransomware attacks in 2021 being aimed at small businesses.

I can't afford it!

I empathize, but spending more on Cybersecurity does not make you more secure.  Obviously if you spend $0 dollars on Cybersecurity and then increase to any amount you will see a return, but the amount you pay is not always indicative of how secure you are.  One of the best ways London Security has been able to assist clients is to provide options - which scale to the needs of your business.  If your business is diverse, we aren't going to recommend a big on premise solution when your entire sum of computers are across dozens of locations.

We aren't going to suggest a several hundred thousand dollar piece of technology if you don't need it, and we are going to work with you to determine the best solution based on your needs and price point.  There's room to figure out a good spend, and there's also the value of working with a company with experienced Cybersecurity Engineers versus a simple reseller - we actually can assist with some of the explanation and deployment of the technologies.

And simply put, with an average cost of $4 million dollars, and 1 in 3 businesses are under attack from cybercriminals, can you afford to sleep on it?

I have bought this Vendor for years, and never had a problem. Just installed it and I'm fine!

How do you know that?  If you can bring up your dashboard and explain to me how you're protected, I will believe you.  There are very few security solutions you can "set and forget" - but there are security companies you can work with in order to reach that level.  And that's beyond just having a "person" you can call if there is a problem.

Additionally, many companies that have said this have been surprised when London Security has ran a test of that claim, and found they weren't actually secure - or were in fact - already compromised.  This has happened more than a few times in the last year.

I have a person for that

Great!  Can I talk to that person?  What are you using, and how are you using it?  Sometimes having an outside eye look at your security process can find flaws that you normally don't encounter.

Further, is that person specialized in security, or general IT?  London Security specializes in IT Security solutions, and that's what we provide insight and expertise in.  We will talk to you about your security, and how it can be implemented, and with our specialization it gives us an edge in how we frame and view potential problems.  And this can be true of a number of specialized IT Security companies that similarly focus on how to help small businesses, like London Security has done for years.
 
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I bring up these stories not to shame, or even make someone afraid - but to start the conversation of what 2022 should be.  We should look at how we've set up our security, and whether it will stand up to the scrutiny of today's attackers.  And if you aren't sure, feel free to contact London Security today and we can discuss further.