AN SMB PLAYBOOK FOR BETTER SECURITY PRACTICES

High-profile data breaches have become an uncomfortably common part of life in recent years. For obvious reasons, incidents involving large retailers, insurance providers, banks and iconic Fortune 500 companies generate a lot of press. And while this attention does raise awareness about the importance of data security, it also reinforces the notion that these threats are isolated to large enterprises. 

The truth about data breaches is that nearly half targeted are small and medium-sized businesses1. In fact, the average cost for a single security breach is estimated to be nearly $120,000 for businesses with less than 500 employees2—a figure that doesn’t even account for indirect costs of breach recovery.

Fortunately, there are some fundamental first steps you can take right now to protect your business. We’ll walk you through an IT playbook for protecting your data, securing your assets and ultimately saving you valuable time and money. 

The Situation: People are still the weakest link when it comes to cybersecurity.

For every employee that you add to your business, you add one more opportunity for a document to be shared that shouldn’t be. You increase the likelihood that a password gets saved to a personal device or an email link gets clicked on that shouldn’t be. But growing your business shouldn’t come with added security risks—if anything, it should come with the added protection of knowledge. 

The threats

• Many breaches come from within

Approximately one of every three security incidents are created by internal employees3

• Inappropriate Access

According to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC), 58% of reported breaches involved unauthorized access4.

• Oversight and education are lacking

More than one in five data breaches reported to the OPC in 2018 involved accidental disclosure. This included situations where documents containing personal information are provided to the wrong individual or are left behind accidentally4.

The solutions

USE EXPERTS

Time and resource constraints can make growing businesses reactive about technology, putting out fires instead of preventing them. Avoid the financial consequences of today’s cyberattacks by relying on the experts. The internet will always be a source of DIY solutions, but it shouldn’t be when it comes to your IT and security. Consider outsourcing your IT support and going with a bundled as-a-service option to get the most value for your dollar. What you’ll spend a month on getting expert IT support, can help save you thousands more in the event of a security breach. 

Ricoh has a range of IT Service bundles that can help you stay protected. Click here to learn more.

IMPROVE YOUR PROCESSES

Take control of your content and information by managing how it’s shared across your organization.  A content management solution can ensure that each employee has an appropriate level of access to sensitive data. You can get details about how, when and by

whom these documents are being viewed or edited, allowing for quick diagnosis in the event of an issue.

And, if you want to take your protections to the next level, a digital rights management solution can safeguard your digital assets by preventing exposure of sensitive and confidential files to unauthorized people.

Click here for more info on Ricoh’s Content Management Solution.

INVEST IN EDUCATION

Provide consistent security training for all new hires and retrain current employees annually. Be exhaustive; the things that seem obvious are overlooked far too often. Make cybersecurity awareness training part of every new employee onboarding experience and you’ll quickly establish a strong first-line of defense. 

Save yourself the time and headache of doing it all yourself by opting for pre-built cybersecurity awareness courses. Ricoh’s Cybersecurity Awareness Training starts with a comprehensive consult to assess and review your current practices and help you tailor the course to specific needs. 

Click here to learn more about Ricoh’s Cybersecurity Awareness Training. 

Ricoh has a full portfolio of everyday digital solutions that can help your small business redefine work. To learn more go to services.ricoh.ca. 

1. https://enterprise.verizon.com/resources/executivebriefs/2019-dbir-executive-brief.pdf
2. https://www.techrepublic.com/article/an-average-data-breach-will-cost-an-enterprise-1-23m-and-an-smb-120k-heres-why/
3. https://www.csoonline.com/article/3341317/data-breaches-exposed-5-billion-records-in-2018.html
4. https://www.priv.gc.ca/en/blog/20191031

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