There is a chasm between what most businesses think their IT provider does, what they can do, and the services they provide.
Many businesses get in trouble because they have a false sense of security. Learn from Anna and Robert’s story; call us today to learn how a true cybersecurity partner can help protect your business.
We Thought they were taking care of it! –
Anna and Robert own a mid-sized resort operating for 43 years. They have built up a good clientele and employ 20 full-time employees and about 30+ seasonal employees. Anna handles the day to day of the resort.
Their technology needs have grown and changed over the years, and now they are primarily digital. They have worked with the same IT provider for 23 years and have an excellent relationship with the owner and staff.
It was June 4th when Anna tried to access the resort’s line of business application and was denied access. Soon, phone calls came to her desk from employees having similar issues. Some couldn’t punch in, and the front desk was having issues checking in and out.
Anna’s first call was to their IT provider. It wasn’t uncommon for Anna to reach out to the owner, and it wasn’t unusual for an issue like this to occur.
“Good Morning, Chuck,” Anna said. “Good Morning, Anna; what can I do for you this morning?” Chuck Replied.
“We seem to have a network outage. No one can clock in or out, I can’t access the line of business application, and we can’t check in or out guests,” Anna continued.
“OK, let me see what we…” Chuck seemed to stop mid-sentence. His voice went from friendly to serious tone. Chuck continued, “I see something is going on. Anna, give me a few minutes to investigate and get back to you,” and he hung up as quickly as he could.
Anna and Chuck’s resort was hit by a ransomware virus. Every computer on the network, including the server, was locked up.
What is Ransomware?
Ransomware is malicious software that blocks access to your computer and encrypts all the files on the computer so you can’t open them. The software then seeks out other computers and replicates just like a virus.
Cybercriminals will seek payment to release the decryption code, which is why it’s called Ransomware. They are holding your information for Ransom.
How did we get a Ransomware virus?
A few minutes later, Chuck, the IT provider, called back. “Anna, it appears you have gotten a ransomware virus. All the computers that were online are locked up, including all the servers.” “How did this happen, and what do we do now?” Anna responded, her voice was a little shaky.
Restore from a Backup or Pay the Ransom? That is the question.
Chuck explained to Anna, “We were just checking, and the onsite backup device was wiped. We have no backups to restore from,” Anna replied now with a stern and angry tone. “What do you mean the backups were wiped?” Chuck continued, but now with a defensive tone, “Well, remember when we had a conversation about the backups a few months ago? We talked about doing a cloud backup of the servers. We also spoke about upgrading the firewall because it was old and putting in better antivirus. Well, you didn’t want to do it at that time”. “Chuck, I don’t understand what any of that is; you have been our IT provider for over 20 years. I just thought you were handling all of it.”
Cybersecurity is complex. You need a partner not just an IT provider.
Anna and Robert had no choice but to pay the Ransom to get their systems back up and running. They were without their computer systems for three weeks, and it took another six months to be fully operational. They did not have cyber insurance so they had to pay for everything out of their savings.
The lesson they learned from this was to better understand what their IT provider was doing for them. They assumed that because the IT provider had been working with them for 20 years, they were handling everything for them.
Cybersecurity is too complex a subject for most non-technical people to grasp. As business owners or executives like Anna and Robert, you need an advisor to help you build a strategy and solution that meets your needs now and can scale for the future.
Leaving those decisions solely in the business owner’s lap is no longer a viable option. You need a partner with a shared responsibility.
Underdog Cyber Defense is Your Partner
Unlock many IT providers that “Bolt On” cybersecurity solutions. We are unique. We combine the proactive disciplines of cybersecurity with reactive traditional IT support. The result is a security-first tailored solution for our clients.
If you want to learn more, comment below or click here –> to learn how we can better protect your business together
