Like an organism, a business must grow and evolve to survive. Also like an organism, a business must keep its path to growth free and clear of obstacles that might hinder that growth. Unfortunately, there are many types of obstacles that can fall on its path. One of the most dangerous is insider threats.
What exactly are insider threats?
Insider threats are malicious threats to an organization that come from within the organization. They are internal threats to a business’ digital security and its data, and can come from employees who are negligent about cybersecurity practices or simply unaware of the need for them; from current or former employees acting in a criminal or malicious manner; or from contractors or partners whom you think you can trust with your valuable business data, but who either intentionally or unintentionally, expose your business to cyber threats. These types of threats have increased dramatically over the last two years in both frequency and cost. In fact, in just a two-year period, the cost of insider threats increased by 31% from $8.76 million in 2018 to $11.45 million in 2020 and the number of incidents in the same time period increased by a whopping 47% from 3,200 in 2018 to 4,700 in 2020. One thing is certain, however; whatever the cause or the source, the threat is real and the results of a breach to a business can be both catastrophic and costly – clearly the antithesis of business growth.
But it’s not all bad news
Fortunately, with the right internal security technology, those insider threats need never cross your business’ path to growth. With the right internal security technology, you can secure your business’ growth by protecting its computers and valuable data, and you can free yourself from worrying about insider threats that would otherwise prevent you from focusing on the development, evolvement, and growth of your business. It’s called centrally managed endpoint security.
The internal security technology that will secure your business’ growth
Today, a centrally managed endpoint security solution is essential to safeguarding your business and protecting its path to growth. It is no longer sufficient to install an antivirus solution individually on each of your business computers as an antivirus solution covers only a single endpoint and is limited to detecting and blocking malicious files. Centrally managed endpoint security, on the other hand, allows businesses to protect all their endpoints, and control and manage all their security needs.
A heads up to small businesses
If you’re a small business owner inclined to think that you don’t have to worry about insider threats, don’t even go there. Small businesses are not impervious to insider threats. Quite the contrary, they are particularly vulnerable to cyber attacks and insider threats: In 2019, more than 1 in 10 small businesses faced a virus, hack or data breach, with insider threats being their top cybersecurity threat. Thus, internal security technology that delivers small business virus protection for all endpoints is just as critical for small businesses as it is for large enterprises, if not more.
7 ways the right internal security technology can secure your business’ path to growth
Here’s the breakdown on how a centrally managed endpoint security solution can help your business grow:
- It lets businesses manage and control all of their security needs from a convenient, single point of contact.
- It offers transparency and provides monitoring tools so businesses can track user activity on their network, monitor active threats, see their employees’ security status, and control their cybersecurity solutions.
- It provides antimalware and antivirus protection at the device level so that all of a business’ systems are secured. This includes desktop computers, laptops and tablets.
- It prevents business devices from accessing malicious networks that can threaten the business.
- It prevents users who have access to a business’ computers from executing unauthorized applications or downloading malicious files that can cause vulnerabilities.
- It ensures that all the software on a business’ computers are up to date and patched so that there are no unfixed software vulnerabilities or out of date antivirus solutions running that could leave the business exposed.
- It frees small business owners up from worrying about potential insider threats so they can focus on doing what they need to do to grow their business.
Security is a moving target
Security is essential to business growth, but security is also a moving target, so you have to move with it. This means defending your business from internal threats in addition to external threats, protecting all your endpoints, and managing all your security needs. It means having the internal security technology that is foundational to maintaining internal cybersecurity and securing your business’ growth. In other words, it means having a centrally managed endpoint security solution.
