Look Inside The SMB Cyber Threat Landscape With Webroot And Colorado Computer Support

Today’s cyber threat landscape is a real cause for concern for Colorado SMBs.

Cyber attacks are an unfortunate fact of life in today’s technology-driven world. There is an increasingly long list of threats waiting for the opportunity to target an unsuspecting and unprepared business, often with devastating results. In the past year, the Colorado Computer Support team has noticed an increase in the number of threats that local businesses have been dealing with, and our own experiences with these threats have made Webroot’s latest findings less than surprising.

Our own Help Desk Manager, Andrea Tompkins, spoke with Webroot, an industry-leading cyber security solutions provider, about these findings. It’s hard to miss the headlines detailing the latest cyber threats, but despite this heightened awareness, many businesses are still vulnerable to an attack – and they know it. According to Webroot’s recent study, 96% of the 600 small and mid-sized businesses they surveyed are aware that they at real risk of being successfully targeted by external cyber threats. 71% admit that they are not prepared to adequately respond to these threats, with 94% stating that they plan to increase their cyber security budget in the coming year to correct that.

The biggest mistake most businesses make where cyber security is concerned is the tendency for businesses to try and take care of their security needs themselves. Most smaller businesses don’t have the means to have internal IT personnel on staff to take care of their technology, leaving technology-related tasks to an employee or two that know their way around a computer. That might work well when the issue is with a finicky wireless printer or a file that was accidentally saved in the wrong place, but it’s not a great approach to network security.

This is something Andrea was quick to point out. Too often businesses wait until after the worst has already happened to as for professional help, and frequently there is nothing an IT provider can do once files have already been lost or encrypted. Webroot found that only 13% of businesses outsource their IT to a qualified provider like Colorado Computer Support, leaving the vast majority of businesses without the kind of IT services needed to maintain good cyber security measures and have protocols in place to deal with a worst case scenario.

The faster you can start eliminating the threat and restoring access to vital data and applications, the less costly the incident will be for your business. This is especially critical in the event of a ransomware attack. Without reliable data backups and a means of accessing those backups quickly, the damage to your business could potentially be irreversible.

The cost of a cyber attack can easily reach $500,000 or more and for a lot of smaller businesses that is too high a financial loss to come back from successfully. Even if it’s not, the other costs might be too much for a business to handle. Costs like a loss of customer trust in your business that can permanently tarnish your reputation and cause some customers to leave altogether.

Educating your employees to spot threats and keep them from successfully targeting your business needs to be a key part of your overall cyber security plan. Your staff are your first line of defense and taking the time to make sure they can recognize phishing attempts and other common cybercriminal tactics and avoid falling for them gives your business an edge when cyber security is concerned. Cyber threats are created by human beings and often rely on the cooperation of other human beings to be effective. Teaching your employees the best way to avoid becoming an unwitting accomplice can keep a number of threats from ever reaching your systems and network.

To protect our own systems and network, Colorado Computer Support relies on the same knowledge and solutions we provide to our clients. Solutions like Webroot, which provides multi-layered vector protection, are the type of solutions we are happy to recommend. Webroot offers complete end-to-end protection, securing everything from file sharing and web browsing to email links and attachments and connected USB devices. This type of complete protection, monitored and maintained by IT professionals, can keep your business from becoming yet another cybercrime statistic.

Speaking with a knowledgeable and experienced IT support provider like Colorado Computer Support is the best way to get the right solutions in place for your business. Our team can evaluate your business’ existing IT infrastructure, recommend solutions that compliment the parts of that infrastructure that are already working well, and help improve the parts that aren’t.

Want to learn more about the best way to protect your business against today’s many cyber threats? Contact the Colorado Computer Support team at blake@coloradosupport.com or (719) 355-2440. We’re the cyber security professionals businesses in Colorado Springs trust.