Texas Cybersecurity Directly Linked with Financial Losses

They say that everything’s bigger in Texas. Unfortunately, as of late this includes the losses that businesses incur to cybercriminal activity. Let’s discuss how serious this problem is, and what you need to do to keep it from harming your business.

For starters, let’s make sure we’re all on the same page as to how big of a problem cybercrime really is.

In 2020 there was a reported loss of $313.6 million dollars, by 38,000 individual victims, according to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center. These losses were 42% more than had been observed in 2019, far outpacing the national average increase of 20%.

And, if you thought that was bad, you may not want to hear what happens when we compare how that $313.6 million compares to 2016’s losses… it represents a 307% increase in the losses that businesses have suffered through cybersecurity issues. Frankly, it’s unacceptable.

Texas Businesses Need to Pay Attention to These Trends…

…and adjust their approach appropriately, of course. This goes for businesses of all sizes, too, by the way. Don’t think your “tiny little” operation deep in the heart of Texas will be overlooked because of its size. Failing to properly address the threats that can and will darken your doors is a surefire path to business troubles… troubles like financial loss and damage to your organization’s reputation.

What We Do to Protect Your Business

Fortunately, there are many ways that you can better secure your business against threats. We can help you put the following in place, as a small sample of what can be accomplished:

• We’ll help ensure that your business’ users—your team members and employees—understand the importance of secure passwords and are using them on all their accounts, using tools like password management solutions to manage them.
• As a means of doubling down on your security, two-factor authentication is highly effective, as it supplements the password requirement with the need for additional validation. This can be in the form of a code generated on demand, or in a biometric proof, amongst other options.
• Phishing is a serious security issue, as it allows a cybercriminal to sidestep many of your defenses by taking advantage of your staff. Teaching your team to know the signs of a phishing attack and how to handle them will be key to your continued security.
• Managed antivirus that is centralized is critical to ensuring that your business is safe from the kind of threats it could very well face each day.
• Threats are always advancing, which means your protections need to do the same. Security updates and patches are a critical means of accomplishing this.
• Regular network audits will help you to keep up with the goings-on within your network, assisting you in spotting issues and vulnerabilities.
• Ongoing support and remote monitoring enables you to focus your attention more on the operations of your business, as opposed to its functionality. With less energy taken away from your profit-generating activities without sacrificing the upkeep of your business, your opportunities increase.

We’ll Help Texas Businesses Balance Their Cybersecurity Needs

Give us a call to find out more about the cybersecurity issues your business will likely face, and more importantly, how we’ll help you overcome them. Reach out at (512) 343-8891 today.