* Regardless of how protected you feel about the status of your backups, only verified backups are the sure way to recover after a disaster or security breach.
The 702it approach and industry best practices have evolved since 1999 when we started. The only thing different today is the attack surface is vast and spread across the global. Today we have many more places to protect but same guiding principles apply.
Honestly, CyberSecurity starts at the top and needs to be talked about amongst staff. Regular communication and training will reenforce behavior and create good habits.
“CyberSecurity” is the latest buzz word in tech. “Cloud” was the place you had to be a couple years ago. “World Wide Web” was an original buzz word meant to grab your attention. Don’t be fooled. We have been performing CyberSecurity before a MEMEs or iPhones were invented.
What is CyberSecurity? CyberSecurity is protecting your entire business in the real world and online.
What is your attack surface? Everywhere your business is vulnerable. Who is responsible for making sure you are doing everything you can to protect your business?
We cannot stop humans from being curious. However, we can train and teach people before a virus, malware or encryption event happen. We can give employees permission not to open email attachments. We can use simulations to help identify and train users that are overly curious. When we match training opportunities to humans to have a better chance at keeping everyone safe conducting phishing email simulations is easy and perfect way to train employees.
Attack surface is what we can see and what we can’t. Changing passwords is critical. Keeping software up-to-date is important to patch vulnerabilities. What what physical access? The wrong thumb drive or computer plugged in the right place can shut your business down. No Internet, no email and probably a bunch of other required tools your business needs to operate.
The cloud is safe and nothing bad can happen in the cloud. The truth is the cloud is physical at some place on the globe and real world things happen to places where the cloud lives. We protect and backup the cloud like we would your PC in the office. The cloud is great and physically safer than your office in some respects like the physical. However, the cloud usually means the other 7 billion people on the planet can potentially have access.
We have a formula for successful recovery if ever needed. 3-2-1. 3 backups, 2 different ways, 1 offsite. Sometimes the only way to get back to normal is to recover from backup. 3-2-1 method insures you will have at least one good backup from which to recover. Recovery takes practice and experience. Time is against you in times of emergency. 702it has recovered CPAs during tax season. We have restored PCs with all the family photos. Backups are only as good as recovery.
