Cyber attacks are nothing new – cyber criminals have been hijacking web pages and stealing information since the Internet began. Over the years though, the World Wide Web has become more than vanity pages and online recipes. Today, ecommerce, sensitive data storage, and business communications all rely on a stable and secure Internet.
That’s why in 2004, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the National Cyber Security Alliance launched October’s National Cyber Security Awareness Month (NCSAM). NCSAM’s purpose is to raise awareness about cyber threats and to teach businesses and individuals how to protect themselves online.
This year, the National Cyber Security Alliance developed five theme weeks through the month of October:
Cyber attacks including viruses, malware, ransomware, and other cyber threats are like the flu: they’re messy, they can put you out of action, and they can spread. Cybersecurity is like a vaccine against cyber threats. The National Cyber Security Alliance wants to prevent the spread in the first place by getting everyone to take an active role in cybersecurity.
The Wannacry ransomware attack that happened worldwide in May 2017 is a great example of why good cybersecurity is so important. In that attack, many high-profile organizations were affected including the National Health Service (NHS) in both England and Scotland. The Wannacry virus is a “cryptoworm” that got in through a hole in Microsoft Windows software, infecting computers and locking up data until a ransom was paid.
The tragedy was that there was already a Windows patch available – and had been for about two months before the attack. The whole thing could have been prevented by updating Windows. The fact that such a simple fix was overlooked by so many around the world is a good indication of how overwhelmed many organizations feel about cybersecurity in general.
However, it’s never been more important to ensure your systems are backed up and locked down. Luckily, there’s an easy fix.
…that according to a Denver Post report, 60% of small businesses fail within six months of a cyber attack? Like the flu, prevention is the best medicine. Hiring a good cybersecurity firm to ensure your data is secure greatly reduces the risk of cyber attack, and will allow you to recover faster if you are attacked. Read the Denver Post article here:
https://www.denverpost.com/2016/10/23/small-companies-cyber-attack-out-of-business/
The good news is, small and medium businesses (SMBs) and organizations don’t have to tackle cybersecurity alone. CompCiti Business Solutions, Inc. is the easy, sure-fire way to ensure your computers, networks, data, and all IT systems are secure. We provide a variety of services so you don’t have to worry including certified IT audits to identify the cracks in your cybersecurity and the trained IT professionals who know how to fix them. Plus, we also provide all the other services you’d expect from a premier IT consultant in New York including networking, data backup and recovery plans, cloud services, hardware and software services, IT staffing, and more.
We have longevity, serving organizations in New York since 1996. We have knowledge and expertise as a Microsoft Silver Partner and IT auditing certification from ISACA. We have outstanding customer service with a BBB A+ rating and Google 5-star rating.
Here’s another good reason to hire CompCiti: despite the worldwide threat that Wannacry generated, none of our clients were ever infected with the Wannacry cryptoworm. We made sure that all the computers under our watch were updated with the security patch, making it impossible for the worm to spread.
Call CompCiti today to find out how we can make your National Cyber Security Awareness Month – and every month after – safer. Visit us at CompCiti.com or call today for a free phone consultation at (212) 594-4374.
For more about National Cyber Security Awareness Month: https://staysafeonline.org/ncsam/
