A common theme among small business owners is the thoughts they have about improving their cybersecurity. For these individuals, the priority ebbs and flows based on local news of successful hacks or a colleague’s bad experience. It is likely they may have been thinking about it for years.
Conversely, successful business owners with cybersecurity systems in place who ACT quickly when new threats arise. There is a stark difference between thinking and doing. And doing is likely uncomfortable.
Let’s face it – Improving cybersecurity most likely will not increase your sales (although it could if leveraged as a competitive advantage). Researching, strategizing, and DOING your business is more FUN. You’re good at it. You could do it all day. It feels good!
Taking a close look at your company’s cyber vulnerabilities – well that’s not so fun. Who wants to look at vulnerabilities of any kind? What’s more, DOING the cybersecurity improvements takes time and money. First, there are all the questions that need answering:
- Who has access to your data?
- What data needs protecting no matter what?
- Do you have an IT department that can take on the extra workload?
- How many devices need protecting?
- Are all your devices always on-site, or do you need remote protection?
- What hardware do you need versus applications installed?
- What applications do you install?
- Do you want real-time monitoring?
- How much security can you get on a limited budget?
- Just to name a few…
Once the system is in place, you get to spend more time training, keeping up to date, and working through the hiccups that occur whenever any new system goes into place.
By all accounts, cybercrime is only getting worse. In their recent Internet Crime Report for 2021, the FBI noted that the cybercrime reports to the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) jumped from just over 300,000 in 2017 to almost 850,000 in 2021. And losses from $1.4 Billion to $6.9 Billion. 2.5 times the number of complaints resulted in five times the amount of losses! Cybercriminals are hitting more people and each crime costs more. Luckily, a higher percentage of people are also reporting these crimes to officials.
To bring the point home, Cantrell’s IT recently had three businesses contact us in one week because of a new scam.
Deep inside you know you must take action to protect your business. And yet, there are at least half a dozen excuses or tasks that “must” be done today: your desk is messy; your inbox is full; you suddenly have this craving to write a workplace memo NOW – allowing you to talk yourself out of acting on your need for cybersecurity.
Here’s a way to break that cycle. Instead, think of daily micro-actions to take for improving cybersecurity. One small step – that is big for your business – is to contact Cantrell’s IT at 925-827-1200. Let’s talk about how to move forward with small steps to achieve your goal. It’s a small step, take it now and FEEL BETTER!