Welcome to 2021 Holiday Season
Hello folks – Vlad here, thank you for a phenomenal 2021!
The best is yet to come – on December 7th (at noon) we’re holding an event to introduce the next generation of our offerings. As cybersecurity threats evolve, so must ExchangeDefender, and I’m confident you’re going to love how we put our expertise to work for you.
That said, we’ve had a very tough 2020 and an even more challenging 2021. The demand for our services has never been higher and the ability to predictably execute the business plan in a state/country/world that’s standing on quicksand has never been tougher. Our team not only managed to exceed service levels through it all, we also performed major upgrades and huge service improvements all around. I owe my team a looooooooooooooooong deserved break and for the remainder of 2021 we are not taking on any new projects, extended support contracts, deep dive optimizations/troubleshooting/consulting/etc. I need to allow people that have been working long past their shifts or burning the midnight oil the luxury of sleeping in till noon. You won’t notice it – support will still be available around the clock, our SLAs will still be honored, and all the routine stuff will keep moving smoothly.
When we come back from the Thanksgiving break, our sole focus will be the successful launch of the Dec 7th project. We will start 2022 with a bang and a team fresh and ready to fend off emerging cyberattacks.
In that spirit I’d also like to wish our partners, clients, vendors, and suppliers a happy holiday season. I know everyone has had to up their game in the face of Covid restrictions and challenges – and I hope you’re as grateful to make it through it as we are. Thank you for your patience, thank you for your kindness, thank you for your professionalism and thank you for trusting us with keeping you safe.
Sincerely,
Vlad Mazek
CEO
ExchangeDefender
Top 5 IT challenges for small business post-pandemic
Data Security
The importance of data security has catapulted to the forefront because of the fast-moving, unforeseen Covid-19. The pandemic caused most office workers to work from home for months, and required many organizations to build remote workflows. Remote working has offered prime opportunities for hackers to take advantage of unsecured data. The safety of confidential information in the remote workforce is becoming increasingly difficult to achieve without the proper security tools, (which most businesses lack).
ExchangeDefender Corporate Encryption is the perfect solution for organizations that need to secure their company data. Employees are able to encrypt emails simply, and share documents securely with Encryption. (Ask for a demo!)
Skilled Employee Shortage
Yes, we’re in the middle of a talent shortage. Businesses are experiencing a lack of skilled employees as the pandemic, and the Great Resignation movement continues to rage on. The IT department in many businesses are suffering, with 93% of employers reporting an overall skills gap. Staffing issues in IT are creating disruptions in other parts of the business as well – making increasing productivity a dream rather than reality.
There is an opportunity for MSPs to offer IT services that organizations are unable to fulfill inhouse due to staffing. Services like cybersecurity, data storage, encryption, and disaster recovery are in very high-demand since the beginning of the pandemic. Offering businesses services that are mission-critical, and that can guarantee work productivity or continuity is vital!
Uncertain times
The COVID-19 crisis brought most businesses to a near stand-still causing major stress to business owners, and corporate CEOs alike. The future is uncertain, but what we can do is actively factor in future trends into our business growth goals. This means focusing on what the market needs (like providing solutions related to trends that are exploding), and on your customer base. The best data you have is from your current clients. Look for similarities, ask them questions along the way.
Cybersecurity threats increasing
Approximately 2,200 cyber attacks happen every day, which means every 40 seconds, a hacker gains unauthorized access to information. Company data has become one of the most valuable assets of a business. Data breaches continue to rise as hackers take advantage of vulnerabilities, particularly within the remote workforce. 68% of business leaders feel their cybersecurity risks are increasing.
The most common way of cyber-attack is through email, and every business is susceptible. 94% of malware is delivered by email, and about 50% of malicious attachments are Office files. The pandemic has brought in a new wave of cyber attacks with Phishing. In fact, 1 in 13 requests lead to malware – making it increasingly difficult to discern what is real, and what is not. Human error is driving data breaches, and organizations need to implement security measures to ensure the safety of their people and data. (Explore ExchangeDefender PRO)
Business Continuity / Disaster Recovery
When the COVID disaster first occurred, businesses realized that they did not have an active business continuity plan. This is a plan that details what to do in the event that a disaster, natural, or otherwise happens. We have experienced a significant increase in demand for email outage protection, archiving, and file sharing services. Businesses have the challenge of making sure they can still operate as usual despite disruption, or public health crisis. Organizations that take advantage of solutions that empower productivity from work or home will experience the least amount of interruption.
Riddled with data breaches, Healthcare needs encryption
The healthcare industry has seen a sharp increase of data breaches since the onset of Covid-19. As we encouraged minimal in-person interaction to minimize the spread, the rise of Telehealth services grew 46% in 2020. It is known that the medical sector has been slower than others when it comes to leveraging new technology. The lack of data security is apparent as 89% of healthcare providers have suffered some type of data breach within the past two years.
So, what’s the deal? Why is the healthcare industry such a big target for hackers?
The healthcare sector mainly consists of businesses that provide medical services, create medical equipment, and develop the drugs that fill our prescriptions. It is a gold-mine for big data that contains sensitive information about patients like date of birth, addresses, medical records, and so much more. Hackers target the industry with data breaches and ransomware to gain full access of medical information of millions of people. 41% of Americans have had their protected health information or PHI exposed in the last three years. The sector’s biggest challenge is managing and securing large volumes of sensitive data. It is extremely difficult to minimize security breaches, and reduce cyber theft when security is not seen as a priority.
Struggling with strict compliance standards
The nature of information that the healthcare industry collects, is subject to some of the strictest data privacy and compliance standards. Healthcare is unique as it manages large volume data that is constantly changing. Complying with data security standards is a major struggle for healthcare as they use Electronic Healthcare Records (EHR), and adopt new cloud technology. Patient EHRs enable doctors to treat via telehealth, and share data digitally which is encouraged by the HITECH act. Unfortunately, many hospitals and clinics have not implemented a secure method of sharing this information which does not fulfill HIPAA standards.
No security training leads to user errors
This is the fact of life, right? Users cannot manage something effectively without understanding how it works. Approximately 90% of data breaches in 2019 were caused by human error, a drastic increase from 61% two years prior. In general, human error is the leading cause of data breach within an organization. For healthcare, about 40% of employees have received no cybersecurity training whatsoever. This lack of security training is costing the medical sector millions of dollars in damages per year, with the average record stolen costing about $400 each.
Empower medical professionals to implement Encryption software
Healthcare professionals can easily send and receive secure messages with ExchangeDefender Corporate Encryption. Personnel can communicate sensitive data with confidence using a powerful, user-friendly web interface that can auto-detect personal identifiable information (PHI) like patient names, date of birth, lab test results, medical bills, and more! It can prevent accident data leaks by triggering custom policies that the organization creates based on security standards. Using Corporate Encryption will automatically help medical workers comply with HIPAA and HITECH regulations.