Make cybersecurity personal

Be sure to read the articles dealing with cybersecurity in this edition.

While much has been written about this highly charged matter, our feature attempts to bring clarity to the issues that make punching keys on a computer so important.

Hit the wrong key, or respond to the wrong text or email and, literally, an entire IT system can go into lockdown. Terms, such as getting hacked, phishing, and ransomware, are now well-known nomenclatures.

Every computer, whether it’s part of a sophisticated big business or a one-person shop, is vulnerable. If huge governmental and industrial entities have fallen prey to ransom demands, what chances do smaller businesses have?

I’m willing to bet many of you have had issues with internet surprises, from the blue screen of death to unexpected, less-than-desirable sites. Likely, you don’t know what occurred or how it occurred.

You may have had to bring in IT professionals to unravel what happened. Maybe, you had to involve law enforcement agencies.

But think about it, if someone operating out of a small office in some faraway country was able to compromise your IT system, is the long arm of the law going to be of help?

Perhaps, you even had to pay a ransom to get your own information—the vital facts that power your ability to operate—back.

Over the past few years, we’ve been made aware of companies that have sustained significant interruptions to their businesses, due to having been hacked or by an employee who did not follow proper protocols.

The solutions ran the gamut from paying a ransom and having the lockdown removed to outside IT firms working weeks to reconstruct data. All were reported to be expensive and unpleasant.

We hope these articles will provide an understanding and appreciation of the complex and difficult questions facing companies, as they go about their daily tasks, relying on technology to run their businesses.