Every 39 seconds?1 I’ve done the math. There are 31,536,000 seconds in a year. In round numbers, this would mean that there are 808,615 attacks every year. There are approximately 6 million companies in the United States. So, once again, I’ve done the math, and this means that 1 in every 7 companies in the U.S. will be the target of a hacker attack this year.

Are you willing to take the chance that you’ll be 1 of the lucky 6?

There are many different kinds of attacks, and they exploit a variety of weaknesses in your computer systems. Some, such as phishing emails (or phone calls or texts), prey on the human factor. Others take advantage of vulnerabilities within your computer systems, entry points that are not sufficiently or adequately protected. Unless you live in a cave, you already know all of this.

So what are you doing about it?

Step 1
Lockdown your system using the most advanced tools available. However, since no level of security is foolproof (or should we say hacker-proof), you’re not done yet.

Step 2
Establish a back-up and recovery system to minimize the damage from an attack insofar as cost, downtime, and loss of data. You’re making progress, but you’re still not done yet.

Step 3
Install antivirus software to protect your system users at the device level, be it on PCs, laptops, tablets, or phones. However, since antivirus software and SPAM filters won’t catch everything, you’ll still need to continue to the next step.

Step 4
Educate everyone, from the CEO on down, about the tactics that hackers use to penetrate your system, how to recognize them, and how to avoid them. If you’re feeling pretty comfortable at this point, don’t be. Complacency is your arch enemy.

Step 5
Test your back-up and recovery system.

Step 6
Test your back-up and recovery system.

Step 7
Test your back-up and recovery system.

You get where I’m heading here.

What is the cost of doing nothing or not doing enough?

I’m not actually here to tell you what your cost would be. You should know what a lost day costs you. An average Ransomware attack will shut you down for at least four days, and that assumes that you’ve paid the ransom! Multiply your one-day cost by 4, and you’ll at least have an estimate of what an attack might cost. But more and more companies have found that paying does not always mean resolution, i.e., the hackers take your money and don’t provide the keys for opening your locked files.

How can Strategic Systems Group (SSG) help?

We’re not security experts, but since protecting our own systems is just as crucial as protecting yours, we have learned a thing or two about security. In our role as a provider of ERP software for manufacturers and distributors, we also know which ERP software solutions come with the best security built-in. Typically that would be the newest solution on the market since older systems didn’t have to pay as much attention to security in a bygone era when it wasn’t a significant concern.

The most recent solution from among the dozen we deploy is Microsoft Dynamics 365. You can learn more about security in Dynamics 365 by reading any or all of these articles:

Contact us today. Call SSG at 310.539.4645 or email us at info@ssgnet.com.

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1 https://www.securitymagazine.com/articles/87787-hackers-attack-every-39-seconds

Cybersecurity ERP Microsoft Dynamics 365