As an IT consulting firm on the Gulf Coast, we know a thing or two about preparing for disasters. We know that as soon as May 1 rolls around, it is time to double check the hurricane preparedness kit: Matches, candles, flashlights, batteries, bottled water, canned food, and other nonperishables are the staples of a well-prepared home.
Just like we need to prepare our households for hurricane season, we need to prepare our businesses. Unfortunately for business owners, cybercriminals don’t take time off. In fact, they’ve been more active than ever before, with an attack happening an average of every 39 seconds. It’s time to revisit your cybersecurity measures to ensure your employees, your clients, and your business is protected.
Start with Layered Security
These days, a single point of IT protection, like a firewall, isn’t enough to keep out cyberthreats. A layered approach, which includes multiple types of protection – from physical hardware to app and device tools – provides a more solid and reliable system.
Just like one sandbag won’t keep out a flood, adding more layers of security provides a stronger defense. We’re seeing more types of cybersecurity breaches, such as ransomware, continually change in their approach, which means the old way of protection simply isn’t cutting it.
AGJ’s layered approach involves several different tools. Unified Threat Management (UTM) is a firewall that filters the information coming through your internet connection and can block materials from countries known to have a heavy threat response.
Our next-gen antivirus software uses machine learning to automate our responses to get our clients nearly instant alerts when there is suspicious activity. We also use email filtering to prevent the wrong people from getting access to sensitive data.
Additionally, we provide security awareness training, customized to your IT goals, processes and procedures. We also provide Breach Secure Now, a portal for clients to complete their security awareness training on their own time.
Why You Shouldn’t DIY Your Cybersecurity
While certainly anyone can download antivirus software, businesses and municipalities benefit from having a managed service provider and a dedicated team that has the bandwidth to keep up, monitor and be ready to mitigate cybersecurity issues.
AGJ has more than 15 professionals on standby to help with cybersecurity or disaster recovery at a moment’s notice.
What You Can Do NOW to Protect Your IT Systems
Strengthening and protecting your IT systems should be a priority. Here are a few things you can start with.
- ID all devices so they are easily identifiable to IT professionals.
- Hold regular vulnerability testing. (Or engage AGJ to do it. Rather than outsourcing to a third party, we manage our clients’ testing directly.)
- Review your disaster recovery plan and your incident response plan regularly. If you don’t have one, get one.
- Train, train, train. Whether employees have been with you for years or are brand new, you need them on top of processes to protect your company’s IT.
- Know your risk and the price associated with it. Having an impact analysis can help you better understand both.
AGJ: Your Partner in Weathering the Storm
You rely on the weatherman to tell you when a hurricane is headed your way. AGJ does the same thing for your IT system – and works to protect you from threats.
We offer a variety of tools to help you understand your vulnerabilities, from our downtime calculator to our IT Risk and Compliance Assessment, to our Complete Cybersecurity Guide, we have everything you need to ensure your business is protected from both natural and manmade disasters.
We’ve been helping area organizations just like yours for over 18 years.
Schedule a consultation with AGJ today. We will look at your current cyber situation and help you decide what approach works best for your organization.
