SME's - Can you afford to not have cyber security?

SME’s are under constant threat of Cyber attacks – so why are so many not doing anything about it?

While many SME’s have started to become more aware of cyber threats and cyber security, plenty are still thinking they are too small to be a victim of a cyber attack. Instead of investing a small cost into preventative measures and tightening their networks, system and processes, businesses run the risk of being attacked which could end up with huge losses, these losses could come as network down time, fines and quite often, more importantly a loss of trust and loss of customers.

Long Established SME’s are some of the most vulnerable as many are still using old CRM systems and have not updated their computer systems in years – because if its not broken why fix it! This attitude is what hackers are banking on, they rely on the fact that you have not changed your password in over a year, that you click on every email you open, you allow unauthorized access on to your computer networks, these examples are seen everyday in small to medium size businesses

‍Responsibilities

‍SME’s are responsible for security of their customers sensitive information such as personal details, even though you may not take huge amount of credit card data, the majority of companies will still take some sensitive data from clients, business owners are responsible for this data! If you have a data breach you could have to pay a large fine enforced by the Information Commissioners Office which may be enough to bankrupt some companies. It is every organisations responsibility both legally and morally to ensure their systems have effective cyber security in place.

‍IT and Cyber, are they the same?

‍It can be a daunting task looking at your cyber security and may seem that a cyber security consultancy is there to catch out IT departments, this is certainly not the case. IT and CYBER SECURITY are NOT the same. The job of IT since computer networks have been around is to provide availability of systems, the majority of businesses have employed IT companies or in house IT teams to ensure their networks are running at all times. With having excellent availability on your systems does mean that security will not be as tight as it could be. There is a fine line between having data easily accessible and too much security that accessing that data takes too long. North Star Cyber Security are here to find that balance.

‍How North Star Cyber Security can help….

‍At North Star Cyber we work with all size organisations and personnel, whether you have an internal IT team or outsource your IT, we offer plans that are designed to protect your systems. One of our most well received cyber security services is our Cyber Secure. We develop a plan and implement changes over the course of 12 months to get your company to the level of security it needs to be. This includes options for staff training, simulated attacks and phishing campaigns as well as vulnerability scans, penetration tests which identifying weaknesses and physical security testing.

We take on your cyber risk management so you do not have to worry about malicious software gain access to your computer systems. Our CYBER SECURE  also means that instead of paying upfront, you pay monthly to spread the costs, this also includes our continued support.

‍For more information get in touch with one of our dedicated team.