Even as cyber-attacks increase in number, studies seem to indicate that most small-to-medium-sized businesses are mostly unprepared for any type of significant data breach. Criminals are becoming more sophisticated by the day, leaving these companies even more vulnerable.  According to Verizon’s 2021 Data Breach Investigations Report, small organizations suffered 1,037 breaches to 819 at large corporations, with confirmed data loss present in 263 and 307 incidents, respectively. So why aren’t the IT analysts protecting the networks?

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 Why Aren’t Companies Dealing With These Attacks?

Even with data pointing to the opposite conclusion, small businesses are still reluctant to believe that they could be victims of a ransomware attack. Even those who understand that an attack is a real possibility believe that prevention and mitigation will just be too costly. The perceived complexity of the problem is another deterrent to being adequately prepared.

There is another factor in play that is especially important for business owners to consider. CNN.com has reported that in the United States, there is an ongoing IT and cybersecurity talent shortage. There are simply too many jobs and too few qualified IT analysts to go around. This supply and demand imbalance has driven median salaries up, making it challenging for small businesses to afford the right talent – even if they were to find an available candidate. According to PR Newswire, the entire situation has caused a dangerous security gap costing businesses up to 6 trillion dollars per year.

This frightening skills gap comes just as companies engage with another new strategy fraught with risk – large portions of their workforce are working from home. With personnel operating out of their homes, it is harder to create a standard for security. A recent IBM report discovered that these work-from-home scenarios seem to coincide with a spike in the cost of the average data breach – up over $1 million per incident since the pandemic began. By industry, the health care sector saw the most expensive data breach events ($9.23 million average per incident.) Healthcare was followed by the financial sector ($5.72 million) and the pharmaceutical industry ($5.04 million). While experiencing lower average losses, the retail, media, and hospitality industries suffered significant increases in their data breach costs compared to the prior year.

“Nearly 80% of senior IT and IT security leaders believe their organizations lack sufficient protection against cyberattacks despite increased IT security investments made in 2020 to deal with distributed IT and work-from-home challenges.” – IDG Research

Ignoring the Problem Won’t Solve It

Small businesses think they are immune to this type of attack, but the reality is that they are an increasingly attractive target. Cybercriminals understand that small business is often woefully under-protected against a breach due to a lack of understanding, staffing issues, and budget. When a company does not prioritize security, whatever the reason, they are actually leaving themselves wide open for a data breach to occur. Sadly, when these hackers target an unprotected SMB, that business often never recovers.

Because of the lack of IT professionals and their rising payscale, CNN has determined that information security analysts will be the 10th fastest-growing career professionals over the next ten years. They expect an astounding 31% growth rate (compared to an average 4% growth rate across all career paths.) Even if a small business decides to hire cyber security IT analysts, they will likely come at a cost. A Chief Information Security Officer demands between $250,000 and $350,000 annual salary.

The MSP Solution – Provide IT Analysts

The good news is that another trend has grown up in the IT security industry, along with skills gaps and cybercrime. Managed services providers provide solutions to every aspect of the small business dilemma regarding IT professionals and rising costs.

  • Understanding of Complex Issues: A managed service provider employs dedicated experts who live and breathe cyber-security, and they are at the top of their game. An SMB need not worry about keeping up to date with all the new threats and certification programs – that’s their job. Because of their expertise, they can assess your current situation and provide the proper recommendations for your company – cutting through the complexity and providing a strategy.
  •  IT Professionals Who Have the Skills: You don’t have to worry about the skills gap or finding the right employee to hire. The MSP can operate as your IT department, allowing you to offload the overhead and responsibility. You can rest easy knowing that a trained professional is working on behalf of your company, 24 hours a day.
  • Keeping Within Your Budget: While some small businesses balk at the idea of an outsourced solution, the pressure to find a qualified professional is off your plate. In fact, you’ll have an entire team of IT analysts and security professionals protecting your network, representing more combined expertise than most companies could ever dream of hiring. Not only that, but services are scalable based upon your needs – and you’ll be protected against the significant loss that could occur without security in place.

Protecting your business and networks is growing more challenging by the day – which is why you should call Alliance IT for more information. We’ll help you overcome the challenges and create a secure environment for your employees and clients.