18 Must-Have Cyber Security Essentials:

Downtime, costly data breaches, loss of reputation, regulatory penalties and fines — these are just a few ways that cyber crime can implode a business. Still , as many as 62 percent of companies don’t have the skills in-house to prevent cyber crime. Where does your small or medium sized business (SMB) stand? Use this checklist to find out.

Our checklist outlines the 18 critical controls created by the Center for Internet Security (CIS). There are many layers of protection within each control, but the first step is just knowing that each one is covered. Complete this short form to get your checklist.

Is Your Small Business Doing Enough?

78%

of small businesses store valuable or sensitive data and do NOT encrypt that data.

81%

of small businesses only verify asset location annually (or even less often).

75%

of small business owners report NOT having a disaster recovery plan in place.

51%

of small businesses say they’re not allocating ANY budget to cyber security.

14%

of small businesses rate their ability to reduce cyber risks as “highly effective.”

62%

of small businesses report not regularly upgrading or updating their software and applications.

Is it any wonder why 80 percent of SMBs worry they’ll be a target of cyber crime within six months?

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Cyber Criminals Love Small Businesses

>50%

The percentage of SMBs reporting they have been victims of cyber crime.

50%

The percentage of cyber attacks estimated to specifically target small businesses.

$133,000

The average cost of a ransomware attack for SMBs (an average data breach costs $149,000).

66 Days

The average time that passes after a cyber attack  before it is detected.

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Common Cyber Attack Tactics

Malicious actors have a variety of tried and true approaches to access your network, steal your data or disrupt your business. Here are just a few examples:

  • Phishing: These are convincing-looking emails that contain malicious attachments or links. One click and malware is downloaded.

  • DDOS (distributed denial of service): This attack targets a website, network, server or computer to take it offline and disrupt your business.

  • Man in the middle (MITM): The criminals pose as a system user to you and as YOU to a system user. Those users could be people (employees, clients, vendors) or other servers and networks. With MITM, criminals can take control of sessions or spoof IPs  to gain access to servers and applications.

  • Malware: Ransomware gets all the press, but there are many types of malware to worry about, including viruses, worms, trojans and other infections.

  • Password: Using one or more of the above tactics, criminals get your password and then use it to access your network — or bank account, if your passwords are like the 73 percent that are used for more than one site.

  • Drive-by: This is a silent malware attack. It hits but then runs in the background, spying and collecting data for future attacks or to sell or ransom.

As we invent better ways to protect systems, cyber criminals create new attacks or variations to trick users and gain access. That’s why it’s important to get on the road to better protection now.

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See how you stack up in the 18 most critical cyber risk prevention controls. This free Cyber Security Essentials Checklist takes only a few minutes to complete and is the first step toward better cyber security. You can find your gaps and know right where to start when talking with your internal IT team or managed service provider.

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Just complete this short form.