{"id":1638,"date":"2018-11-07T14:53:23","date_gmt":"2018-11-07T19:53:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.suprtek.com\/?p=1638"},"modified":"2018-11-07T14:53:23","modified_gmt":"2018-11-07T19:53:23","slug":"suprteks-director-of-it-systems-briefs-business-leaders-on-cybersecurity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.suprtek.com\/index.php\/2018\/11\/07\/suprteks-director-of-it-systems-briefs-business-leaders-on-cybersecurity\/","title":{"rendered":"SuprTEK\u2019s Director of IT Systems Briefs Business Leaders on Cybersecurity"},"content":{"rendered":"

Anyone in business today understands how critical information technology and information systems are to operations.\u00a0 From large multinational corporations to the small corner store \u2013 every business relies on computers, the Internet, and technology.\u00a0 In essence, IT has become the nervous system of modern business.\u00a0 They simply cannot function without it.<\/p>\n

Of the many risks that IT managers\/departments face the one that keeps many of them awake at night is cybersecurity.\u00a0 The challenge associated with cybersecurity is very dynamic.\u00a0 Threats like natural disasters or extended power outages do not really change over time, so once continuity and recovery plans for them are in place there is not much more to do. \u00a0Bad actors looking to breach your systems, however, are constantly changing and adapting.<\/p>\n

What can large and small businesses do to keep their systems secure?\u00a0 Even the biggest and most sophisticated tech companies fall victim to s\"SuprTEK'system intrusions and data breaches.\u00a0 How can small to medium-sized businesses achieve an acceptable level of cybersecurity without breaking the bank?<\/p>\n

This was the topic at a recent Southern Illinois Leadership Council meeting.\u00a0 At the session, Charles Forsythe, Director of IT Services for SuprTEK\u2019s Solution Engineering and Delivery Unit in O\u2019Fallon, IL, presented \u201cHow to Untangle Cybersecurity without Blowing Your Budget.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cyber Attacks Pose a Series Business Threat<\/h2>\n

In addition to providing some background on the evolution of the business technology and threats it has faced, Charles provided some examples of companies who had to deal with cybersecurity fiascos.\u00a0 In one instance \u00a0a company\u2019s management team had to go to their prospective personal ATMs to make maximum withdrawals on a Sunday in order to buy Bitcoin to pay a ransomware attacker in time for an early Monday deadline.\u00a0 In another case, a large insurance company couldn\u2019t seem to win lawsuits against a particular law firm who always seemed to be a step ahead of them – until they tightened IT security.<\/p>\n

Are you 100% certain your IT systems are completely free of unwanted spyware, viruses, or intruders?\u00a0 What steps should you be taking to prevent cyber attacks?<\/p>\n

Taking Steps to Protect IT Systems<\/h2>\n

In his presentation, Charles recommended organizations understand their cybersecurity needs and risks before taking definitive action.\u00a0 As he explained, visiting car dealers before you even know if you want or need a new car is a bad idea.\u00a0 So is implementing or buying solutions without fully understanding the particular risks your organization faces.\u00a0 A three-step approach is recommended:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Business Impact Analysis:<\/strong> Understand the effect cybersecurity threats have to your business operations and viability. \u00a0What damage would occur and what would it take to recover?\u00a0 What do you have of value to hackers (data, the ability to operate)? \u00a0In other words, avoid spending $100,000 to prevent a threat that would only cost $10,000 to repair\/recover, or working to prevent something as unlikely as aliens landing on your lawn.\"A<\/li>\n
  2. Business Continuity Planning:<\/strong> \u00a0Once you understand the impact various threats have on your organization, create plans to ensure appropriate prevention measures are in place, and that the business can continue to operate if the unexpected or unwanted happens.<\/li>\n
  3. Disaster Recovery:<\/strong> The actual methods and resources (e.g. knowledge, procedures, data backups, secondary infrastructure) are known and available in order to recover from any threat; fire, natural disaster, cyber attack.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Charles explained that the key for business leaders to understand their security challenges, was to stay away from the technology and focus on the CIA (no, not that<\/em> CIA). \u00a0Business security efforts need to focus on ensuring one of more of these fundamental attributes:<\/p>\n

      \n
    • Confidentiality<\/strong>: Keep data and information away from those who should not have it.<\/li>\n
    • Integrity<\/strong>: Keep intruders out of your systems, and keep your IT operations and data in tact.<\/li>\n
    • Availability:<\/strong> Ensure IT systems are accessible as needed for business operations.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      As is often the case, applying common sense along with an applied knowledge of your business is the key to cybersecurity.\u00a0 Combine an understanding of vulnerabilities and what is important to your business.\u00a0 Cost and complexity do not always add up to effectiveness.\u00a0 Sometimes a solution may be as simple as cyber awareness training for your staff.<\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

      Don Reed is a Senior Technical Writer and Project Support Specialist with the ADEV program. His background includes engineering and programing, project management, quality management and process improvement, and business-technical communication. Don has a B.S. in Electrical Engineering and a M.A. in Communication from Saint Louis University.<\/em><\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Finding a way to protect your organization\u2019s IT systems from cyber threats without breaking the bank can be a challenge. SuprTEK\u2019s Director of IT Systems gave some common sense tips to protect this critical business resource to members of the Southern Illinois Leadership Council. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1,14],"tags":[48,19,45],"class_list":["post-1638","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","category-news","tag-cyber-security","tag-data-backups","tag-it-services"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.suprtek.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1638","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.suprtek.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.suprtek.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.suprtek.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.suprtek.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1638"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.suprtek.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1638\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1646,"href":"https:\/\/www.suprtek.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1638\/revisions\/1646"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.suprtek.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1638"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.suprtek.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1638"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.suprtek.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1638"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}