Cybersecurity threats have shown no signs of slowing down, and small and mid-sized organizations are expected to be more heavily targeted going forward. Although splashy headlines about Fortune 500 companies suffering breaches may lead some business leaders to think that hackers are after big corporations, cybercriminals are just as likely to steal data or infect your system with ransomware.
It’s important to keep in mind that these nefarious people are nothing short of petty crooks, and they look for systems that can be breached at every level. That’s why it’s in every business’s best interest to have a high-caliber cybersecurity specialist in place.
If you own or operate a local small or mid-sized outfit, you may be mulling over the cost-to-benefit ratio of outsourcing your cybersecurity defenses. Consider these key reasons why outsourcing to a locally-based cybersecurity specialist makes sense.
There is a school of thought in business that having your own team in place would be more beneficial than outsourcing. The arguments for that position include having control over work-hours, in-house supervision, and the ability to review performance. The clincher is often that decision-makers know the person managing the tasks.
This old school thinking is often tried-and-true when hiring for profit-driving positions. It’s difficult to imagine outsourcing a sales team or other critical positions, but cybersecurity is not necessarily an old school job. It remains highly unlikely that a small or mid-sized organization has a supervisor in place to train cybersecurity specialists like they would a salesperson or other full-time posts.
A cybersecurity expert has years of education and training under their belt. They also are tasked with keeping up-to-date on the latest hacker methodologies and tools. It’s just impractical to have an in-house professional stay abreast of the fast-changing threats and keep your systems secure. Even if your company invested heavily in a full-time cybersecurity specialist, in all likelihood, they would be wooed away by other opportunities resulting in turnover.
The difficulties associated with filling a cybersecurity position and keeping that person does not make good business sense. It’s far better to outsource the cyber defense work to a local company staffed by experts. Why pay for a full-time person with benefits when you can contract with a local expert?
Along with keeping a stable expert to protect your systems, local cybersecurity outfits are tasked with keeping tabs on real-time cyber attack methods. Outsourcing your technology and data protection to a cybersecurity specialist allows small and mid-sized organizations to have a critical risk assessment performed by a consultant that has hands-on experience.
Cybersecurity experts offer business leaders an opportunity to protect and defend critical data and communications in ways that might not occur to even the best in-house IT staff member. Enhanced knowledge and training can help identify cracks in your cyber defenses, inconsistencies in the password or login protocols, and advise you about forward-thinking employee policies.
It is not uncommon for hackers to target employee email and devices as a way to infiltrate a company’s data and personnel files. Given the fact that the methods hackers use change quickly, it’s imperative to an organization’s survival that a vigilant line of cybersecurity defense remains in place. Working with a local company that specializes in cybersecurity brings expertise to the table many outfits might not be able to afford otherwise.
The line between employees using company devices and personal ones has increasingly been blurred. Millennials tend to be of a mind that their device is just as, if not more suitable for professional tasks. In many cases, that probably holds true.
This new era of “Bring Your Own Device” poses a more significant challenge to organizations that merely have team members on fixed in-house desktops. These days, valuable staff members prefer to use their own mobile device, laptop and work from home options. This emerging tech reality inherently increases potential entry points for cybercriminals. In the BYOD business world, cybersecurity requires employees to be more educated about protocols and have a working knowledge of how and why they are being implemented and routinely changed.
Hackers are not necessarily working night and day to skip off with a big criminal payday. They are more prone to identify outfits with poor or low-level defenses. While cybercrime profit can be gained by breaching a major corporation with a strong defense, it may be a lot easier and more lucrative to knock off small and mid-sized organizations that are ripe for the picking. Outsourcing to a specialist can prevent you from becoming the low hanging fruit.
Captains of industry often think of cybersecurity as a way to protect their trade secrets, critical data and avoid costly work stoppages. While all of those ideas have merit, there’s another level of cybersecurity that CEOs and other decision-makers do ordinarily understand. You could face civil litigation if a hacker breaches your system.
That idea seems incredibly counterintuitive. Why would you — the victim — be sued? The simple reality is that businesses use technology for company-to-company communications and file transfers on a regular basis. When one system suffers a breach, access to others in the network may become available to the cybercriminal.
Just as your organization is responsible for bringing a safe product to market or shoveling snow off your doorstep, you could be held liable for not adequately securing critical data and access. Along with your business reputation taking a significant hit, previous clients and associates may be looking to recoup their losses from you. Civil litigation can prove costly unless you have taken industry standard measures to protect your system.
Cyber attacks are an ongoing reality of living and working in the technology era. Organizations of all sizes and sectors are routinely tested by hackers to see if their cybersecurity defenses can withstand an assault. Cybercriminals are not going away any time soon and unless you want to risk shuttering, it’s time to contract with a cybersecurity specialist to protect your vital business interests.
Author: Joe Martin, Date: 2019-02-12
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