Page 8 - BusinessWest June 23, 2021

things back as they were, to the extent possible — and “stop the bleeding,” as Bianco put it, businesses would find it much better, and cheaper, if they hired the same company to handle prepara- tion and prevention and work to elimi- nate the cuts that cause the bleeding. The high-profile cyberattacks of
the past few weeks are an indication
of how widespread the problem is,
but they are also misleading to some extent, said those we spoke with, because they have involved mostly larger businesses and entities with very deep pockets, as evidenced by the size of the ransoms they paid. The sober- ing reality is that small businesses are
“
it after the fact. It’s the same thing with security — it’s always easier to manage things prior to the incident and be prepared for that and act appropriately.”
“And these attackers also sell each other pre-made malware, so less sophisticated attackers can just send out 100 different phishing e-mails, see what sticks, and then attack there,” she explained. “So nonprofits are at risk, small- to medium-sized businesses are at risk, and, in most cases, they don’t have the insurance to back them up to minimize that risk, and they don’t real- ize how vulnerable they are.”
Everyone should now understand just how vulnerable they are, said those we spoke with, adding quickly that some remain slow to take action and adjust to what is a troubling new world order. Those who don’t adjust do so
at their peril, said these experts, add- ing that recent events show just how easy it is to be attacked, and how pain- ful, costly, and time-consuming it is to repair the damage that’s been done.
What the Hack?
As they talked about those behind all the cyberattacks going on in the world right now, those we spoke with used a wide array of descriptive adjec- tives to let people know just whom they’re dealing with.
Words like sophisticated, diaboli- cal, persistent, and relentless were used early and quite often, as was another that should get the hair up on every business owner: automated.
“It is only a matter of time before any organization falls victim to one
of these attacks,” said Joel Mollison, president of Westfield-based Northeast IT, who said this inevitability shouldn’t prompt paralysis, but instead well- thought-out action to prevent (to the extent possible) such an attack, and then recover as quickly and painlessly as possible if an attack does occur.
Mollison puts it in clear perspective, if anyone wasn’t already sure.
“Typically, we find that most orga- nizations have basic security measures in place, but rarely understand their level of potential exposure or impact on operations during such an event,” he said. “The ability to recover from one of these events varies widely based on size of the organization, data vol- ume, and locations of data and servic- es. Even in the best-case scenarios, this process can take many days or weeks.
“Business operations are almost always crippled to a marginal capacity while systems are recovered,” he went on. “The financial impact, even with- out having to pay a ransom, is often devastating, and most cyber liability policies are underfunded, which com- pounds the problem. There are also compliance, reporting, and legal fac- tors that are part of the recovery pro- cess that are often overlooked.”
Stan Bates, director of Business Development for Melillo, agreed. Relat- ing some recent and current cases his firm is handling, he said they effective- ly communicate how widespread the problem is, what issues and problems are confronting business owners, the costs involved (and there are many of
It’s always easier to prevent diabetes than to treat
a more attractive target because they are likely to be less prepared for such an attack.
“Cyberattacks are really a num- bers game, and small businesses are less likely to invest in the cybersecu- rity practices, so they’re seen as low-
hanging fruit,” said Lauren Ostberg, an attorney with the Springfield-based firm Bulkley Richardson (and a mem- ber of BusinessWest’s 40 Under Forty class of 2021), who helped spearhead the launch of the firm’s cybersecurity practice.
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8 JUNE 23, 2021
FEATURE
BusinessWest