Cyber Security
Cyber Security
Cyber-attacks on companies in Canada are on the rise. 78% of Canadian companies experienced at least one cyber-attack in 2020. The following year, cyber-attacks affected 85.7% of Canadian companies. This represents a 7.7 percent rise in the attacks in a year and places Canada not far behind of the worst affected country Columbia, which had the highest rise at 8.2 percent.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Based on a 2023 report published by statistics Canada:
- Over 85% of Canadian companies were affected by successful cyberattacks in one year.
- 65% of Canadian companies expect to be hit with a ransomware attack.
- 11% of Canadian companies hit by ransomware paid the ransom.
- The average ransomware hit cost Canadian companies almost $2 million to remedy.
- Canadian companies spent on average 11.1% of the IT budget on cyber security on 2021.
- It takes around 168 days on average to identify data breaches in Canada.
- In 2021, Canadians lost around $100 million to online fraud.
- 42% of Canadians had to deal with a cyber security issue during the first six months of the pandemic and 34% received phishing emails during the same period.
- Over half of Canadians have experienced cybercrime at least once.
Bear in mind that the cost of downtime attributed to Ransomware is almost 10 times greater than the ransom the attackers demand.
And the real costs associated with breaches and vulnerabilities are not limited to downtime or the cost of the ransom. It can also extend to loss of goodwill, loss of trust with your clients and suppliers, and loss of valuable data.
What are you doing to protect your business?
With 10+ years as leaders in Managed IT Services, we can offer you peace of mind with solutions to suit your business.
Peace of Mind for your business – Security Audit
The top 3 common concerns for business owners and IT managers that we have discovered are:
- Cyber Security
- Business Continuity
- Backup & recovery
We offer Peace of Mind by addressing these concerns, and giving businesses insight into their own systems and vulnerabilities.
Our Security Audit includes a number of comprehensive and detailed reports, which identify risks and potential issues detected in your environment. They are based on industry-wide best practice for network health, performance, and security.
You will get fresh and independent insight into the current network and security risks in your environment. This allows you to take action to minimize your risks.
The Security Audit includes:
- Critical issue identification of your environment
- Backup requirement identification
- Active server scans
- Workstation scans
- Network assessment, For example, security patches, redundant domain controllers, inactive computers, insecure listening ports, potential disk space issues, asset summary, operating system summary, security group distribution
- Security assessment. For example, anti-virus, anti-spyware, local firewall, critical patches, insecure listening ports, failed logins, network vulnerabilities, system aging, supported Operating Systems
- Network Management Plan – ranking of individual issues based upon their potential risk to the network; providing guidance on which issues to address by priority
- Risk Report – System Protocol Leakage, Unrestricted Protocols, User Controls, Wireless network security, External Vulnerability Scan, Network Share Permissions, Domain Security Policy, Local Security Policy
We don’t just send you a report – we meet with you to discuss our findings and recommendations with you, so you get expert advice and insight. While “best practice” benchmarks are important, they should be implemented in conjunction with practicality. The goal is to help your business, rather than hinder it with excessive restrictions. With our extensive expertise and experience, we will advise you on the best approach for your business and industry.
For only $975 + GST, can you afford not to? Contact us to find out more.
If you are looking for ways to keep your business cyber secure, click here to see our other options and solutions.
Secure Online Trading and PCI Compliance
If you are trading online, your website contains both business and customer information that is valuable to cyber attackers.
In New Zealand this year (2020), there has been a 42% increase in cyber incidents reported.
In April 2020 alone, there was nearly double the number of incidents compared to April 2019,
Make sure you are trading smartly and safely by taking the appropriate measures –
- keep your updates current – software updates will help fix any weaknesses or vulnerabilities
- turn on two-factor authentication (2FA) for your website to add an extra layer of security
- enable HTTPS on all web pages to add security and privacy. and show your website visitors that your website is trustworthy
PCI DSS (Data Security Standard)
If you store, process and/or transmit credit card data, it is vital that you are protecting sensitive information such as card numbers and related data.
PCI Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) is mandatory for all businesses that store, process and/or transmit credit card data.
Meeting PCI standards will help you protect card data from threats and minimize data breach risks.
We can help you with PCI DSS compliance & auditing, and remediation, as also provide regular assessment through our accredited partners.
Security Consulting
Protecting your business from cyber threats has never been more important. Since every business has its own unique setup, systems and requirements, you don’t want a one-size-fits-all approach to protecting your valuable data. With short-term or long-term consulting, we can offer you customized solutions specifically for the needs of YOUR business.
Cyber incidents can include ransomware, phishing, harvesting, scams, and fraud – not only can they be very expensive, but they could also bring a business to its knees. Consider the cost of downtime – can you afford for your business to stop operating for an hour, a day, a week…..? And don’t forget the cost of goodwill or the loss of trust with your clients and suppliers.
We understand the cyber security threats that Canada businesses face, and we can help make sure you have the right protection in place.
There is no single solution for protecting your business, and that’s why we will assess the relevant risks to your business such as loss of productivity and goodwill, loss of data, and cost of getting your systems up and running again in the case of a serious breach, and customize and prioritize the threats so they are relevant to you.
Our Cyber Security Audit is the best place to start, so we can assess your organization’s risks against world-class benchmarks. Our independent audit will highlight any vulnerabilities or gaps in your systems, so you are empowered to address these yourself or with your current IT provider. It gives you a clear action plan so you can remove the guesswork and put your time, energy and resources into the areas that matter most.
Are your company’s credentials for sale on the Dark Web?
Digital credentials, such as usernames and passwords, connect you and your employees to critical business applications, as well as online services. Unfortunately, criminals know this — and that’s why digital credentials are among the most valuable assets found on the Dark Web
A dark and dangerous place
The Dark Web is made up of digital communities that sit on top of the Internet, and while there are legitimate purposes to the Dark Web, it is estimated that over 50% of all sites on the Dark Web are used for criminal activities, including the disclosure and sale of digital credentials. Far too often, companies that have had their credentials compromised and sold on the Dark Web don’t know it until they have been informed by law enforcement — but by then, it’s too late.
How does this happen?
When your employees use their work email on third party websites, like the types listed below, it makes your business vulnerable to a breach. With our Dark Web Monitoring, we can detect if your company is at risk due to exposed credentials on those websites
- HR & Payroll
- Email Services
- CRM
- Travel Sites
- Banking
- Social Media
What can you do to protect your business?
By utilizing Dark Web ID™, a combination of human and sophisticated Dark Web intelligence with search capabilities, you are able to identify, analyze and proactively monitor for your organization’s compromised or stolen employee and customer data.
Hackers and cybercriminals launch attacks every 39 seconds, which is an average of 2,244 times per day, with more than 8 Billion records confirmed to be compromised in the last year alone
Peace of Mind with Dark Web Monitoring
By monitoring the Dark Web for threat intelligence about stolen user data associated with your company’s domains, you can be alerted when a compromise is detected, so that you can respond to stop a potential costly and widespread data breach.
Your information provides a very lucrative business opportunity for cybercriminals. Hackers and scammers are smart and efficient. With just a few key personal details and basic technological skills, these criminals could potentially gain access to some of your most important accounts.
Find out if your company data has been exposed on the Dark Web….please contact or call at 1 (866) 212-0882