Mar 17, 2021
Normally when people think of reasons why they’d need to securely back up their network data, their minds go to weather issues, natural disasters, fires, etc. However, the likelihood of these disasters actually occurring is very slim. But there is one thing that happens to every single network no matter how big or small, or how much money you invest in the network — and that’s people. People are the single biggest risk to your network. Humans are prone to making mistakes, like accidentally introducing backdoor access to cybercriminals or downloading the wrong malware onto the network. In fact, ransomware is up 180% from 2018 — it’s estimated that one business is hit with ransomware every 14 seconds!
- 43% of all cyber-attacks are aimed at small and medium-sized businesses
- 85% of all email attachments are harmful
- 91% of attacks are launched from a phishing attack
- Cybercrime will cost $6 trillion by 2021
- 24,000 new malicious apps are removed from the app store daily
As Torres pointed out during his presentation, in order for us to understand where these cybercriminals live and do their work online, we need to look at the anatomy of the internet.
For the most part, when the majority of the population thinks about the internet, we think of our newsfeeds, email, search engines, etc. This is considered the Surface Web. Beneath that lies the Deep Web, which holds databases, websites and platforms that require logins, medical records, financial records, etc. The level beneath that is the Dark Web, an anonymous portion of the internet that isn't visible to search engines and holds tons of valuable, sensitive information — where cybercriminals love to roam. The Deep and Dark Web account for an estimated 96% of the content on the entire web.
So, who are these threat groups? Cybercriminals mainly fall into one of the following categories:
Though all of these threats are a cause for concern, ransomware is king. Downtime cost businesses $75+ billion in 2019 alone and through this, we have seen the rise of ransomware threats. Most business owners assume they are in the clear when it comes to these threats because they already have a secure backup in place and their data is already stored in the cloud, so once it becomes compromised they simply just need to wait for it to be restored. But beyond the time spent to restore your data, and the revenue lost while your network is offline due to an attack, your backup solution doesn’t take into account the time it takes to rebuild the network, the forensic investigation needed to ensure it doesn’t happen again, possible employee overtime pay, new hardware installation costs, etc.
Even if you run a small business, it’s all relative. Your data is important to you and it will likely take a copious amount of time to rebuild that data network if you only utilize a backup solution. Time is money, and the best weapon to have in your arsenal against cybercrime threats is a business continuity solution. Fortunately, Milner + Datto can provide your organization with a business continuity plan, no matter the size and scale of your company.
When it comes to securing yourself from cyber threats, stop thinking about traditional backup, and start thinking about continuity.
Continuity is not:
Continuity is:
Our Datto + Milner solution utilizes Reliable Data Redundancy, in which a business continuity device lives on your network and stores data in windows as little as every 5 minutes. The device then sends that data to Datto’s primary data center, and then that data center gets replicated to a second data center. At any given time, we will have 4 separate, secure copies of your data. That way, if anything happens to your data on any connected devices, your data is protected. As a (major) bonus, our solution also includes Ransomware Detection. With every data backup, Datto runs analytics comparing the two most recent snapshots to identify Ransomware footprints. We notify you of any changes that indicate suspicious activity, and will indicate the latest clear version of the file to expedite the restore. Essentially, Milner has the ability to virtually rewind time to bring your data back — plus we can scale to businesses of all sizes.
The key to our solution is instant virtualization. If you’re working and there’s an issue, our continuity device can have your network back online in as early as 6 seconds, transforming your downtime to minutes vs. days. Benefits include markedly reduced downtime, helps your RTO + RPO, and offers instant virtualization of both locally and cloud-based networks, all with total data protection.
Business downtime is much more common, and problematic, than you may think. Every business faces the risk of business interruption every day, from an employee clicking on something that they shouldn't have, natural disasters to hardware failure; the list goes on and on. There are ways to protect your business from this loss of production time and data, and the ultimate secret weapon to safeguarding your organization from cybercrime and other disasters is a business continuity plan. Download our Business Continuity Checklist to get started today.
How much does an hour of downtime cost your business? Could your business benefit from a Business Continuity Solution? For a Needs Assessment and to use our Recovery & Downtime Cost Calculator, reach out to one of our experts at Milner at 800.875.5042 or contact us here.
Note: This week’s blog is a recap from one of our expert breakout sessions at the 2021 Milner Ignites Virtual Tradeshow. The information below comes from a presentation given by Eric Torres, Director of Channel Development, North American Datto, Inc. Datto is the world’s leading provider of MSP-delivered IT solutions, and an invaluable Milner partner.
