Why Cybersecurity shouldn’t be taken lightly
Let’s start with a “fun fact”: In 1981, the first cybercriminal was convicted of hacking into the AT&T network and altering its internal clock so it charged off-hour rates at peak times. So, it turns out that cybercrime is not all that new. But it stays new in the sense that it is constantly evolving. Cybercriminals now target not only big businesses like AT&T, but also small- and medium-sized businesses. Cybersecurity has to be a conscious decision. It is not something to be taken lightly or something that you can engage in passively as though it were yet another random business requirement. In order to stay safe in today’s highly vulnerable environment, businesses need to focus on cybersecurity and have clear cybersecurity strategies and action plans in place. This also means budgeting appropriately to support the process. Also, remember, creating a safe cyber space in your organization isn’t an idea that starts and ends with IT. Human Resources is a critical component in the design and implementation of any cyber security strategy. Often, SMB owners feel investing so much into IT doesn’t offer great returns–which may be true in some cases. Some of the reasons for this include-
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- Your in-house IT staff may not have enough work to stay occupied full-time
- When you have an in-house IT team, there are other costs that come with it, that are generally HR-related, such as training costs, employee benefits, medical insurance, 401(k) etc.,
As a result, sometimes, SMBs tend to resort to the firefighting approach to IT problems, which means, they reach out to an IT service provider when they face an issue. However, more often than not, it is too little, too late and also, too expensive.