If there’s one industry that cybercriminals love to attack, it’s finance. Organizations within the industry, like banks, insurance companies and brokerage firms, are rife with confidential customer financial information that hackers are eager to steal. Moreover, cybercriminals are coming up with innovative new ways to attack these institutions, researching the best ways to target victims and maximize their return. So, what kind of cybersecurity protection is available to financial organizations?
The first step to successful cybersecurity protection is understanding the risks and then developing strategies for how to address them. Let’s break it down here, beginning with the biggest reasons malicious actors pursue the financial sector.
Data Pays Big
If there’s one thing that pays big for hackers, it’s customer data. Cybercriminals often steal information like credit and debit card info and Social Security numbers and sell it on the dark web. In fact, a hacker can make between $250,000 and $1 million by selling a batch of 50 to 100 credit card numbers alone. It’s a lucrative business – and hackers believe it’s worth the big risk of getting caught.
Digital Transformation Vulnerabilities
The financial industry continues to experience a vast digital transformation as financial products, services and operations become more available online. While this means more convenience and easier user access, it also increases the risk of cyber-related attacks like ransomware. This is especially true as more financial institutions work with outside tech companies to provide a better digital experience, potentially exposing customer data to misuse or loss.
Complicated Compliance Regulations
Regulatory compliance is a must for any kind of financial institution, yet compliance laws can be difficult and time-consuming to follow. State, federal and international regulators continuously release new rules and laws to combat the evolution of new cyberattacks. Cybercriminals can easily expose businesses that are not up to date with their compliance by targeting weaknesses in their system, leading to heavy fines and legal penalties as a result.
How Can the Finance Industry Prepare?
Beyond knowing the risks in the industry, finance organizations can get better cybersecurity protection by being aware of the vast amount of security tools, strategies and resources available to assist them. For instance, by working with security experts from a managed service provider (MSP), organizations can undergo security testing that addresses any security gaps in their systems. They can then create a plan to close these gaps and craft a stronger security infrastructure that keeps cybercriminals out while keeping the right individuals in.
How We Can Help You Fight Against Cybercriminals
Unfortunately, cybercriminals are only getting savvier with their hacking techniques, and that’s not bound to change anytime soon. Businesses that operate in the finance industry need to be more alert than ever before to what type of vulnerabilities their company faces and fix them before it’s too late. Fortunately, our team of seasoned security experts can help get you started on the right foot. Contact us to learn more about the security services, tools and resources we can provide you with today!
If you’d like to learn more about how we can help your business with cybersecurity protection, check out additional blogs in our resources section.
As technology advances, it offers businesses and organizations new opportunities to grow. However, when given the opportunity to expand, these advances can also make managing your IT in-house difficult. Times like these can drive an organization to outsource its IT to a reliable IT partner. Did you know that you can take advantage of two types of outsourced IT: fully outsourced IT and co-managed IT? It’s important for your business to understand the differences when choosing the right service that will benefit your business.
So, do you understand the difference between these two services? Have no fear if you don’t—let’s take a deeper look into what fully outsourced IT and co-managed IT can bring to your table.
Co-Managed IT
You have your own IT team, but you’re struggling to get tasks done, and your helpdesk tickets are getting out of control—what can you do? With co-managed IT, your team can take a collaborative approach to IT management with a third-party IT partner. Instead of tackling all your IT responsibilities, you can share the load with an expert who knows what they are doing. Under this method, your business can expect to gain expertise in areas that you might be lacking or provide slack to projects that need more attention. Your service provider might handle complex projects that require more concentration or just alleviate some common work that can help free up your in-house team.
Either way, having a helping hand can benefit your business and allocate time where it’s needed the most.
Fully Outsourced IT
Say IT isn’t your cup of tea or you don’t have the capacity to manage your infrastructure in-house—are there options for this? Absolutely! With fully outsourced IT, you are giving the reins to an IT partner who will fully manage your IT infrastructure without the use of an internal IT team. Your newly appointed partner will take full responsibility for managing and maintaining all aspects of your IT including your hardware, software, networking, security and even IT support. You’ll receive proactive monitoring, while getting peace of mind knowing your systems are safe from cyberthreats. This approach can be suitable for businesses who don’t have the resources, expertise or time to manage their IT.
Take the stress away from managing your IT, and partner with an expert who knows a thing or two about IT.
How We Can Help You Make the Right Decision
Now that you know the difference between fully outsourced IT and co-managed IT services, do you know what your business needs? The goal is to find a service that works for your business—that’s something we can help you figure out. Whether fully outsourced or co-managed IT, we have you covered. Take the guessing game out of your IT and partner with an MSP like us that can help you every step of the way. Contact us today to learn more about how our services can aid your business. We can’t wait to speak with you!
If you’d like to learn more on how we can help your business with IT, check out additional blogs in our resources section.
In today’s competitive society, businesses need to rely on a robust IT infrastructure to stay ahead of the competition. You can achieve your IT goals by partnering with the right people and utilizing efficient technology. When you have a business to manage, the last thing on your mind should be managing a streamlined IT infrastructure on your own.
Outsourcing IT can help your organization achieve its business goals and increase productivity, while keeping your data organized and protected. In this blog, we will take a closer look at how IT outsourcing can play a vital role in maintaining your business and the benefits that can help deliver growth-focused results.
What Does Outsourcing IT Mean?
Businesses who need additional help can outsource their IT to external, third-party partners. These services can aid in effectively delivering proper business processes, handling everyday administrative tasks or managing infrastructure solutions for the contracting business. The primary goal of outsourcing IT is to ensure that a business runs on a streamlined infrastructure without the worry of technological disruptions, glitches or security breaches.
By handing over the reins to an external partner, outsourcing can help reduce your IT workload and cut costs so you can focus on achieving your business goals.
The Top 5 Rewards of Outsourcing IT
There are many things that an external IT partner can assist your business with. From repetitive, everyday IT tasks to larger, more laborious tasks, including cloud migrations—you’ll find many rewards when it comes to outsourcing your IT.
Let’s take a more focused look into some of the top five rewards your business can achieve by partnering with an external IT company:
Faster Resolution Times: Outsourced IT partners take a more proactive approach when it comes to your IT infrastructure. They are constantly monitoring and managing your systems to ensure your business stays up and running.
Decreased Downtime: Downtime and disruptions can cost your business money. By having your outsourced IT team in your back pocket, you can expect reduced downtime and a faster turnaround if you are faced with a cyberattack.
Greater Focus on Business Goals: You can offload administrative tasks to your external IT partner to better focus on your business’s goals and aspirations.
Stronger Cybersecurity: Cyber criminals are becoming stronger and smarter with cyberattacks. Fortunately for you, your IT partner is well-versed in cybersecurity and will lend your solutions the protection it needs.
Access to Experts: The great thing about outsourcing your IT is that you have access to a leading team of experts who have the skills, resources and talent to address all of your IT needs
The Takeaway
IT service providers can deliver technical expertise to small businesses at a fraction of the cost of managing an internal IT team. If you haven’t considered outsourcing IT, you might want to take a closer look at the rewards and benefits of having an external team of experts at your disposal.
At MSPN, we will help assess your technology needs and work with you to streamline your IT infrastructure, all within your budget. Don’t wait to get the IT help your business needs—contact us today to learn more.
A proper business digital clean-up involves more than trashing old files and updating passwords. An effective business digital clean-up requires revisiting IT lifecycle management, security vulnerability assessments and backup and disaster recovery strategies to ensure your technology is up-to-date, secure and running efficiently. But what if you’re a small to medium-sized business owner without an internal enterprise-level IT department? It’s simple. You outsource the job to the professionals — a managed service provider.
Do You Really Need a Digital Clean-Up?
Have you ever considered what would happen if your IT systems went down for a few hours? What could that cost you? When you consider how much of your business is reliant on safe, reliable technology, performing a digital clean-up is a no-brainer. A managed service provider has the expertise, experience and manpower to perform a comprehensive digital clean-up on your systems, ensuring tech is lean and running smoothly.
1. IT Lifecycle Management
Your business depends on your IT running smoothly. But technology declines over time leading to lags, intermittent connectivity and even downtime. IT lifecycle management services provide a detailed inventory of your entire IT infrastructure so you can optimize every resource. That includes hardware like laptops, servers and devices, and software like Microsoft 365, as well.
IT Lifecycle Management Services Uncover:
Lapsed warranty renewals, licensing purchases and firmware updates
Root causes of slow, inefficient connectivity
Broken or obsolete assets that require safe, secure disposal
Underutilized assets
The more you know about your technology, its true value to your business and its stage of shelf life, the smarter you can be about tech spending.
2. Proactive Cybersecurity Services
A digital clean-up is the ideal opportunity to evaluate your security. Once you identify any hidden security gaps, you can address weak points and strengthen your overall cybersecurity defense. These are a few services IT professionals recommend:
Dark Web Monitoring is pretty much what it sounds like. Trained IT professionals use specialized software to scan the dark web for your information. Should they find anything, they can act quickly to limit potential damage.
Security Vulnerability Assessments are automated tests that scan your infrastructure for weak points that could be exploited. The process happens instantly and provides real-time visibility into potential flaws so they can be prioritized and addressed before they pose a serious risk.
Penetrating Testing simulates a cyberattack on your business. Implemented by an experienced managed service provider, penetration testing can go a long way in identifying your most critical security weaknesses, namely human error.
3. Backup and Disaster Recovery Strategies
Finally, any worthwhile digital clean-up should include a re-evaluation of your backup and disaster recovery strategies. A managed services provider will ask questions like:
When is the last time you tested your backup?
Have your critical business assets and applications changed?
If so, are you backing up that data?
Have you updated your recovery plan to reflect changes in staff?
Every backup and disaster recovery plan requires regular, ongoing maintenance to be effective when you need it. If you don’t have the time or the resources to routinely maintain your technology, consider partnering with an MSP. Managed service providers are invaluable assets to small and medium-sized businesses with minimal or no internal IT resources. Increased productivity, decreased downtime and reduced costs are just a few of the benefits you can realize with this important, trusted partnership.
If you are looking to partner with an MSP, let’s talk. Our team of tech professionals is well versed in services and solutions to keep your business running at its best. Contact us today.
Spring is here, which means it’s time to throw open your windows to let in some fresh, clean air. Let’s take the same tactics you would use when spring cleaning your house and apply them to your business technology! A digital clean-up can often be used to help organize your business and check your work environment for outdated technology, such as your devices, apps and online accounts. A good deep cleaning can be more impactful for your business than you might think. In fact, recent studies have shown that cybercrimes can occur to businesses that are not updating their systems frequently.
The U.S. Small Business Administration found that 88 percent of SMBs felt that their business was vulnerable to a cyberattack due to a lack of resources or preventative measures. This percentage is high, but it doesn’t need to be. Cleaning up your devices and technology with a digital clean-up can help protect your privacy and your identity, while also providing maintenance that you might have been putting off. The more secure your devices become, the more protected your business might feel in the face of a cyberattack.
Let’s discuss six ways you can start your digital transformation with a digital deep clean.
6 Digital Clean-Up Steps
The reality is that your business gathers plenty of digital clutter that needs to be tidied up from time to time. If left unattended, your business may be wasting valuable time and can also be vulnerable to an attack. Outdated tech is a cybercriminal’s favorite method of attack. The cost of a breach alone can cost millions and many SMBs are the ones who suffer. If you think your business is too small, think again—cybercriminals prey on businesses with weak security practices.
With this in mind, let’s look at six steps that your business can take to help tidy up your tech:
1. Review your equipment: When was the last time your software was updated? It’s imperative that all software is running the latest version and that there are no glitches. This can help to reduce the risk of infections from malware and other bugs.
2. Git rid of old data or equipment: With all spring cleaning, you’re going to want to get rid of any equipment that is no longer working. It might also be a good idea to clean up your email and purge any files that aren’t necessary to hold onto anymore. This can help free up space and it can also aid in protecting your sensitive data.
3. Review privacy settings: Take the time to make sure you still agree with your privacy and security settings on all your devices. You can take things a step further and review access control for your business technology. Make sure your employees can only access what they need.
4. Prioritize Your Security: If you haven’t already, you should invest in a password manager to help create passwords that aren’t easy to guess. If you want an extra layer of protection, think about installing multifactor authentication (MFA), which can require users to go through an additional step to access secure accounts and information.
5. Conduct a digital cleanup: Make sure you are changing your passwords, backing up data, managing your equipment, organizing data files and deleting anything unnecessary that is no longer applicable to your business. If you want to really dive into a deep clean, consider the benefits of creating a data backup system.
6. Partner with an MSP: You can partner with an IT expert like us to assist you with a lot more than just deep cleaning your data and technology. An IT partner will review your entire infrastructure, make recommendations on areas you can improve and even help you take on a complete digital transformation.
Take the Next Step
By deep cleaning your data, you can set your business up for success. It’s imperative that you pay attention to your tech and take note when issues arise. Doing so can help increase your productivity, but also reduce downtime your business might experience from a cyberattack.
If you are looking to go a step further, we offer several services that can really get in there and take care of your tech. Don’t make the mistake of thinking spring cleaning is not for you. Let’s let some fresh air in to give you peace of mind. Contact us today to help with your digital clean-up.
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