In a world where small to medium-sized businesses fall victim to over 50% of cyber-attacks, business leaders must take action before it’s too late. Companies that lack proper IT security put everything on the line every single day.
In the past week, major enterprises such as American Airlines and Uber reported they faced cyber security breaches and are cleaning up the mess. Sure, these are billion-dollar corporations we’re talking about, but even these money-making machines don’t tend enough to their IT security needs.
As an IT company, we’ve seen far too many companies go out of business or take detrimental hits because of one gap in their IT security strategy. We’re taking a different route to educate individuals and protect businesses from cyberattacks, data breaches, digital threats, and more. We’ve taken the initiative and partnered with a top cyber security company to push businesses in the right direction.
Our partnership with Sophos, a worldwide leader in next-generation cyber security, allows us to help companies with their IT security needs. The most sought-after cyber security requests are endpoint protection, spam filters, security operations center, and cyber security awareness training. Let’s take a further look at why many small to medium-sized businesses seek these solutions.
Endpoint Protection
The more users with access to a single network, the more entryways there are for hackers. Endpoint protection is a way for businesses to minimize risk because it secures every user and device. Companies with robust endpoint protection are constantly monitored to prevent, detect, and remediate cyberattacks for every device. Some common endpoints you’ve probably used are tablets, computers, mobile devices, smart watches, printers, and servers.
Endpoint protection is crucial for businesses that want to secure all access points, especially for companies with remote workers. The State of Telecommuting reported that the number of employees working from home has grown by 115% in the past decade – that means more endpoints to cover! In the shift toward remote work, businesses must take the extra step to secure their networks and system. That’s why we’ve made setting up endpoint protection quick and easy!
We’ve helped businesses incorporate Sophos into their IT security strategy to protect against malware and malicious web traffic. We’re experts in implementing Sophos Endpoint Manager for businesses to help them secure their operating systems, from Windows and Mac to Linux. The platform can be deployed as a cloud-based console or installed on-site; it all depends on what your business IT infrastructure needs.
Security Operations Center
When running a business, you must monitor your IT systems proactively because cyberattacks can happen anytime. Unfortunately, many smaller businesses either don’t have enough time and resources to build out a security operations center, so IT security begins to fall through the cracks.
A security operations center is a centralized unit of IT professionals and technologies to monitor, analyze, maintain, and respond to cyber-attacks around the clock. The Managed Detection and Response platform not only notifies you of threats but also takes the extra step to help you find a resolution.
By implementing Sophos MDR/XDR for businesses, we’ve helped customers access their own security operations center. Here are some of the features businesses gain from Sophos MDR/XDR:
- Proactively identify potential threats and incidents
- Disrupt, contain, and neutralize threats
- Gain expert advice on handling valid threats
- Learn the root cause of threats to prevent them in the future
Email Security
Have you ever received an email on the job and had difficulty figuring out if it was a scam? Have you ever fallen for a cyber-attack through email? If you have, you’re not alone. 30% of phishing emails are opened, and this is why: phishing emails are hard to detect, especially when you don’t know to look out for them. So, in an ideal world, the perfect solution would be to not click on the email. In reality, it’s not that easy.
An effective remedy is to implement a spam filter for your business. Spam filters identify phishing emails and immediately divert them away from your inbox, so you can browse your inbox without putting the entire business on the line. That way, the phishing email doesn’t hit your inbox in the first place and dramatically minimizes the risk of hackers gaining access to your systems.
With Parried’s partnership with Sophos, we’ve helped small to medium-sized businesses swat away these pesky emails to strengthen their email security. With Sophos Email, it’s a simple add-on that not only reports spam but encrypts your emails, meaning only the intended receiver can securely read the email.
Cyber Security Awareness Training
We get it, cyber security awareness training probably isn’t something your employees will roll out of bed for, but as barren as the topic might be, we cannot stress the importance of it enough. Because there are new advancements in technology every single day, staying up to date on cyber security risks will help you learn the best practices of IT security for businesses.
For example, going back to email scams, the scary thing is that when employees click on harmful links sent to them, they’d have no idea they just fell victim to a cyber-attack most of the time. In Verizon’s 2021 Data Breach Investigations Report, 25% of all data breaches involved an email phishing incident, and 85% of all data breaches involved a human falling for a scam. Yep, humans just like you and me, your employees, and anyone working for a business that uses technology.
Businesses and individuals who lean on our cyber security services gain access to simulated phishing attacks, cyber security awareness training, and downloadable resources to maintain strong IT security. Our partnership with Sophos allows us to take a proactive approach to educate clients to fight against hackers and digital threats.
Ensure your business is prepared
Businesses shouldn’t have to travel unmarked territory any longer just to have robust cyber security. What we’ve learned helping businesses with our partnership with Sophos is: businesses that take the initiative to protect their most vital assets know the risk of digital threats.
Unfortunately, many individuals and businesses are left in the dark because cyber security is not discussed enough. It’s our job to educate them so they can avoid the worst potential outcome of a lackluster IT security strategy. If you’d like to learn more about cyber security or find solutions to protect your business, schedule a free IT consultation with Parried, and our IT professionals will guide you towards better cyber security.
