Why managed security is important to your small business, private practice and enterprise.

In your business, Information Technology (IT) can be a struggle, can’t it?

And in the world of managing your offices’ security, it’s often times what you don’t know that can hurt your business.

The truth is this: many small businesses likely have a checklist of security actions they mean to get around to, but ultimately don’t find the time to take action.

On top of it all, there are the security measures you may not know about.

Managed security issues like:

• Hardware and software tools that are open to attacks and possible data losses.
• A wireless network that’s possibly not configured correctly to resist hacker tricks.
• IT threats like the infamous “Heartbleed” bug, that no one saw coming.

The impact of mismanaged security on your small business is dire.

For example, Verizon’s 2014 Data Breach Investigations Report, revealed the following:

• 60% of breaches occur because of financial reasons.
• Intellectual property incidents are increasing at 25% annually.
• Hackers are performing their exploits faster than ever, outpacing the path of discovery.
• The largest categories of theft from data breaches actual web application attacks at 35% and intellectual property loss at 22%.
• A typical data breach costs companies an estimated $3.5 million per, with those costs rising.

How can your small business avoid these security issues?

Your small company may not have a Chief Security Officer or Director of Technology, with the resources dedicated to the infrastructure you need to avoid these security problems.

So here are some things you can do in light of all this.

• Have a strong password process, checking hardware passwords, and monitoring your software accounts.
• Be sure and change your passwords on a regular basis. We suggest monthly or once per quarter.
• Security can easily slide to the back burner, with the daily business demands, and because of this fact, your small office becomes less immune.

The best answer to this problem.

While the above tips will help your small medical office avoid the heartache of a data breach, there is only one great answer to alleviate this problem: hire a managed security services provider (MSSP).

What is managed security and why is it critical?

A managed security services provider is essentially an outsourced security team that focuses on your businesses security without the distractions.

By outsourcing your managed security you get an expert team that efficiently handles your small businesses security. From this outsourced concept, you get the following:

• Better control of your IT.
• Proactive, rather than reactive.
• Up to date with current technology that’s protecting your office, rather than problematic for it.

It’s a misconception that when you outsource your IT or security functions, you have less control. It’s actually quite the opposite.

By offloading your security to a managed security services provider, you gain access to knowledgeable experts. Hiring and training these experts internally would take months if not years for you to do yourself. You gain control instead of losing it.

Every business wants the same thing: to make wise decisions that help protect client and patient data. With this patient data comes more and more information that’s potentially opened up for all kinds of inappropriate purposes. Rather than try to do everything yourself, your mindset needs to be focused on having the right person manage this process, so you can continue to make great business decisions. This is the definition of being proactive.

When it comes to keeping up with technology, this is where managed security services thrive. The concept of managed security keeps your company up to date, keeps your technology current as to avoid security nightmares, and ultimately establishes a process where you are consistently in a position to fight technology pitfalls rather than succumb to them.

PCI compliance, HIPAA compliance, SOX compliance and the like are no longer buzzwords. Instead these are standards that you need to meet in order to do business. Rather than having to worry about these many looming regulations, a managed security relationships will help you meet your requirements, immediately.

Solve your managed security issues.

Security concerns aren’t going to disappear any time soon. You will need to always be alert to security threats.

For some free guidance on how to solve your most basic of managed security issues, download our free e-book here.

With this guide you’ll get help to guide you on your journey to security-success.

Get it here and talk soon.