That struck a nerve
We’ve been getting a lot of feedback on a recent article we wrote for CNBC. The topic—cybersecurity—is admittedly controversial, but we were surprised at just how much of a nerve it struck with some small and mid-sized organizations.
In the article, Group Managing Partner Jim Proppe asks, “Think only big companies get hacked?” only to immediately respond, “Wrong,” and then detail the challenges mid-sized companies have with cybersecurity. In fact, he offered, they might be at a higher risk of attack than larger companies.
“The latest is Premera Blue Cross, and before that Anthem, Sony, Target, Home Depot,” writes Jim. “These are big companies, and many would assume they were relatively bulletproof. Yet they couldn’t keep the hackers at bay. Imagine the risks businesses in the middle market face. Not only are they potentially under-invested in cybersecurity, they may not be even aware of the seriousness of the threat. … In fact, small and middle-market companies may be more vulnerable to attack because criminals know these businesses do not take substantial preventative measures.”
That’s because businesses don’t often know how to think like a criminal, so they aren’t as aware of potential weaknesses or how to guard against them. A few basic recommendations include:
- Perform technical testing.
- Monitor networks for unusually high traffic.
- Implement multifactor authentication.
- Strengthen administrative passwords.
- Partner with a trusted cybersecurity firm.
It’s important for all companies to take the threat of hackers seriously. We take a “Pentagon” approach to cybersecurity—layers upon layers upon layers of security. We have to. With each year, hackers only become more sophisticated. What may have worked a couple of years ago will likely not be as effective today.
How about you? What does your organization do to guard against cybercrime? Have you been a target?
