You know that loveable friend with the missing pinky finger (from a power drill “accident”) who swears he can help you re-build your porch? Just hold this board a minute while he drills a pilot hole. He can’t grip it due to the missing pinky.
Or, how about that dear cousin who swore his Dodge Dakota WILL make it through that mud? And since these were pre-cell phone days, you ended up walking into school 3 hours late and caked in mud.
Or how about that long-time friend who volunteers to drive on the trip? But you remember last time when, instead of keeping eyes on the road, he spent most of his attention texting and looking up Dilbert comics he was trying to describe to you. Oh, and then since he loves crab cakes and spits on toll roads, you ended up riding around lost in downtown Baltimore at 2am looking for the “spot” he swore was still open.
You’re smart. You love your friends and family. You respect your colleagues.
But you ain’t gonna be found driving around for crab cakes in downtown Baltimore at 2 am again, and you ain’t gonna be anywhere near your buddy when he’s holding a power drill.
You built your business up by, among other things, paying attention to details. You took calculated risks. You can’t “play it safe,” but you aren’t out there taking unnecessary risks, either.
But know that your business relationships can put you at risk, too! Recently in the CSRA, a significant email breach occurred at one local business. Once the cybercriminals had access to the email system, they sent phishing attempts to local contacts. One of our clients initially contacted us to see if the email was real, and later we saw other local folks receiving similar phishing attempts.
We’ve talked about email repeatedly here on this blog. It’s a primary way cybercrooks look to penetrate your business, and it’s not all that complicated for them to do. But remember this: cyber risk isn’t ALL about YOU. It’s about your vendors. It’s about your clients and customers. It’s about…well, it’s about anyone that you have a business relationship with.
YOU may have robust cybersecurity through your IT MSP. But that vendor may NOT, and that STILL puts you at risk if you don’t have your head on a swivel. In this case, because of our clients’ training and cyber-hygiene wherewithal, they avoided a potentially serious breach.
Do you have someone you trust TRAINING you and CONSULTING with you on these kinds of cyber risks? Is your IT MSP aware of what is going on locally to help you avoid such pitfalls? Are you sure your IT Help Desk guy is providing you with robust cybersecurity? It’s not an option at this point for any business owner, no matter your size or industry. Risk is everywhere, and you need to shore up your flanks to make sure you aren’t compromising your business, your employees, and your customers.
Listen, we aren’t picking on your kith and kin. We know you love them, and we all make mistakes. Truth is, on Saturday, we clipped our garden fence when felling a tree in the yard. But we don’t do tree felling for a living. We do IT for a living. And we know this: no matter how loveable, likeable, and reliable, your business relationships bring risks with them. Make sure your own cyber hygiene practices, policies, and training are robust enough to keep your business humming, even when others have fallen prey to scams.