Suffolk Computer Consultants, Inc. Blog

News flash: just because you’re a smaller business doesn’t mean you’re a smaller target for cyberattacks. You’re not immune, and you can certainly fall prey to the unfortunate reality of the modern cyberthreat landscape. If anything, small businesses are the perfect target, and we’ll explain why.

While now may not be the most dangerous time to run a business, it is arguably a contender. Businesses are more reliant on digital technology than ever, meaning that these businesses also have to deal with more threats than ever. One such threat: the phishing scam.

Would you trust a bank that locks its doors at night but leaves all the money sitting in a big pile on the floor? Probably not—if someone got through the door, they could take all the money without any trouble.

This is kind of how cybersecurity used to work. If someone got into a company’s network, they could see and use anything they wanted. But now, many businesses are using a better system called zero-trust security.

Cybersecurity is super important for any business today, and it can make the difference between a business staying safe or failing because of a cyberattack. While there are many things you need to do to protect your business, there are some key steps you can start with to keep it secure. Let’s go over what you should do.

A lot of people don’t take cybersecurity and data privacy seriously enough, and that puts both them and others at risk. We’ve all gotten used to sharing personal information online—whether it’s on social media, shopping websites, or other digital services. But if we’re not careful, this can lead to big problems like hackers stealing your identity or money. When people don’t use strong passwords or turn on two-factor authentication, they leave gaps that hackers can take advantage of. These gaps don’t just affect individuals—they can lead to bigger cyberattacks that hurt entire organizations or communities.

Today’s businesses need an established cybersecurity strategy. It’s as simple as that.

However, many businesses need guidance to create this strategy, which is why the National Institute of Standards and Technology has developed a framework for proper cybersecurity protection. Let’s walk through this framework and discuss what you need to do to meet its requirements.

Problems with cybersecurity can really sink your business. Unfortunately, more opportunists are out there today looking to profit off of business’ lack of vigilance. One example of this are large-scale scam operations that have been running in Southeast Asia, and they are now spreading to other parts of the world. These scams, called "pig butchering" scams, have caused major harm, with around $75 billion lost worldwide in 2023.

Sextortion scams are far from glamorous. These attacks involve a scammer claiming to have compromising photos or videos of their target engaged in explicit activities—often suggesting this footage was captured through their online behavior. The scammer then threatens to release this material unless a ransom is paid.

It was recently disclosed that Slim CD, a payment gateway, suffered a data breach that exposed many, many credit card accounts (nearly 1.7 million) from August 17th, 2023, until June 15th, 2024.

Let’s discuss the situation and how it provides a lesson for your business to take seriously.

In this blog and our conversations with clients, we frequently discuss the importance of protecting accounts with complex and unique passwords and multi-factor authentication. These actions are crucial, but there is a tool out there that can really improve any business’ account security: the password manager. 

Today, we’ll discuss the password manager and why it is such a great tool for keeping passwords complex and secure. 

The United States National Security Agency, or NSA, is well known for its expertise in cybersecurity. So, when the NSA releases practices to help keep mobile devices more secure, it's smart to pay attention to what it says.

Let’s examine a few of their shared practices and see what we can learn.

Cybersecurity tops the list for any business’ needs, particularly when one considers just how many threats are out there today. This makes it essential that today’s businesses (yours included) put an assortment of cybersecurity tools and protections in place.

We’ve assembled a list of the ones we recommend.

Strong passwords are extremely important these days. Cybercriminals only need low-end hardware to crack millions of passwords at once, so it's critical to use random, complex strings of characters.

The bigger problem most users have is using unique passwords for each and every account. Any account is liable to be compromised at any given time, and you might not even know about it. If your password is compromised, the bad guys can use it to access all of your other accounts.

Modern companies (yours included) should never function without strong cybersecurity measures. This is a stance we will stress at every chance. 

Let's delve into the importance of security and the steps you should implement to protect your business.

No one actually likes to talk about password security, but it’s incredibly important to the ongoing security of your business. If you or any of your employees are using any of these commonly used passwords, then read on; you’re someone who desperately needs to reconsider their password policies.

Whether or not most of your business understands why they must remain compliant to various rules and regulations, it is crucial that your entire team does so. Let’s look at what contributes to your compliance as a way to conceptualize just how important it is to maintain.

Sometimes, it seems like the most complex aspect of modern technology is the naming conventions used by big vendors for all of their products. It’s a problem with consumer electronics, it’s a problem with enterprise products, and sometimes it feels like some companies make their products as confusing as possible on purpose… I’m looking at you, Microsoft.

When it comes to protecting your PC from viruses and malware, there should be zero confusion. Hopefully after this article you’ll have the confidence to make the right choice for your business.

Cybersecurity is necessary for businesses to function, but when it turns to overreaching and overinvestment—a concept called cybersecurity sprawl—it becomes a problem. Today, we want to highlight some of the many challenges that can come about from cybersecurity sprawl, as well as how you can avoid it.

You’ve more likely than not purchased a ticket through Ticketmaster at some point in your lifetime, so you might be interested to find out that Live Nation Entertainment—Ticketmaster’s parent company—has had to file an 8-K with the Security and Exchange Commission to admit that 1.3 terabytes of data had been hacked. The result is that more than 560 million customers’ personal information was stolen from company servers.

Asset management security has become a critical concern for businesses. It's not just about protecting physical assets anymore. More assets than ever need to be safeguarded, but securing these assets is not straightforward. It involves a complex interplay of strategies, from attack surface management to cybersecurity compliance.

Let's explore some key considerations when securing your asset management processes.