It seems that a day does not go by without a news story of an organisation getting infected by ransomware and losing control of their information and business.
Gang behind huge cyber-attack demands $70m in Bitcoin – BBC News
TechLinked – Ransomware – probably the largest attack yet
The businesses that make the news are usually the big ones – they make the best headlines – but there is also a raft of smaller ones caught up in the turmoil that we never hear about. One day it could be you.
So no matter what size of business you have, whether you have IT support or not, take a moment TODAY to check you have the right defences and mitigation in place.
- A strong anti-virus and anti-malware solution that works with your OS, system, email and browsers and explicitly states it offers ransomware protection.
At Octagon we offer an advanced threat protection add-on to the AV/AM software solution we deploy that has extra protection for Microsoft 365 and ransomware.
- Monitoring and management tools on all your endpoints that ensures updates are always installed.
We also configure our solution to provide our clients with other security and compliance functions – including using it as a secure gateway for when our support team have to log in to help out.
- Regular training, supported by a written policy, on how everyone can recognise social engineering emails, bad web pages, phone calls and any other attack vector the bad actors can think of.
Training that does not treat them as part of the problem but as part of the solution. Training that offers practical advice and examples of what to expect and what to do.
But whatever you do the threat is always changing and could make it through these defences, so…
- Have a written incident response and business continuity plan, which everyone knows about and understands the role they are expected to play.
- Have a backup you can rely on.
Octagon’s solution is scalable across devices and protects the whole of your Microsoft 365 for Business information. It exceeds the minimum requirements laid out by the National Cyber Security Centre.
There are more steps but these are the most important that you must have.
Hopefully you have all of these in place and are in a good position if the worst happens. However, if you are reading this and think you have vulnerable gaps in your defences you should talk to us and we will explain how we deploy excellent defences for you – and don’t worry many of these individual solutions cost not much more than a coffee per month!
Clive Catton MSc (Cyber Security)
Clive is the CIO at Octagon Technology with special responsibility for data privacy and security. The world of business technology is constantly changing and to meet this challenge he recently graduated from Edinburgh Napier University with an MSc in Advanced Computer Security and Digital Forensics. His dissertation was on data privacy in small businesses using Microsoft 365 for business.
The degree is not the end of the studying – to keep current Clive spends some of his time at work simply reading and studying the latest technology trends and threats so our clients can benefit from this knowledge. This knowledge also shapes and supports the products and services our people deliver to the clients.
To fully use Clive’s new Master’s degree in Computer Security, Clive and Diana have a joint venture with an international research company to get access for our clients to up to date information, schemas, analytics, templates, actionable tools and guidance. Whatever the size of your organisation if you are not approaching IT, security and privacy in a way that supports and benefits you, they can help, from the boardroom to the shop floor.
If you would like to discuss any of these matters with Clive, email me at kamila@octagontech.com and I will organise a video meeting for you. He will be happy to answer questions about your particular issues.
Kamila (General Manager)
