RISK: “expose (someone or something valued) to danger, harm, or loss.” (dictionary.com) 

We face risk every day. Some risks we can avoid and others we can’t. When we drive a car, we risk a possible accident or maybe getting stranded if the car breaks down. Risk is a fact of life. 

As many know, a fountain pen is more prone to leak versus a standard ballpoint pen. If I carry a fountain pen, I take on the risk that if it leaks, I could have a ruined shirt. If I want to prevent and protect against having a possible ink stain on my shirt, one option would be to put that fountain pen in a plastic bag and then in my shirt pocket. While it certainly isn’t the fashion statement that I want to make, a step like that would reduce the risk of ruining my shirt. If I want to 100% guarantee that my shirt won’t be ruined, I can choose to eliminate the risk by not carrying the fountain pen or, asking a friend to carry it. 

You might be asking, “What does a fountain pen leaking have to do with my computers and cyber security?” This example is perfect to describe how cybersecurity works for your business. If you do nothing to protect against an attack, you are taking a large risk. Hope is a poor risk mitigation plan. If you want to prevent the risk, the starting point is to install an anti-virus solution and a firewall and build from there. Each solution has positives and negatives, and each product must be correctly configured. An incorrectly deployed security tool can actually increase your risk instead of lowering it. We’ve seen that. 

This is where CCI can best serve you by getting a solid plan in place to resolve any of these issues. We can assist in reducing your risk of a cyber compromise. You might wonder if there’s a way to completely eliminate risk. No, nothing offers 100% protection. We will be up front and honest. Everything we do lowers the attack surface—nothing 100% eliminates risk. Wait you say, there’s always the turn your computer off, unplug it (you do know that a powered down computer will still talk to an ethernet network, right?), and place it in a corner type of thing. Sorry, even that isn’t 100%. There’s still the question of how are you protecting that device from physical theft? 

When it comes to risk, are you prepared? Do you have a plan in place for your business to prevent a virus or cyberattack? Do you have a recovery plan in place for if you are breached? 

Reach out to our team to learn more about how you can mitigate the risk of a virus or cyberattack on your computers and network.