How Cyber Security Saved A CEO’s (Financial) Life

Managed IT services and cyber security for your business can also protect you at home

The Dark Web is an insidious place. Private user data gets stolen and then passed from one criminal to another in the blink of an eye, often with little or no repercussions to the online scammers. The pervasiveness of cybercrime is precisely why we insist that all of our managed IT service clients employ strict cyber security protocols.

We suggest to all of our clients upfront that they implement a two-factor authentication system for all critical sign-ins — first and foremost email. However, some clients may choose to opt-out because they think they’re not “high risk” or the process is an inconvenience. Here’s a case that illustrates exactly why you should implement the 2FA system:

We employ several specialized tools on behalf of our clients, and one of these tools is a dark web scanner that seeks out phrases, email addresses, or links that might be related to our client’s business accounts. One of these scans found that a principal for one of the companies that we work with had a compromised password. It turned out that this individual used the same password not just for their business accounts, but for absolutely everything.

Immediately, we advised that he change his password because cyber criminals may have access to his work email, his Amazon account, his financial accounts, and even his medical records. Our client had no idea that their IT managed services company would be helping with their personal life. Not only did we protect his trade secrets, but also his credit cards and online accounts from being subjected to fraud.

After the client changed his password, we set up the client with a vetted, secure password manager and helped shift the entire company to a two-factor authentication system.

As preventable as this issue is, we see this problem all the time. It’s common for people to use the same password on multiple accounts. This leads to massive security breakdowns because log-in credentials are only as protected as the weakest site that uses that information. If users repurpose the same password across multiple sites, it is highly likely the password will be discovered by unethical hackers and then tested on other sites.

There is no one-stop solution that can protect all businesses equally well. That is why we have a time-tested process in how we select the tools that we use and highly recommend.

We don’t just look for what’s cheapest, we only offer and utilize the best tools that are available. Unfortunately, not everyone in our industry holds themselves to the same standards.

We aren’t tied to any brand or vendor because we know that the only thing constant is change. We go (and our clients go) to the best service for the best value, 100% of the time.

We cater your IT services and your cyber security to your needs, every time.

Not everyone gets this level of service from their managed IT service– but you should. Call us, tell us about your situation and we’ll let you know how we can help.