The long-term success of your company is your primary goal as a business owner. Unfortunately, however, we live in troubled times when it comes to the security of our data, as cyber-attacks have become common, especially against small to medium-sized enterprises. Do you want your data protected? Do you want your organization to continue to grow at an accelerated pace? Do you want to avoid penalties from industry regulators? If so, you should use the professional services of a firm specializing in cybersecurity in Richmond, VA.
Cyber defense is a buzzword increasingly used in the US business environment. And for good reasons. The number of attacks on American businesses is on the rise, and that’s due to the improved technological resources that fraudsters and bad actors have access to. Due to the proximity to Washington, D.C., and its central institutional hubs, companies operating in Richmond, VA, are especially vulnerable, mainly since a good portion of them are not doing enough to protect their network from external threats. Professional cybersecurity firms can provide consulting services or, if a threat is imminent, modify your technological infrastructure against external malicious actions.
The firm you call will know how to handle your enterprise’s cyber defense needs and be staffed by experienced professionals who can focus on your internal systems, freeing up your employees’ time. Why is this important? Efficiency. Usually, preventing cyber-attacks is a full-time activity, which consumes a good part of the companies’ internal resources. Focusing on protecting confidential customer data is a necessity, but the consequence is a decrease in innovation and creativity. Using an external firm can help in this respect and allow you to maintain your productivity at an optimal level.
How Can a Specialized Firm Help with IT Security?
More than 80% of high-level companies said they were targets of a hacking attempt in 2021. And most likely, with the advancement in reputation and profitability, your business will also end up on the radar of fraudsters and cyber attackers. To be protected from significant disruptions, you will need to use the services of professionals. But how can they help? For starters, the cybersecurity team you hire will survey your systems and give you a vulnerability risk assessment, which can form the basis of further security-boosting efforts.
The team you collaborate with will analyze the specific requirements of your employees and organize a comprehensive internal blueprint to be followed in case of a data attack. The network protection experts you call upon will set up firewalls and specific network intrusion systems like AIDE or ZEEK, install professional anti-virus and spyware software on your machines, encrypt the confidential data of the users, and make an offline copy of it, as well as conduct regular security audits to ensure your organization complies with the regulations imposed by authorities.
The last point is significant because, depending on your field of activity, you may be liable to fines if customer data gets into the wrong hands. Are you a company working with confidential healthcare records? Then, a data breach could mean a violation of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996. Something that could bring you lots of headaches. Moreover, if some of your customers are from Europe, then a data breach could put you in violation of the General Data Protection Regulation. A network attack is not your fault. But the effectiveness of the protection measures in place is your responsibility. And if they fail, your enterprise could suffer greatly.
It’s all About Constant Monitoring
High-quality cybersecurity in Richmond, VA, is about staying one step ahead of bad actors and anticipating their next moves. And to have a clear perspective of their intent, your services should be constantly monitored. Constant security monitoring is the only way to act in real-time against external threats and reduce the risk of data loss and internal system breaches. The company you work with will implement internal incident response plans and investigate the causes and vulnerabilities behind cyber-attacks. Every successfully repelled attack is a way in which the overall system security can be improved.
In addition, the team you call upon will train your employees to respond promptly to digital attacks and update your internal systems to the latest security signatures available. The company specializing in digital security measures with which you collaborate will conduct regular penetration tests to verify the accuracy of the tools and security measures taken, perform backups to your data, and set up VPNs and anti-virus software to prevent unauthorized access to internal systems.
The experts you employ will modify the firewall parameters, make them more accurate for phishing attempts, and implement two-factor authentication on all work devices, regardless of use. Is it enough? It should, and when managed by a professional company, IT security measures can significantly decrease the risk of data breaches by external fraudsters. However, the risk will always exist, and this is due to the increasing number of approaches that bad actors use to gain access to confidential data.
How Can Fraudsters Attack Your Systems?
Over the past five years, cyberattacks have resulted in total losses of nearly $28 billion for American companies. And unfortunately, the trend is set to continue into 2023. Cyberattacks have become more sophisticated than ever, and the AI revolution makes the tools used to stop attacks require faster upgrades than in years past. From simple methods, like phishing emails designed to test the vigilance of your employees, to coordinated DDoS attacks, helped with AI-powered botnets, digital hijack attempts can vary and affect everyone from international conglomerates to small businesses just beginning to gain regional recognition.
Fraudsters could try to manipulate ARP tables and redirect traffic on your network to their owner servers, capture data packets using packet sniffers such as Wireshark, exploit vulnerabilities in the VLANs on your network, use brute force to gain access to FTP services or use algorithms made by possible by AI to evade egress filtering tools. The methods employed by data attackers are diverse, and their complexity has reached a new high. Working with network protection specialists has, therefore, become essential for companies. And the services of the experts you call upon can be crucial to your long-term financial success.
You Need to Be Prepared
Richmond, VA, is a great city that, in recent decades, has experienced progressive and predictable economic growth. However, the financial success of companies active here has also attracted the attention of bad actors, who now have almost infinite resources to invest in cyber-attacks. Using the professional services of a team specializing in network protection can be vital to keeping your customers’ confidential information safe and your services undisturbed. The professional offerings of specialists will be required to comply with regulatory practices. Moreover, they can provide a competitive advantage and be adaptable to your company’s growth objectives.
A cyber-attack is likely to disrupt the services you offer, and this will lead to financial and reputational losses. By all accounts, network security should be a priority for any reputable company. And using the expertise of professionals can be crucial to ensuring that your day-to-day activity runs with the same efficiency that characterizes your workforce. The network protection team you call on will know how to prevent attacks before they affect your finances. And in the long run, their expertise will become the catalyst behind your financial growth.