Backup Archives

Elastic Computing Revolutionizes Business Dynamics

by EstesCloud | Sep 26, 2023 | Backup, Business Consulting, Business Direction, Cloud, Disaster Recovery, Distribution, ERP, Managed IT Services, Prophet 21, Security, SYSPRO

Cloud Resources are Changing the Manufacturing and Distribution Industry Landscapes

In the world of cloud options for businesses, elastic computing refers to the ability to dynamically scale computing resources up or down based on demand, without the need for significant manual intervention. It involves the use of cloud computing and virtualization technologies to provide flexibility and cost-efficiency in managing IT infrastructure. This allows for greater flexibility and scalability, as resources can be easily scaled up or down based on dynamic business needs. Cloud computing also eliminates the need for organizations to invest in and maintain their own physical infrastructure, such as on-site servers, reducing costs and increasing efficiency.

What is Virtualization?

Virtualization, on the other hand, involves creating a virtual version of a device or resource, such as a server, operating system, or storage device. This virtualization technology allows multiple virtual instances to run on a single physical machine, effectively maximizing the utilization of hardware resources. By consolidating multiple virtual machines onto a single physical server, organizations can reduce the number of physical servers required, leading to cost savings in terms of hardware, power, and cooling.

Bringing Cloud and Virtualization Together

When combined, cloud computing and virtualization technologies offer numerous benefits for managing IT infrastructure. Firstly, they provide flexibility in terms of resource allocation. With cloud computing, organizations can easily scale up or down their computing resources based on their needs, ensuring that they have the right amount of resources at any given time. Virtualization allows for the efficient utilization of hardware resources, enabling organizations to make the most of their existing infrastructure.

Pay-As-You-Go, Quick-To-Market Technologies

At the end of the day, new cloud-based technologies offer cost savings throughout the entire business ecosystem. By leveraging cloud computing, organizations can avoid the upfront costs associated with purchasing and maintaining physical infrastructure. Instead, they can pay for the resources they actually use on a pay-as-you-go basis.

Virtualization further reduces costs by allowing organizations to consolidate their hardware resources, reducing the number of physical servers required and the associated costs of power, cooling, and maintenance.

Additionally, cloud computing and virtualization technologies enhance the agility and scalability of IT infrastructure. With cloud computing, organizations can quickly provision and deploy resources, allowing for faster time-to-market for new applications and services. Virtualization enables organizations to easily scale their infrastructure up or down based on demand, ensuring that they can meet changing business needs without disruption.

Furthermore, these technologies improve the reliability and availability of IT infrastructure. Cloud computing providers typically offer robust infrastructure with built-in redundancy and failover mechanisms, ensuring high availability of services.

Virtualization also enhances reliability by isolating virtual machines from each other, preventing issues in one virtual machine from affecting others.

The use of cloud computing and virtualization technologies in managing IT infrastructure provides organizations with flexibility, cost-efficiency, agility, scalability, reliability, and availability. By leveraging these technologies, organizations can optimize their resource utilization, reduce costs, and improve their overall IT operations. Here are the top 10 benefits of elastic computing for manufacturing and distribution businesses:

Scalability

Elastic computing allows businesses to easily scale their IT infrastructure to accommodate fluctuating demand, ensuring that resources are available when needed without over-provisioning.

Cost Efficiency

By scaling resources up or down as required, businesses can optimize their IT costs, paying only for the computing power they actually use, reducing overall expenses.

Resource Optimization

It enables efficient use of computing resources, avoiding underutilization during periods of low demand and preventing resource bottlenecks during peak periods.

Improved Performance

Elasticity ensures that applications and systems can maintain consistent performance levels even during traffic spikes or increased workloads.

Flexibility

Businesses can quickly adapt to changing market conditions or unexpected events, such as seasonal variations in demand or unforeseen disruptions by adjusting computing resources in real time.

Reduced Downtime

Elastic computing minimizes the risk of system failures or downtime due to resource constraints, as additional resources can be provisioned automatically in response to increased load.

Enhanced Disaster Recovery

Elastic computing can support robust disaster recovery and backup solutions, enabling businesses to replicate their systems across multiple locations or cloud regions for data redundancy and resilience.

Global Reach

Businesses can leverage cloud providers’ global data center networks to expand their operations into new regions and markets without the need for physical infrastructure investments.

Resource Isolation

Elastic computing can provide resource isolation and security, ensuring that applications and data remain protected even when sharing cloud infrastructure with other users.

Agility and Innovation

With the ability to rapidly provision and experiment with new resources and technologies, businesses can innovate more quickly and bring new products or services to market faster.

The Value in Cloud Elasticity

In manufacturing and distribution, elastic computing is particularly valuable because it allows companies to handle seasonal demand fluctuations, respond to supply chain disruptions, and efficiently manage their IT costs. In today’s fast-paced and ever-changing marketplace, businesses need to be agile in order to stay competitive. This means being able to quickly adapt to new trends, technologies, and customer demands. Agility allows companies to respond swiftly to market changes, seize new opportunities, and stay ahead of the competition.

However, agility alone is not enough. Businesses also need to ensure the reliability and performance of their critical systems. These systems are the backbone of the organization, supporting key operations and processes. Any downtime or performance issues can have severe consequences, such as lost revenue, damaged reputation, and dissatisfied customers.

By combining agility with reliability and performance, businesses can achieve a winning formula. They can swiftly respond to market changes while maintaining the stability and efficiency of their critical systems. This requires a careful balance between innovation and stability, as well as a robust infrastructure and effective risk management strategies.

Agility enables businesses to quickly adapt their strategies, products, and services to meet changing customer needs and preferences. It allows them to experiment, iterate, and pivot as necessary, without being tied down by rigid processes or outdated technologies. This flexibility is crucial in a dynamic marketplace where customer expectations are constantly evolving.

On the other hand, reliability and performance ensure that businesses can deliver on their promises consistently. Customers expect products and services to work flawlessly, without any disruptions or delays. Critical systems, such as e-commerce platforms, supply chain management systems, or customer support systems, need to be highly available, scalable, and efficient. This requires robust infrastructure, rigorous testing, and proactive monitoring to identify and address any issues before they impact the business.

Why Manufacturers and Distributors are Choosing EstesCloud

Businesses need both agility, reliability, and performance to thrive in today’s dynamic manufacturing and distribution industry landscape. Agility allows companies to adapt and innovate, while reliability and performance ensure that their critical systems can support their operations effectively. By striking the right balance between these two factors, businesses can remain competitive, deliver exceptional customer experiences, and achieve long-term success.

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ChatGPT Security? Tell Me About Your Motherboard

by EstesCloud | Apr 19, 2023 | Backup, Cloud, Disaster Recovery, ERP Risks and Challenges, Hosting, Managed IT Services, Network Administration, Network Security, Security

ChatGPT security concerns reveal that business owners are hesitant to let AI replace humans.

In November 2022, OpenAI introduced ChatGPT, an artificially intelligent, natural language chatbot. ChatGPT interacts with its users in uncannily humanistic and intelligent ways.

ChatGPT (Conversational Generative Pre-trained Transformer) is a new type of artificial intelligence technology that is being developed to improve the way people interact with machines. While it is intended to provide faster and more intuitive responses to queries, it also carries potential security risks, especially for business owners.

The main concern is that, due to its complex nature, it could result in the loss of private data at great cost to companies and their employees. Furthermore, the technology could lead to a lack of control over data and give hackers the power to manipulate user behavior. This could be particularly damaging to those who rely on personal data to make decisions, such as financial services.

Additionally, ChatGPT could potentially cause unintended consequences, such as decreased privacy, as well as a lack of transparency. Therefore, it is essential to understand the implications of this technology before it is put into use.

The capabilities of ChatGPT and other Artificially Intelligent (AI) platforms are truly astounding. Users can ask ChatGPT questions and expect meaningful, accurate answers. However, these advancements in AI and chatbot technology come with their own set of compliance, privacy, and cybersecurity concerns.

For instance, as these AI platforms become more sophisticated, they may begin to store more personal data and analyze user behavior. This could lead to potential privacy violations and other security risks:

AI-powered chatbots are particularly vulnerable to malicious attacks, as hackers may attempt to exploit vulnerabilities in AI platforms in order to gain access to sensitive information, manipulate data, or disrupt operations.
Additionally, AI-powered chatbots may be vulnerable to social engineering attacks, wherein hackers may use techniques such as phishing, impersonation, and disinformation to gain access to systems or manipulate people.
Furthermore, AI-powered chatbots may be vulnerable to data poisoning attacks, wherein hackers may input malicious data into AI systems in order to corrupt their output.
Finally, AI-powered chatbots may be vulnerable to adversarial attacks, wherein hackers may use sophisticated methods to fool the AI system into producing incorrect results.

These attacks can be used to gain access to valuable data, disrupt operations, or even cause physical harm. As such, it is important for businesses to take the necessary steps to protect their AI platforms from potential cyber threats.

The question and answer exchange feature of a chat-based AI tool allows users to exchange information and collect personal data, making it easier to target specific audiences with tailored content.

AI security issues surface greater challenges in company data management.

Sophisticated chatbots provide an efficient way to generate content quickly, allowing users to quickly respond to customer requests or create high-quality content. As AI systems collect data, threat actors can scavenge for personal data, such as payment information or an email address. Something immediately helpful in customer relationship management soon becomes a data management nightmare.

Aside from the entertainment and educational capabilities of this new AI technology, ChatGPT and its other rival AI platforms have the potential to revolutionize the internet and working atmospheres.

In the technology realm, IT workers can use ChatGPT to enhance their development by asking the tool to quickly write or revise code. Considering the capabilities of AI platforms, it’s no wonder why companies are investing in and implementing AI technology.

However, like many other technological advances in history, AI platforms have potential privacy and cybersecurity risks. Recently, Italy, Spain, and other European countries have raised concerns about the potential privacy violations that could arise from using ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence (AI) platform. As a result, these countries have sought to introduce new regulations to ensure that ChatGPT respects the privacy of its users.

In particular, these regulations would require the platform to limit the collection, use, and disclosure of users’ personal data, as well as to ensure that users are able to access, modify, or delete the personal data they have provided to the platform. The regulations would require ChatGPT to take appropriate steps to ensure that any personal data collected is adequately protected from unauthorized access, use, or disclosure. This includes implementing appropriate technical and organizational measures such as encryption, pseudonymization, and secure storage systems.

ChatGPT would also be required to provide users with clear and detailed information about how their personal data is being used, such as the purposes for which it is being collected and processed, the categories of data being collected, how long it will be stored, and who it will be shared with. Furthermore, ChatGPT would need to ensure that users are aware of their rights in relation to their personal data, including their right to access and to request rectification or deletion of their data.

Many countries have banned ChatGPT. Under the Biden administration, the United States will roll out a comprehensive national security strategy to address the growing threat of hacking and malicious use of artificial intelligence (AI) platforms. This strategy will involve the coordination of multiple federal departments and agencies, including the Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Justice, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. It will also require close coordination with international partners and allies, as well as the private sector and civil society organizations to ensure that the strategy is effective and comprehensive in scope.

The strategy will include a focus on protecting critical infrastructure, strengthening deterrence and detection capabilities, improving information sharing and collaboration, and developing new technologies to protect against malicious cyber threats and malicious AI use. The strategy will also involve enhancing international cooperation and engagement to counter malicious cyber activities, as well as increasing public and private investments in cyber security research and development.

The Biden administration will also be seeking to build public-private partnerships to improve the security of both public and private sector networks and systems. AI platforms are increasingly becoming popular due to their innovative and highly capable nature. However, these platforms are not without their risks and need to be assessed by multiple parties.

Cybercriminals are constantly looking for ways to take advantage of these platforms, targeting them in order to steal confidential information, generate malicious software, or gain access to data systems. These types of cyber attacks can have serious implications for the security of the platform and its users, resulting in the loss of valuable data, financial information, and sensitive personal information. Therefore, it is essential that organizations take the necessary steps to protect their AI platforms against these types of malicious attacks. This includes implementing robust security measures and regularly monitoring the platform for any suspicious activities. Additionally, it is important to stay up to date with the latest cybersecurity trends and technologies in order to ensure that the AI platform remains secure and protected.

Although OpenAI has programmed ChatGPT with the appropriate rules to prevent abuse, hackers have already figured out how to “jailbreak” the platform. In as little as a minute, hackers can generate malicious code for criminal intent. Prior to utilizing ChatGPT, their efforts may have taken days or even weeks.

AI-generated malware and cybersecurity attacks have already occurred. For example, hackers recently used ChatGPT to generate apps that successfully hijacked Facebook users’ accounts.

Preventing cybersecurity attacks and data breaches are of utmost importance for companies that desire to protect their sensitive data and minimize their costs, and now that hackers are using AI platforms to further their criminal activities, it is imperative, now more than ever, for companies to seek the best security solutions.

EstesGroup offers EstesCloud services to protect companies’ private data and systems from cybercriminals who may use new AI platforms for malicious intent. EstesCloud protects companies in a changing society in which AI technology is accelerating and enhancing hackers’ criminal activities. ChatGPT security is included in the private cloud and hybrid cloud infrastructures that we create for our clients.

ChatGPT security isn’t an issue when your powerful, highly capable AI and ERP tools are protected in a reputable data center. EstesGroup is ready to protect companies from hackers who use ChatGPT and other AI platforms to attempt to breach their data systems. The new AI technology will inevitably advance in the future, and as companies embrace and implement AI platforms, security solutions, like EstesCloud, will be necessary to safeguard private data and protect data systems.

EstesGroup realizes that innovation requires responsibility and security solutions, and the Estes’ team of highly skilled and dedicated professionals are ready to assist companies that seek the best cloud protection. Only time will tell how AI platforms will transform company atmospheres, but companies can rest assured that EstesGroup is ready for an artificially intelligent future.

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P21 Public Web Client Access – Who’s Your Proxy?

by Brad Feakes | Apr 14, 2023 | Backup, Cloud, Distribution, Epicor, Managed IT Services, Prophet 21

ERP systems have traditionally had a functionality-accessibility problem: ERP systems were highly functional, but not especially accessible – they normally required desktop fat-client applications for access, and these were often hamstrung by local access requirements, making applications far from mobile.

As internet architectures became more and more robust, the possibility of web browser-based ERP became a reality, with new ERP vendors designing and building their software around the browser, and legacy vendors systems hastening to retrofit their existing ERP systems to accommodate the browser-based future.

But this introduced a new problem – one of accessibility vs security: the high levels of availability increased the possibility that threat actors could access a company’s ERP system remotely, and cause havoc to company data.

Most load balancers make it relatively easy to have an app safely deployed publicly. Normally, you run a reverse proxy server that passes traffic to your web app. This obfuscates the info for the destination of the web app and basically acts as a secure gateway to the internal resource. At EstesGroup, P21 Web UI is protected by MFA via a reverse proxy to the identity provider as well. However, administration of the Prophet 21 application introduces additional challenges. The P21 web login page contains a gear icon.

If a P21 user clicks the gear, they can access the Middleware server URL value, along with its port.

This introduces several complications:

It basically shows users a free shortcut around MFA. A clever user can copy and paste the Middleware URL and port into their browser and access the P21 application directly, avoiding the MFA.
The Middleware server URL and port are resolved on the P21 client side of the P21 application when logging in. This means, even though the Load Balancer can reverse proxy to the internal resource, it’s not going to be able to resolve the specific Middleware server URL on the P21 client side to complete the P21 login.

To get around these challenges, you might initially think to expose the Prophet 21 Middleware server to the internet and add a public DNS entry for it. But to directly expose P21 Middleware servers to the internet in that manner is a monumental risk. Another option is required.

To address the above issue, we do the following:

We create a middleware reverse proxy to direct traffic to the middleware servers.
We direct the P21 Web configurations to use the middleware proxy for its respective Middleware Server.
We then expose the reverse proxies to the internet, creating DNS records for each of them.

By exposing the Middleware server proxies to the internet through a public DNS instead of the middleware servers themselves, you add a line of defense to the servers, only passing that needed traffic and keeping P21 Middleware Servers from being directly internet-exposed.

Another advantage of reverse proxying is the ability to intercept direct-access attempts. Theoretically, one might try to plug in the Middleware proxy URLs publicly and get access to the P21 API or the P21 Web UI. The reverse proxy allows for the functionality to block certain endpoints, such as the API or web client. When a user sees the Middleware URL in the P21 login settings, if they try to get around MFA and plug that URL in, they get a lovely 403 page, keeping them out of the Middleware. Alternatively, you can also redirect them back to the Web UI home page.

While there are other solutions for increasing accessibility, such as accessing through a VPN, these can at times be unreliable. If you are a decentralized company, with remote employees all over the country, speeds over VPN can be less than ideal on many occasions. Obviously, there are certain risks to opening any resource to the internet. It’s important to consider the attack surface, and the associated risks. At EstesGroup, we isolate any resources open to the internet, and implement Antivirus, Firewalls, and Threat Protection for all endpoints. Along with that, oftentimes, Geofencing helps cut out a lot of noise on any resource open to the internet, to prevent overseas attackers using botnets.

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Go Hybrid Workforce, Go Hybrid Cloud

by EstesCloud | Apr 7, 2022 | Backup, Cloud, Hosting, Managed IT Services, Network Security, Security

As part of a post-pandemic plan, businesses are solidifying and strengthening remote worker infrastructure and allowing employees to bounce between casual and corporate office settings. As a long-term commitment to flexible work environments and work-life balance, companies are increasing remote worker support by deploying private and hybrid cloud infrastructure to secure, protect, and optimize a hybrid workforce.

Solutions Like Microsoft Teams for Remote Teams

Teams are divided like never before, and this has proven to be a good thing. By allowing a hybrid workforce, you empower workers to choose the best setting for the work at hand. Social distancing requirements necessitated home offices, but in a post-pandemic era, that same flexible cloud-based infrastructure can allow workers to tap into secure software solutions, like Microsoft Teams, and complete their work from home, or from a hotel or other remote setting. Microsoft Teams provides an innovative toolset, giving remote workers everything they need to communicate and organize workflows.

When employees are dispersed, employers have to be creative with the software solutions they choose for basic business communication and operation. A secure network infrastructure needs to be properly managed so that productivity levels stay high. Employees must understand the tools they’re given, and they also need to be trained so that they understand the risks of remote connectivity. A software like Microsoft 365 comes with basic cybersecurity by default, but these cloud-based solutions require trained users, good management, and often need supplemental software and services, like SECaaS (Security as a Service).

Benefits of the Hybrid Cloud for a Hybrid Workforce

The main objective of a hybrid system, whether it be a hybrid cloud or a hybrid workforce, is to create optimal work productivity, low turnover of talented staff, and high ROI (return on investment) of purchased software and services. When you’re combining on-premise technology with remote enablement tools, you’ll need to invest in a cloud management team that understands the risks of hybrid systems.

Digital Transformation Results in More Access, Better Resources

In a hybrid cloud environment, employers can create coast-to-coast and even international teams without increasing the risk of a security breach. With managed IT services in place, companies can use specialized external staff to maintain the cloud platform, using technology to stay relevant and competitive.

Working with a Managed Service Provider (MSP) helps your business by giving you a complete suite of technology solutions and skills for every IT need that comes with hybrid systems. If your employees need to access your company data from a home office, then you can ensure that the web browser is protected by state-of-the-art cybersecurity solution.

What Cloud Does Your Hybrid Workforce Need?

If you’ve always done business in an on-premises infrastructure, then the shift to remote work might have put your sensitive data at risk early in the pandemic when companies weren’t aware of the risks of public cloud services and public cloud environments. Now that hybrid work is becoming a “benefit,” similar to a company discount program or company car, hybrid cloud solutions are replacing the basic web-browser access of the remote workforce of the past.

An off-premises data center can create a cost-effect hybrid cloud architecture, giving you a robust backup and disaster recovery solution for all of your software, including those that work by default in a public cloud capacity.

Can Public Clouds Turn Hybrid Workforces Into Hybrid Monsters?

If you Google “cloud,” you’ll see that a business cloud strategy means something different to everyone. When creating the cloud-based infrastructure for your remote employees, you should carefully design your cloud to give you the uptime, backup, and security you need to manage your business. Be leery of promises of the simplicity of public cloud offerings. Take on-premise technology and private cloud solutions into consideration before letting a third-party vendor limit you to the public cloud.

Please Fill Out the Form Below to Get a Free Hybrid Workforce Assessment

Let’s begin a conversation and see if your business would benefit from a robust private or hybrid cloud solution. EstesGroup helps businesses by bringing industry expertise along with the best consultants and technology the world has to offer.

Who Knows What You’re Doing For Data Privacy Week?

by EstesCloud | Jan 27, 2022 | Backup, Cloud, Disaster Recovery, Managed IT Services, Security

The EstesGroup 2022 data privacy initiative focuses on educating businesses on best practices for collecting data and promoting transparency, respect, and security.

Every second, EstesGroup cybersecurity experts work to protect the data of our customers, our employees, our partners, and our friends. In this spirit, we are once again a Data Privacy Week Champion. As one of the leading cloud providers in the nation, we know full well how important it is to recognize and support the principle that all organizations share the responsibility of protecting information.

Data Privacy Week Raises Awareness Within Organizations

The COVID-19 pandemic has blurred private environments, like bedrooms and living rooms, into corporate offices, given our increased dependence on remote workforces. A universal respect for privacy has never been more important: the pandemic has also increased international attacks on American businesses, and this has left the homes of remote workers vulnerable to cyberthreats most common in traditional office settings.

EstesGroup helps businesses manage data through advanced cloud-based solutions that offer the protection levels trusted by medical record keepers, law offices, manufacturers, distributors, and more. We promise to guard our clients at every level possible:

We protect online data, and we secure offline data with the same robust approach to risk management that makes even the most sensitive information safe in the hands of our IT staff.

We prevent unauthorized access and ensure that compliance regulations are not only met, but exceeded.

We secure employees wherever they are and train them to protect themselves against the perils of digital harm.

We educate our customers so that they handle their data wisely and keep everyone in their networks and supply chains safe from cyberthreats.

Data collection is only increasing, and the risks are following suit.

The Pew Research Center reports that 79% of adults in the United States are worried about the security of their data as it is handled by organizations. Here are a few tips to earn the trust of your employees and customers by deploying secure privacy management strategies:

Save now, secure now: There is no room for procrastination in cybersecurity. If you save the data, protect it.
Go now, know now: Choose your cyber pathways wisely, and know who in your company is traveling where and ensure that you are documenting digital tracks so that a breach can be traced after disaster strikes.
Collect now, share now: If you are collecting information, inform your employees and customers about how you are saving, using, and sharing information through clear and concise policies that abide by privacy laws.
Behave now, train now: Know how to behave and train your employees to do likewise.

Understand Data Privacy

Get a free cyber health check from EstesGroup.
Sign up for a full security audit at least once a year.
Enroll in educational programs at least once a year so that you’re fully informed about how the digital landscape is changing.

Manage Data Privacy

Distribute and post current policies to all employees.
Delete unused applications and move vulnerable data offline using secure backup plans.
Use firewalls, encryption, cybersecurity solutions, and disaster recovery planning services.
Move operations into a private or hybrid cloud environment for the most control over your data, ensuring cybersecurity and privacy at every endpoint.
Ensure that your partners and vendors have up-to-date privacy measures in place so that your employees and customers are also protected in your extended network.

For more information regarding adoption of a robust privacy framework to meet industry compliance regulations, please learn more about NIST. If you would like help understanding the details of NIST Privacy Framework, AICPA Privacy Management Framework, ISO/IEC 27701 – International Standard for Privacy Information Management, please contact the EstesCloud team.

As privacy management champions, we have your back — and can manage your backup, too.

VIEW OUR GUIDE TO REMOTE WORKER PRIVACY MANAGEMENT

5 Signs Your Business Needs Cybersecurity Training

by EstesCloud | Oct 20, 2021 | Backup, Cloud, Disaster Recovery, Hosting, Managed IT Services, Network Security, Security

Cybersecurity Education Begins With Ownership

Small and medium sized business owners beware! 65% of attacks that originate in cyberspace are aimed at companies that think they’re too small to be of interest to cybercriminals. If you think you’re at low risk, read on and see why our IT security consultants recommend cybersecurity training for everyone.

Cybersecurity Training Hacker in Network Security Lock

Are you a small business owner? Or are you a once-small company now grown into the medium range of corporate presence? When it comes to cybersecurity solutions for businesses, you always have to structure your services and behavior to prepare as if you’re bigger than you are. This involves a comprehensive security solution that covers your entire company network, from suppliers to employees. Do you have an enterprise-level cybersecurity strategy that protects every connection and end user from digital harm?

If you own a business, you know how precious your data is to daily operations. Profitability depends on good data management behaviors. Because all companies are vulnerable to hackers, your data should be presumed insecure. Cybersecurity should be a proactive approach to cybercrime, rather than a reactive (disaster recovery) move.

Are you on a cybercrime watchlist?

Breaches happen, even to the most prepared companies. Therefore, your risk management policies should be revisited frequently. Business owners should be part of this process. A board of advisors might be beneficial, and it can be cost-effective to outsource this high-level cybersecurity work to a virtual CIO or to a firm with the technology skills that guarantee security for your data.

What happens when a hacker is watching your business?

It takes about a half of a year for business owners to become aware that a hacker has breached the network. It also takes about two months to react to a cyber attack.

Here are five signs your business is at risk and in need of cybersecurity training:

1. You are a small or medium size business.

Far less likely to report cybercrime to the authorities, small and midsized companies are viewed by hackers as a low-risk target. Manufacturers and distributors are often looking to scale, and maintaining a good reputation is key to a successful future. As a growing business, you wouldn’t want your reputation to include a history of victimization by way of ransomware.

2. You think it’s a small problem or that someone else is addressing the issue of cyber safety.

Fear of expense often prevents small and midsize manufacturers and distributors from securing the technology solutions and services they need to protect their data. A good backup solution isn’t enough, even though this is what many company owners depend on for risk management. When planning your IT department budget, price out outsourced help, especially when it comes to cybersecurity. Often, the experts at an IT managed services provider (MSP) will be more friendly to the budget than on-site technology staff.

3. You think you need to cut the IT budget… but IT costs are actually decreasing.

Firewalls and phishing filters are a necessity these days. Due to a mix of popularity and availability, technology cost trends show that business owners can get enterprise-level technology services with affordable pricing. Cloud-based IT services, such as SECaaS (Security as a Service) look at the unique needs of your business and adjust pricing accordingly. Only pay for what you need.

4. Your employees don’t know what they don’t know.

Cybersecurity training might be the most important activity you schedule for the end of 2021 or the beginning of 2022. The time is now. Hackers take advantage of poorly trained employees on a daily basis. 95% of security breaches are successful because of human error. Train, train, and train again. Technology is an ever-evolving field, and this ripples into the dark web as cutting-edge malware. Protecting your talented staff from the dark web is key to employee retention in today’s culture.

Fortunately, cyber education is often free online. Formal training is easy on the budget. If you have a million customers relying on your manufacturing operations to maintain uptime, your cyber security plan needs to defend more than credit card numbers and social security numbers. You need an IT solution that comprehensively protects the countless connections along your supply chain, right down to the home offices of your remote workers.

Sign up for a ransomware simulation attack today to see if your employees are ready for disaster. Employees are eager to learn security breach mitigation strategies because their personal information is at risk in the event of a data leak. Information security begins with security training.

5. You’re likely to pay the ransom if you are attacked.

More than half of small businesses pay a ransom. Reasons revolve around damage control: you definitely don’t want your data or your reputation harmed by a ransomware attack, so in the moment you are likely to pay the attacker. If you think you’d be likely to pay a ransomer to get your data back, then you stand unprepared. Once you have a solid cybersecurity plan in place with a crew of talented IT staff to support your solutions, you’ll know that you’ll never pay a hacker a dime of your earnings. In the event that you experience a breach, you’ll know that you have an incident response plan that won’t involve a ransom payment.

Today’s cyber landscape is riddled with massive corporations hitting the news for million-dollar ransomware attacks. When was your last security audit? It’s better to act as a big little company in a technology culture in which the hackers are frequently more skilled than even the best IT staff.

Empower your workers with the best solutions so that they can use their talents to their full extent.
Prevent identity theft of employees by securing personal data and corporate data.
Bring in a white hat hacker to test both onsite and remote cybersecurity solutions and services.

Can your staff respond properly to a data breach? Do you have an incident response plan clearly delineated so that all employees understand your disaster recovery process? Have employees been thoroughly trained to recognize cyber threats lurking in their email accounts as phishing attempts?

Cybersecurity training involves both on-premise and cloud-based breach mitigation techniques. EstesGroup offers coast-to-coast onsite and cloud IT services, including everything from project and budget planning to education and monitoring.