Back to Blog

Critical Ways to Protect Your Small Business

Today, data breaches affecting small businesses are all-too-common, costly, and steadily on the rise.How common? A 2019 study shows that 63% of small-to-medium-sized business (SMBs) reported a data breach in the previous year, up from 58% in 2018.While the financial impact of data breaches can vary greatly, 2021 research from IBM shows that organisations with fewer than 500 employees spend an average of nearly $3 million per incident. ...

Local Governments Need to Improve Their Security Controls

Experts predict cyber security threats to Australian organisations will continue to rise in 2023. Local governments in Western Australia need to enhance their computer controls, according to a WA Auditor General (OAG) audit that discovered 328 weaknesses in a review of 50 local governments....

"From Bicycle to Business Class" - Nilesh Makwana's Journey

Last week we received our copies of Nilesh Makwana's new book, Terminal 4 - An Entrepreneur's Journey from Bicycle to Business Class. The journey of Nilesh, from his childhood in India to migrating to Australia, is an inspiration to all new arrivals in WA....

Australian Cyber Security Centre

Cyber security incidents can affect any business, at any time. With the average cyber security incident costing over $39,000 for small businesses, organisations cannot afford to overlook investing in their cyber security.    Investing in preventative measures is usually less expensive than responding to an incident, so it will help minimise the costs for impacted organisations. With the increased prevalence of cloud computing, the ACSC has created a series of 8 guides on securing clou...

$50m Breach Fines are Now Law

Those $50 million fines for repeated or serious cyber breaches are now law. Organisations and businesses around Australia should consider themselves on notice: do better to protect customer data or pay the price. The spectacular fines come after two of Australia’s biggest breaches – Optus and Medibank Private – saw the personal details of millions stolen....

CRN Fast50 Recognises Managed IT

We are excited to announce that we have been recognised by CRN part of their Fast50 List. The CRN Fast50 is a ranking of the highest growth in revenue of Australian IT companies. ...

Essential Security Steps To Keep Your E-Commerce Users Safe

Online safety is critical when you’re serving e-commerce customers. If proper protocols aren’t followed, e-commerce sites can easily fall prey to cybersecurity breaches, which may expose private customer information....

Protect Your Customers' SaaS Data With Cloud-Based Backup

Today, most organisations migrate to SaaS platforms such as Microsoft 365, Google Workspace and Salesforce assuming that their data is secure in the cloud. People may be overlooking cloud-based backup limitations, which could seriously impact their business. It’s critical to know that “retention” is not data backup since that data will be purged after a specific period. Cloud-hosting companies often guarantee uptime and redundancy, but not the backup of your data....

Ransomware Equals a Data Breach

From a data regulator’s perspective, it is the responsibility of your business to keep data safe from cyberthreats, inform clients about a breach within a stipulated period and provide necessary documentation as proof of your efforts. Although different regulations have laid down distinct mandates for breach notifications, the principle remains intact....

4 Common Technology Budgeting Mistakes

Are you planning to include your IT needs in your annual budget this year? If so, congratulations! You're doing something incredible to ensure your small business’ success. Budgeting for technology can be tricky. On the one hand, you want to be ready for anything, but you also don't want to overspend and waste valuable resources. It's a delicate balance that many fail to achieve. We've compiled a list of the most common technology budgeting mistakes you should avoid. Keep reading to learn mor...

Government sector suffers high ransomware attack encryption rates

Sophos has published a new sectoral survey report, ‘The State of Ransomware in State and Local Government 2022’, which found that 72% of state and local government organisations attacked by ransomware had their data encrypted — 7% more than the cross-sector average....

Ransomware operators might be dropping file encryption in favour of corrupting files

Ransomware began out a few years ago as customers started being tricked into paying fictitious fines for allegedly partaking in unlawful online conduct or, in additional severe instances, had been blackmailed with compromising movies taken by their webcams by malware. The menace has since come a good distance, shifting from shoppers to enterprises, including knowledge leak threats on the facet and generally distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) blackmail....

Busting Four Popular Cyber Security Myths

As the business world becomes increasingly digitized, you’ll have to tackle several dangers that come with doing business online. Cybercriminals nowadays have several methods to target organisations, from credential hacks to sophisticated ransomware attacks....

How Does a VPN Help with Network Security

Not so long ago, network security meant servers on premise. A firewall would guard business data as internet traffic traveled in and out of the network. But today? Modern business doesn’t operate strictly on-prem....

Multi-Factor Authentication

Multi-factor authentication typically requires a combination of something the user knows (pin, secret question), something you have (card, token) or something you are (finger print or other biometric).Businesses as well as individuals should implement MFA wherever possible. Some MFA options include, but are not limited to:Physical tokenRandom pinBiometrics / fingerprintAuthenticator appEmailSMS...

What is a Clean Desk Policy?

It’s a common situation in millions of offices around the world: documents clogging up filing cabinets, cupboards, and desks. Every few months, decluttering provides a solution, but rather than waiting for it to become a problem, why not adopt a proactive (rather than reactive) approach?...

3 Times Businesses Were Denied Cyber Insurance Payouts.

Cyber insurance is a type of insurance that protects businesses from financial losses that can result from a cyberattack. While it’s an essential tool for businesses of all sizes, there are some facts you should be aware of before purchasing a policy....

How an IT Service Provider Can Help With Cyber Insurance

When looking for cyber insurance for your small business, you may find it hard to navigate technology and insurance jargon. There are even different types of cyber coverage and you might not be sure what you need because you’re not a cybersecurity expert. Plus, once you do have coverage, there’s always the risk of not receiving a payout in the event of an incident if you didn’t meet your policy’s requirements. ...

Defense Strategies- Insider Threats Security

Insider threats are among the most dangerous cyberthreats out there. Yet, organisations of all sizes seem to be either reluctant or negligent when it comes to fighting them. Even though some companies have an insider risk management program, they have a limited cybersecurity budget for mitigating insider risk. Simply having an insider risk management program is insufficient to protect your corporate data from today's sophisticated attacks. ...

Why is SIEM Important?

Why is SIEM important?Combining security information management (SIM) and security event management (SEM), security information and event management (SIEM) offers real-time monitoring and analysis of events as well as tracking and logging of security data for compliance or auditing purposes....

The State of SMB Cybersecurity in 2022

Are you a recent startup company? Do you have a small office? Are you just getting into the digital world? Whatever the situation is, if you are a small business, you also need to have cybersecurity. There are compliance regulations that require any company that stores personal information to provide security for their customers or clients. Why is this? Well, as you know, the privacy of every individual is extremely important to keep, and if a hacker receives any personal information — names, ...

What a Top-Notch IT Services Provider Will Offer Your Business

There are several reasons why small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) like yours can sometimes struggle to meet all your technology needs in one location....

Securing Your Remote Workforce

Over the last few years, we have seen several tech companies, such as Buffer, Todoist and Help Scout, to name a few, switch to a fully remote or partial work setup. Most of these companies spent months preparing for the switch by training their employees, setting up remote work policies and ensuring the necessary infrastructure was in place to deal with cybersecurity threats. ...

Balancing a Proactive and Reative Approach to Cyber Incidents

Balancing a Proactive and Reactive Approach to Cyber Incidents...

Strengthen Your IT & Data Security to Prevent Cyber Attacks

Strengthen Your IT & Data Security to Prevent Cyberattacks...