It’s the weekend, and you decide to take a well-deserved brain break from your busy work week to watch a movie. Just as you get cozy in your favorite recliner and reach into a bowl of freshly popped gourmet popcorn, the following words flash across a dark blue screen
Imagine a world where everything can be taken from you in the blink of an eye.
Where nothing is truly ever safe.
Your Money, your privacy, not even your name
This is the world we live in.
“Ooh, a thriller,” you think to yourself. “I can’t wait to see who’s starring in it!”
The first character speaks, and you quickly realize that this isn’t box office fiction. It’s the 2019 documentary Cyber Crime, and for 1 hour and 15 minutes you sit white knuckled in your chair as the stark reality sets in. Based on the statistics, your company could be at risk for a cyber attack. What if your company’s data is not as secure as you thought?
The challenge for most small to medium sized businesses is that they can’t do it all. When the company’s daily operations take precedence, securing its assets can quickly become an afterthought or a “let’s work with what we have and see how it goes.”
- In 2022, organizations all around the world detected 493.33 million ransomware attacks.
- Ransomware accounted for 24% of data breaches in organizations of all sizes.
- The DBIR 2023 Data Breach Investigations Report found that the top patterns for cyber attacks on small business included: system Intrusion, social engineering and basic web application attacks represent 92% of breaches.
The data feels like a cruel joke, but it’s a reality that companies have a choice to either face with their eyes wide open or close them and pretend that it’s not there. Only one approach offers the best chance of survival.
In the following article, we’ll look at how managed service providers (MSP) can secure your data, offer peace of mind and give companies the breathing room they need to focus on the parts of their business that matter most.
The Advantages of Using a Managed Service Provider
There’s a long list of advantages to partnering with a managed service provider, but what it boils down to is whether or not you feel that your company is safe. Below you’ll find the top five reasons for partnering with a managed service provider. If there’s any doubt that you that you have an area covered, then outsourcing to an MSP might make sense for your business.
- Ongoing security – while an IT person or department is great for the day-to-day technical needs of a company, MSP’s are the next level of security for your systems. They can take a proactive approach to not only protect your company’s current IT infrastructure but also maintain ongoing surveillance of any potential weakness that can expose you to potential threats.
With more hybrid work environments, keeping networks secure has become increasingly complex. The growing logistical challenges can be a nightmare, which puts additional pressure on resources. Partnering with an MSP can help carry the burden of data protection by mitigating the risk to servers, operating systems, databases, firewalls, networks and more.
- Cost mitigation – Instead of working with project-based fees, MSP’s offer retainers allowing business owners to know what they’re paying every month so that they can keep their bottom line healthy rather than having to put out a surprise cyber fire and pay an unexpected bill.
- Access to a team of experts – Since MSP’s aren’t involved directly with your business’s day-to-day activities, they have the flexibility of viewing your companies security from a fresh perspective. Objectivity means that they can see what those who are closer to the business may miss. As third-party service providers, they can stay up to day with the latest cybersecurity updates and best practices as well as governance and compliance
- Business Realignment – When you’re not trying to manage every detail of your business, you can focus on the core purpose of why you do what you do. Cybersecurity is a deep hole, and unless data security is your business, it’s unlikely that you have the time, resources and expertise to dive deep enough.
- Plan for the future – As your company grows, you want the confidence of knowing that your data’s infrastructure can keep up. MSP’s understand what it takes to cover all the bases of cybersecurity and any eventualities. Helping businesses Scale, strategize, also give you insight on how to best support set it up for success as the company grows.
Unfortunately, In today’s volatile online security environment, business owners don’t have the flexibility to do business “as usual” and hope for the best. Vulnerable areas of a business can be negatively impacted by one slip up that spills over into the lives of stakeholders, employees and their families.
As long as a company is not actively assessing their vulnerabilities, cyber criminals are gaining territory. If your company is not being attacked, it’s probably the next company in line.
The “what ifs” of blockbuster movies on cyber crime are now the real headlines of news reports, social media posts, and blog articles, so do your research. Being one of the many companies who’ve been a victim of a cyber attack is not a risk that any small to medium sized business can afford.
Company XYZ has been protecting the data of small to medium-sized companies since 2003. The nationwide company supports customers globally with their advanced remote capabilities and offers a number of solutions to meet your company’s cybersecurity needs. To learn more about how they can help protect your company’s most valuable data assets, visit their website.
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