Iron Comet Consulting, Inc.

CYBER SECURITY MANAGED SERVICES

How seriously are you taking cybersecurity in your business?

It seems like every day, we hear a new report of yet another practice or business that has been breached. Millions of records are stolen each year by attackers. Ransomware attacks generate billions in revenue for criminals around the world. In fact, cybercrime generates more now than all other forms of organized crime, COMBINED. This includes illegal drugs as well. In addition, the cost to clean up after an attack can be crippling. The city of Atlanta paid over $25 million after it was hit with a devastating ransomware attack. Cyber security managed services are designed to prevent these sorts of attacks.

Think about that for a moment. Cybercriminals can generate more money from hacking or other attacks than from drugs, prostitution, or every other form of organized crime.

Small businesses are one of the most targeted groups. This is because criminals know that these are easy targets. They likely don’t have proper security in place and probably don’t have an IT person on staff.

Keeping your business secure now is no easy task. This is because the sheer number of items that must be monitored and checked is too much for the business owner to do. In addition, cybersecurity-trained IT staff for hire are extremely hard to find. This leaves most businesses completely vulnerable to attack.

As a result, many businesses are choosing to outsource the security of their network and computers to cyber security managed services companies. 

Cyber Security Managed Services

Iron Comet offers many different cybersecurity solutions to fit your business IT support needs. These include:

  • Firewalls with 24/7 monitoring
  • Intrusion detection and prevention
  • Anti-ransomware software that uses Artificial Intelligence to watch for any signs of ransomware.
  • Anti-malware software to protect all of your computers
  • Anti-spam filtering to stop phishing attacks
  • Multi-level backup solutions
  • Website protection

 

Threats to your business:

Ransomware

Ransomware is a relatively new form of malware (virus). It sneaks into your network and then begins encrypting all of your data. It does this very quickly, often before being noticed. After it is done, you will see a message from the attacker on your computer screens demanding payment in return for the password that unlocks your data. If your backups haven’t been running properly, or you don’t have a backup, then you are forced to pay the ransom.

Ransomware attacks have made the news lately with many cities, local governments, and businesses forced to pay enormous ransoms to get their data back. Some businesses or practices are forced out of business after a ransomware attack.

For medical practices, this is especially costly due to a ransomware attack being considered a breach of HIPAA regulations.

Phishing

Phishing is when an attacker sends an email that pretends to be from a legitimate source in an effort to get you to click on a link or open an attachment. From there the attacker will either take over your computer or collect your login information so websites such as your bank or credit cards. Phishing attacks are the most preferred method for attackers to gain access because most people don’t take the time to verify if the email is legitimate. In addition, attackers will use psychology to help push you to do what they want by adding pressure. You may see emails with subject lines claiming to be from your bank notifying you of a large transfer from your account. Amazon delivery delay notifications are also a common way to get users to click on links. Phishing is a huge threat to you and your business.

Backup Systems

Many people think they have a backup until they need it. Then they find out the backup hasn’t run in months or the data is useless. Backups aren’t totally plugin and forget. They must be monitored and tested periodically to ensure that they are working correctly. Backups are also your final layer of protection against attacks. A good backup can save you from a lot of things, but only if the backup is indeed good.

Network Attacks

This includes attacks on websites, firewalls to gain access to your network, and wireless attacks. Most firewalls are under attack 24/7 by hackers looking for easy to attack targets. But if no one is watching, how will you know if these attacks succeed or fail? Firewalls and other forms of defense aren’t plug-and-forget. They require monitoring just like an alarm system in your practice. The alarm system that isn’t monitored won’t call the police and is useless.

Insiders

Insiders have always been a threat to practices and small businesses. But in the past, it was hard to steal a large amount of data since it was all stored on paper. But now, an employee could plug their mobile phone into a computer and steal thousands of charts in an instant. Another possibility is that an employee that you were forced to terminate could access your systems and delete data in revenge. This has happened recently during the COVID-19 outbreak.