Three weeks ago, a midsized tech company got an alarming email: Their data was being held for ransom. The company was being asked to fork over $500,000. Handing over this amount of money would have been devastating to the company.
Data hijacking like this costs more than money. It can slow down or stop a business from functioning. The release of confidential business or customer information can damage relationships, tarnish the reputation of a business, and open the company up to legal liability.
The company called MDS for help.
Our experts went in, found the malicious code, isolated it, and remediated it. The data was restored in a matter of hours, and no ransom was paid.
In truth, we probably could have prevented the attack if the organization had utilized a more comprehensive approach to cybersecurity, with ongoing monitoring that continually confirms the health of their IT systems.
Ransomware is not a problem just for major corporations. About 80% of cyber attacks in the U.S. hit small and midsize businesses that often have a weak cybersecurity posture. And that was before the current situation in Ukraine. With the uncertainty of that war, even smaller companies are waking up to their vulnerabilities and the possibility of business disruptions.
Cybersecurity has not been a line item in the budgets of most businesses, but it should be. A cyber attack can start with a click on one email on one computer that soon spreads mayhem throughout your system. Critical data you need to keep your business going and personally identifiable information (PII) that you are responsible for protecting will be at risk. Safeguarding your data is an investment worth making.
“MDS saved us from paying a $500,000 ransom,” said the CEO of the company hit by the ransom demand. “The comparatively low cost of cyber protection is money well spent.”
Small and midsize businesses can’t always keep up with the latest threats, constantly monitor for intrusions, or even update their software as frequently as they should. This means that bugs aren’t fixed, and hardware and software vulnerabilities aren’t remediated. And that leads to highly compromised systems. After all, IT isn’t your main mission or your skillset. But it is ours.
We build a wall of protection around your data and implement a safe and secure infrastructure. We assess your needs and ascertain where a breach is possible. We look at policies and procedures, ensure that best practices are in place, then set up continuous monitoring of security, information, and events to prevent problems before they can wreak havoc. CyberSafe, an MDS solution, includes:
- End point and intrusion prevention tools
- Intrusion detection
- Next generation firewall
- Security, information, and event monitoring (SIEM), log management tools, and research providing real-time analysis to eliminate malicious behavior or code
- Isolating and remediating threats and then restoring systems back into production
- Patching systems to avoid exposure
- Dark Web searches to identify if your data has been released
But, just in case something slips through, we also put in place data backup, a disaster recovery plan, and a business continuity plan. We test them all regularly to ensure that if your system gets hijacked, you won’t feel the pain. Your data will be protected and your business will not be interrupted.
We can help rescue you from ransomware, viruses, and stolen data, but it’s far better to put cybersecurity systems in place now. If you have any questions about your vulnerability to attack or you’d like to learn more about CyberSafe, please reach out to us.
Learn about our CyberSafe service.
