The recent Capital One breach has everybody wondering if they are next. The simple answer is most likely – Yes – if you do nothing to protect yourself. Local counties and cities are a top target for cybercrime in the U.S. right now, and even the smallest locality can be a target. Just look at the most recent data breach from a rural county in Jackson, Georgia. Once ransomware hit their network, they had to pay attackers $400,000 to get their data back. The sad news is that the FBI now warns that it’s no longer a question of if you’ll be hacked, it’s when. But you can defend against most intrusion attempts and significantly limit the damage even if they do happen to get through your defenses.
Why stand by and wait to be a victim? There are simple, low cost things that can be done to help your locality become more secure and help you sleep at night. The first thing to do is to talk about cyber security at the board and executive levels in your locality. As a board member, county administrator, or city manager; do you know how susceptible your organization is to an attack or breach? A locality needs a cyber security program that includes not just the information technology controls, but policies, risk assessments, and security plans that reach all levels of management.
So, what does it mean to be secure and where do you start? It is important to realize that just because you have a great information technology staff, that it does not mean you have a great cyber security program. They are two different things. Simply put, expecting your IT administrators to secure your organization is like expecting your primary care physician to perform heart surgery.
To fight off the hackers, you need a plan of attack. You need to make sure your networks and devices are secure. This can be a scary thought. If you’re not secure, how do you get there? How much is it going to cost? Do you need to hire someone to accomplish this? Those 3 questions alone are a big enough hurdle, but there are many more to worry about.
This is where Assura can step in. With Assura’s Virtual ISO™, you get experienced, professional cyber security guidance and advice as well as complete coverage of all regulatory requirements your locality will ever encounter. You’ll get weekly status updates, progress reports, and monthly reviews and we do all of the grunt work. There are multiple plan levels that can fit into any businesses budget. Best part of all, we stand behind our work. With Assura, you get our AuditArmor™ & Audit Defense™. Audit Armor™ is a 100% guarantee that our work is compliant and we’ll respond to any issues that arise. Audit Defense™ promises that we will work with your auditors to defend your program and prevent unnecessary findings.
Keeping your data secure is difficult in this scary landscape. Let Assura help get you to where you need to be. Give us a call at 855-9NOHACK today or go to www.assurainc.com and fill out a contact form. If you’re really nervous (and trust us, we understand why you would be) you can call me on my direct number: 804.672.8714 x301.
Karen Cole | Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer | Assura