Business Technology

October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month, so our blog will spend the next few weeks educating and informing readers about cybersecurity-related topics.

You're not alone if you’ve hesitated to implement managed two-factor authentication (2FA) in your business. While 2FA use has increased among adults year over year, some businesses have yet to implement the extra layer for their logins companywide.

Over the years, you’ve probably seen plenty of spam emails. While most of them end up in the junk folder, you occasionally have one make it to your mailbox, so you delete it. No harm, no foul. It was just a blatant advertisement your eyes have been trained to ignore.

You probably have a lot on your plate when running your small business. Each day brings new challenges, and there isn’t a ton of time to sit down and worry about your cybersecurity strategy. You’re a small business, so why would anyone want to hack you? Wouldn’t they be better off going after a large corporation with loads of cash and data?

Have you been losing sleep because your business network feels insecure? Maybe you can’t quite pinpoint the root issue or cause, but you know you’re lacking in cybersecurity, and that’s reason enough to do some research and try to find a solution.

If your business wants to protect its systems and data with the latest and greatest solutions, you’re probably looking into some pretty advanced cybersecurity tools. While it’s great you’re taking that initiative, it’s crucial we take a step back and assess your current IT setup.

A couple of weeks ago, a widespread IT issue caused downtime for industries worldwide. This downtime was caused by an update from the cybersecurity application CrowdStrike that crashed Microsoft operating systems.

So, your business is discussing its cybersecurity strategy and, more specifically, its cyber insurance policy. You don’t want to find out your business has the wrong coverage or IT solutions after the damage has been done. This proactive approach will help get you on the right path toward safeguarding your business. But where should you start?

Every business’s path to good cybersecurity starts somewhere. To know what you need, you need to know what you already have. A good way to begin that process is with a cybersecurity risk assessment. While that might sound daunting, a simple assessment can help start the conversation and bring general awareness to your current situation.

You probably hear many names or terms when working with your IT company. You may have heard the acronyms SOC and NOC. These sound pretty similar, but what do the acronyms stand for? What is the function of each? And, most importantly, if you have services provided by a NOC or SOC, what do those services include, or not include?