Avoiding risk is important for every business, unless your business is as a daredevil, then mitigating risk will have to do. Nowadays, with technology being an omnipresent element in most businesses, technology-based risks have grown in concert. As a result, the modern business owner and IT administrators need to understand the new risks and how to proactively work toward avoiding (or mitigating) them.

The Worst-Case Scenario

The best place to start any risk assessment is with the worst-case scenario, working your way back to more plausible scenarios.

In the absolute worst-case scenario, a hacker gains access to your network, then slams your business with ransomware. This malware is designed as a tool to extort money from your business by preventing you from accessing your data. Ransomware will encrypt the files you need to do business. 

At the same time, the new owner of your files, can have free rein on your network: accessing data, planting more malware, and generally creating more trouble for your business. Not only left without access to the data that allows your business to function, you could experience additional damage to your professional reputation.

How do you think your clients would react if you had to inform them that their personal, medical, and/or financial data had been breached? The probability is that it won’t be good for your business. A data breach is possibly the worst thing that your business could experience - not only does it damage your reputation, it reduces what you can actually accomplish. Both of these effects can diminish your incoming revenue. You’re forced to scale back your operations, and then come the layoffs. New employees become harder to obtain, as they’ve heard the horror stories.

This entire situation, however, can be avoided. It requires you to implement an inclusive network security strategy, including software protection and employee training.

Avoiding a Business Tragedy

Your network security strategy should leverage reliable solutions to protect your company’s information. This should include an enterprise-level firewall, complicating access to your data should some unwelcome presence manage to infiltrate your network. Anyone on your team with access to the network also needs to be trained to recognize threats. Educating them about the dangers of unauthorized actors on the network and how to avoid this situation can help you prevent it from becoming an issue at all.

At 415 IT, we understand how challenging making some of these investments can be, even if it is for the security of your company and its network. However, the harsh reality is that you no longer have a choice with the volume and variety of threats out there today. Fortunately, you have us. Our knowledgeable technicians know how to implement the security solutions your organization’s network needs. Learn more about what we can do by giving us a call at (415) 295-4898.