When word dropped that Equifax, one of the three largest credit agencies in the U.S., suffered a breach from a “website flaw that could have been easily fixed”, people started to take notice. With more than 143 million people having lost their personal details, there’s no wonder why Equifax is facing questions from legislators and the public.
Think about this: there are roughly 326 million people in the United States today (9/14/2017). 143 million consumers would represent about 40% of the country’s population.
With that being said, web and cyber security isn’t just for the Fortune 5000 companies like Equifax, Chipotle, Gmail, and DocuSign, who all faced data breaches this year. While big names make headlines, attacks against small businesses have fallen under the radar.
Per Bryan Seely, a network engineer famous for hacking into the FBI: “Most small-business owners don’t think they’re at risk. As a result, it’s fair to say they are indeed ill-prepared to safeguard against an attack.”
Seely adds, “That the problem is that most small-business owners don’t know where to begin when it comes to ramping up their web and cyber security.”
The problem is that most small-business owners don’t know where to begin when it comes to ramping up their web and cyber security.
But, it doesn’t need to be that way. There are plenty of easy things that can be done in-house, such as regularly running software updates, updating passwords, and making sure that your data and files are backed up routinely.
Beyond that, relying on web and IT professionals for security products and services will continue to be a growing trend–for good reason. There isn’t any single task that will prevent your website from being hacked, your customer’s data being compromised, or the integrity of your company being potentially jeopardized.
Implementing a multi-layered approach is the best line of defense. While the inevitability of an attack looms, the outlook may seem bleak, and investing in security perhaps not worthwhile. But that couldn’t be further from the truth.
Did the U.S. Men’s National Team hang up their skates when everyone said they couldn’t beat the Russians in the 1980 Olympics? Did Bill Gates give up on Microsoft Office when WordPerfect was the dominant word-processor at the time? Did Hannibal retreat his 20,000 member army at Cannae when a superior Roman force of 72,000 warriors were bearing down on their throats?
Failing to prepare is preparing to fail. The only way to beat the odds is to get on an even playing ground. Educate yourself on best practices, seek guidance on where you might be most vulnerable, patch any weaknesses, and develop a security response plan for potential incidents and recovery.
About Orpical Group
Orpical Group is a full-service online marketing agency. Based in New Jersey (NJ), we specialize in logo design, branding, web design and development, search engine optimization (SEO), and search engine marketing (SEM).
Since 2012, we have helped our clients realize and sustain high levels of individual and organizational performance. We don’t believe in a one-size-fits-all marketing approach. We believe in our clients. And our clients believe in us because we are invested in success.