Pro to Know

PRO to KNOW Next Century Technologies

EXPLAINING THE DANGER OF RANSOMWARE

What is ransomware?

Ransomware is a type of malicious software that encrypts or locks fi les and demands payment to get them released.

As a small business owner, why should you be worried about ransomware?

Ransomware has been making headline news lately and interrupting millions of American lives. The Colonial pipeline shutdown affected far more than the southeast when Americans all across the country panicked and rushed to fi ll their gas tanks, causing gas shortages in areas not even served by Colonial.

Ransomware has been around for a long time with the past few years seeing an exponential growth both in the number of attacks and in the ransom amounts. The hackers have fi netuned ransomware into a successful business model, complete with mortar-and-brick offi ce buildings, staff, human resources, everything you would fi nd in any successful business endeavor. What does that mean for you? Ransomware is a lucrative business and is not going away anytime soon.

3 Common Myths About Ransomware:

1. My company is too small to be a target. Do you have money? If so, then you are a target. “As an IT consultant,

I’ve seen the damage hackers can do to businesses that are

‘too small’,” explains Tracy Hardin, founder and President of Next Century Technologies. “Most ransomware attacks go unreported and the small company attacks are not sensational enough to make the headlines. Don’t be fooled – it’s a big threat to the business owners’ livelihood when their

IT assets are under attack.” 2. I have cybersecurity insurance, so I have nothing to worry about. “Nothing is further from the truth – cybersecurity insurance does not guarantee you will receive the key to unlock your data, or that stolen data will be deleted. Hackers are download your data and going through it to see if they can extort money from YOUR clients as well. This is disastrous to any company’s reputation,” Tracy says. “Also, most cyber policies now require certain security standards to be met on the network in order for a claim to not be denied. In other words, you cannot turn a blind eye to cybersecurity and expect your policy to cover everything.” 3. My IT person/company has me covered. “No, they don’t. No one has a 100% effective defense against hackers.” Tracy explains, “If you have hired an IT fi rm to manage your IT, look closely at your support contract. You will likely see verbiage excluding the hours spent recovering from an attack and nowhere does it guarantee one will not happen.”

What can you do today?

There are things that you can do to make your company less of a target for ransomware: • Backups: Do you backup all critical information? Are the backups stored offl ine? Have you tested your ability to revert to backups during an incident? • Multi-factor Authentication (MFA): Have you implemented MFA on your email, cloud systems and remote access?

• Password Management: Do you utilize a password management system so that employees can easily keep all passwords unique?

• Sta Training: A big one here because employees are THE WEAKEST LINK. Have you trained staff on cybersecurity best practices? Do you have an ongoing program to keep cybersecurity top-of-mind? Phishing simulations put staff to the test. Can they pass? • Vulnerability Patching: Have you implemented appropriate patching of known system vulnerabilities? Do you do this on a regular basis? • Incident Response: Do you have an incident response plan and have you exercised it? • Business Continuity: Are you able to sustain business operations without access to certain systems? For how long? Have you tested this? Next Century Technologies can help!

They love helping people secure their IT against hackers! Next Century Technologies offers several free resources that you can take advantage of right now:

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Grab a free cybersecurity check-up from one of their experts! Sign up at NextCenturyTechnologies.com/security-check-up

Next Century Technologies has experts available for public speaking and training events. Call them at (859) 245-0582 or visit their website at NextCenturyTechnologies.com •

About Tracy:

Tracy Hardin is a long-time trusted IT advisor and partner that businesses have counted on for 20 years. She is the founder and President of Next Century Technologies, the only 100% womanowned IT firm in the central Kentucky area. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from the University of KY. After graduating, Tracy spent over 10 years doing IT in the corporate world before striking out on her own in 2001.

Last year, Tracy and her team helped transition over 200 users into work-from-home scenarios to keep them operational, productive, and secure as well as helping hundreds more through free webinars. Over the span of 20 years, Tracy has managed and supported IT for all types of businesses and industries. Clients include companies that don’t need a fulltime IT person, or don’t want the hassle of hiring an IT person. Tracy’s clients include firms with internal IT that need assistance with special projects or wish to partner with Next Century Technologies to co-manage IT with their existing staff.