Is Your MSP Company Helping Your Clients with the 4 Ps of Cyber Security?
For a business working with an MSP company has many benefits. One of those is that you can help them defend against cyber-attacks and keep their data and network safe. Cyber threats are constantly evolving and it’s difficult for a business owner to keep up on all the new ways that hackers are targeting businesses. When they work with an IT professional, you can keep track of the changing threat landscape and ensure that their company is protected. Alternatively, some businesses may decide to go to other sources for help. For example, some businesses have found that Synack can be useful for enhancing business security. They offer both penetration testing and vulnerability scanning. These services are slightly different, so businesses should consider visiting their website to learn the differences. Both should help businesses to reduce the risk of cybersecurity risks.
Patches
Your MSP company should be very familiar with patches. Patches are also known as software upgrades and most people have seen them on their smartphones. Patches exist to keep systems running on the newest software platforms, which should be the most secure. However, many business owners or in-house IT teams ignore patches because they feel they don’t have time to install them. Others skip over them because they aren’t convinced they are important. In other cases, the patch comes too late and networks have already been infected or attacked.
When you are first contracting a new client the importance of patches should be first and foremost in your onboarding session: your team can proactively monitor their system and install upgrades they need as soon as all existing data has been backed up. This keeps their system constantly updated and armed against attack.
Passwords
As you know insecure passwords are still one of the major reasons why hackers gain access to secure networks and data. There’s a reason why people re-use passwords or make their passwords simple. The average person has 27 separate logins that require passwords and it’s impossible to remember 27 different unique, secure passwords. That’s why two of the most common passwords in 2016 were “123456” and “password”.
Many of the tools people use to remember passwords such as ‘remember me’ pop-ups on their computers or the old school way of writing them in a notebook can be the kiss of death if they are compromised. Your MSP company can help implement a secure, safe, and easy way for they and their team to create and access strong passwords.
Phishing
Most hackers get into business systems by using a phishing scheme. This involves an email that appears to be from someone they know and has a link or attachment that, once clicked on, gives the hacker access to their network. You would think that people would be savvy to these types of attacks by now, but hackers are constantly evolving the way they present themselves.
Using your MSP company to educate their team on dangerous downloads as well as continuous monitoring of their network are the two best ways to guard against phishing attacks.
Precaution
The saying “precaution is better than cure” couldn’t be truer in cyber protection – as one security hole can mean an attack that leads to huge losses for any business. The 4th P is mainly about using common sense. If something appears too good to be true, let your clients know it probably is.