When Russia invaded Ukraine, issued warnings about the potential for malicious cyber attacks against the United States. The announcement only confirmed what CEO, Anthony Oren, had already been yelling from his virtual megaphone for four years. CISA (Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency) Nero Consulting In his 2018 CIOReview article, , Oren told readers that Russia was not the only country to look out for because China, Iran, South Korea, Ukraine, and others were already poised and ready for cyber combat. ! Nero Consulting: The Russians are Coming In the article, he stressed the importance of companies not waiting to tighten up their security after an attack, opting instead to search out vulnerabilities before they happen. According to Oren, the question is not the attack will happen but . if when After over 20 years in the IT business, Oren has watched countless companies suffer from the lack of preventative measures to secure their systems. He believes that every organization is vulnerable, and without the proper strategy, they risk exposure to the malicious underbelly of the dark web. , 2021 saw an increase in "sophisticated, high-impact ransomware incidents against critical infrastructure organizations globally." According to CISA Oren says that once a company’s files have been seized by ransomware hackers, paying the fine is often the easiest resolution. He cautions that without preparation, companies become easy prey for cybercriminals. Orren has seen his share of organizations depending only on cloud backup, thinking it will keep their files secure. Unfortunately, this is only a reactive measure. When an attack occurs, shutting down business operations to restore files takes time and resources that most companies cannot afford. According to , “Overall, between the first quarter of 2020 and the fourth quarter of 2021, the average duration of the downtime after a ransomware attack had increased from 15 to 20 days.” Statista.com Depending on the ransom amount, paying the ransom can be cheaper and restored faster than waiting for the backup service to fix the issue. Nero Consulting's cybersecurity skillset helps them empower small to medium-sized organizations to take the proactive measures necessary to avoid security breaches. Cybercriminals are crafty, so MSPs (Managed Service Provider) like Nero Consulting have to understand more than the technology behind cybersecurity protection. They must learn to think like a cybercriminal so they can stop them in their tracks. By helping organizations better understand how to use technology to secure their systems, companies have avoided potential disasters while becoming more efficient and profitable in the process. Nero Consulting draws a hard line when securing their clients’ assets, including their enforcement policy which requires every account and device to be locked down until it passes through security clearance. Zero Trust According to Oren, “You are only as strong as your weakest link. You can have the best technology, but if someone just comes into the office and connects to the network, and there is no security check there, that just defeats everything because once you are physically in the network, it is essentially over from a security standpoint.” By taking a proactive approach to cybersecurity, companies can prevent unnecessary risk and get back to the day-to-day business of running a company. To learn more about Nero Consulting, visit their website. Photo by on fabio Unsplash

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