The risk of cyber attacks is just as strong for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) as it is for enterprise level companies. That’s the message coming from TeamLogic IT as the company sets out to create a roadmap for SMBs to deal with cybersecurity threats.
As Frank Picarello, COO, TeamLogic IT, points out, social engineering techniques like ransomware and phishing are becoming more and more invasive, and many SMBs lack the resources and awareness to prevent attacks or to deal with them when that happens. “We are seeing more and more SMBs becoming the focal point for attacks and many SMBs do not have the technical services in place to best protect their environment,” he tells ChannelE2E.
According to one report, nearly half of all small businesses in the United States had been breached in 2016, while security software firm Symantec reported that small businesses are the targets of cyber crime 43 percent of the time.
Why Target SMBs?
Many criminals are looking for chinks in an organization’s armor, rather than software or hardware weaknesses, TeamLogic asserts. Things like a lack of IT management sophistication, lack of policy or enforcement of the policy, and a lack of overall awareness.
There’s another reason the nefarious portion of the web could be targeting SMBs, according to Picarello. “In many cases they have access to, handle, and oversee thousands of protected personal data that is worth a lot of money on the street,” he says.
Best Practices
While the technology to prevent such threats has been evolving, there needs to be more education about the threat, says TeamLogic. MSPs continue to champion backup and disaster recovery, managed security, cloud, mobility, and other IT services to deal with the threats.
TeamLogic identifies three problem areas where companies are often the most vulnerable:
- Network security monitoring. An SMB is likely monitoring the performance of its network, but may not be aware of the level of cybersecurity.
- Inadequate mobile policy. What happens when an employee loses a device tied to the company’s network and how soon is action taken?
- Sloppy software maintenance. It’s important to update applications in a timely manner. Many companies are slow to do this if they do it at all, according to TeamLogic.
There are a number of best practices a brand can utilize to deal with these issues, according to Picarello. Those include having a comprehensive end-to-end security architecture that monitors for threats, protects against intrusions, and recovers after breaches. “This best practice is part technology, process, and education and is a small investment against the risk of a breach,” he says. “Impacts of breaches go well beyond the cost of lost data. It can include interruptions to the business, fines, and penalties in some cases, and impact the reputation of the business breached.”
Picarello adds that it’s important to look for an MSP that can help with strategic IT planning as well as tactical issues. “You want a partner that is proactive,” he says. “One that will take the time to understand your business, inside and out, and work to align systems and solutions to your business goals.”
“Oftentimes companies simply outgrow the capabilities of their own internal IT person or staff, due to maybe a greater dependency on technology within the company, and need a provider with more technical and business expertise to help make better business decisions for the company.”
The Company
As a company, TeamLogic IT uses a franchise model to bring technology solutions for companies of all sizes. The company currently boasts about 95 franchisees with 120 or so locations.
Franchise Business Review has ranked the company a Top 50 franchise for 10 years and the number 1 technology franchise for the last six years. The company was ranked number 143 in Entrepreneur magazine’s 2016 Annual Franchise 500.
We did a more in-depth look at their business model a few months ago here.
