How to sensibly "slow-grow" small business digital defenses
I'm talking about small with a lower-case "s".
Entrepreneurs to 10 employees under $5 million in revenue.
Those who worry about being hacked but lack the time or interest to develop expertise to do something about it.
Instead, as business owners we're focused on leveraging available resources sell our products and services to hit or exceed our cash flow targets; while hopefully enjoying the experience along the way. You may have a general idea of what cybersecurity is, but don't know how to translate cyberspeak into something usable.
Government and regulators are doing a pretty good job of providing guidance to medium sized companies and enterprises who have internal staff capable of understanding and implementing complex standards like the NIST Cybersecurity Framework and HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules.
However little practical guidance is offered to small business which is understandable; government agencies and regulators simply aren't equipped to understand how to help small businesses. Small businesses simply lack the staff, time, money and, technical know-how available to enterprises.
As someone who was well-paid by one of the largest organizations in the world to protect their people and information, it hurts to see honest people just trying to take care of business run unnecessary risks. You can start fading away on hacker radar just by doing a number of key things which aren't well understood. You can get help on that here https://www.digitalselfdefense.pro/account/login/create
Look at this Fear vs Preparation chart. Most small businesses fall in the “Ignorance is Bliss” and “Shoe to Drop” zones with a low or no preparation.
Upper right where fear and preparedness are high is where critical infrastructure like power generation/transmission, ports, and refineries live; fear is due to extreme threat to life and property.
Upper left is large financial institutions who have been working for decades to mature their systems. But please notice that it’s not appropriate for most small businesses to be highly prepared, more like just above medium. You should only spend time and money on the things that will bring the greatest return on investment. That return is in reduced risk and fear of a hack attack.
Thanks for reading, this is the first of many short, biweekly posts in plain English helping you realize what's achievable and reasonable on a "slow-grow" path to:
– lower risk to hacker threats
– help insulate the business from regulatory breach fines
– maybe even help reduce your cortisol (stress hormone)
We can work with you to rapidly achieve this by booking a discovery meeting