With cybercrime growing each and every year, the steps businesses are taking to protect their businesses have never mattered more. Buzzwords you might’ve heard in that industry can be anything from top cyber security solutions to how to better your software. Let’s dive into the nuts and bolts of it all and discover the IT support vs cyber security battle, and which your company needs.
What Is Cyber Security? What Does it Entail?
Cyber security is the practice of protecting computer systems, networks, and devices from digital attacks. These attacks can come in many forms, including malware, ransomware, phishing scams, and more. Cyber security solutions involve a multi-layered approach to protect against these threats at every level of a system.
This includes implementing security measures such as firewalls, antivirus software, and intrusion detection systems, as well as following best practices like implementing strong passwords and regularly updating software.
IT Support: Does It Matter?
IT support, or information technology support involves providing technical assistance and troubleshooting for computer systems and related networks. It typically covers tasks such as hardware and software installation, maintenance, and repair.
How Is Cyber Security Different Than IT Support?
Most IT companies pride themselves on how good their IT support is, or how knowledgeable their team is. While that’s important, a huge part of managing IT beyond the help desk that requires attention is protecting your data. Part of this process differs from site to site, but from the core cyber security perspective, it’s similar. Protecting the perimeter network at the firewall is important, and protecting desktops is important. Unfortunately, desktop protection is sometimes secondary when it comes to outsourced IT.
Scope of Concern
IT support focuses on providing technical assistance and troubleshooting for computer systems, while cyber security involves protecting those systems from digital threats. In other words, IT support deals with the day-to-day maintenance of a company’s digital infrastructure, while cyber security focuses on preventing and responding to attacks.
Preventative vs Reactive
IT support tends to be reactive, fixing issues as they arise. Cyber security solutions, on the other hand, are more preventative in nature. They involve implementing security measures before an attack occurs to minimize the risk of damage.
Goals and Objectives
The ultimate goal of IT support is to ensure that a company’s technology runs efficiently, while the main objective of cyber security is to protect against cyber attacks. While both are essential for any business, they serve different purposes and require different approaches.
The question at hand isn’t who will win: IT support vs cyber security. Instead, it’s important to consider which needs to have more attention within your company. IT support alone is important, but IT support with cyber security solutions is even more important.
Steps To Keeping Your Data Safe
Data is money! And keeping it safe is of utmost importance. That’s why in today’s world, the need for enhanced data protection has never been more critical. Antivirus in the traditional sense is only as good as what it knows in its existing database. If you add a behavior-based component to it, it can block previously identified behaviors. But bad actors use known, good applications in their attacks.
What’s the Solution?
These days, hackers are constantly creating new malware and viruses that can easily bypass traditional antivirus software. This makes it imperative for businesses to invest in comprehensive cyber security solutions such as advanced endpoint protection, network security, and encryption. These solutions work together to protect your data from different angles, making it harder for hackers to penetrate.
A Case Study
The Friday before July 4th, 2021 was a pivotal point in managed IT services. Kaseya is a company used by many managed service providers across the globe. It is installed locally on the IT company’s network or hosted within the Kaseya cloud. As you can imagine, this system has access to many networks, and even more, machines, considering this is the system used by IT companies to manage those networks.
Attackers had discovered a security vulnerability in the Kaseya platform and had planned to execute an attack on as many of the systems as possible simultaneously. They were successful on less than 50, but that attack led to thousands of machines with ransomware. It led to the FBI’s involvement in the largest ransomware incident to that date. Thankfully, our Omaha-based IT Company was not affected directly or compromised, but we powered off our servers for several days until we received an update. It changed the way we manage networks!
Following this attack, many businesses have come to understand the importance of investing in comprehensive cyber security solutions. It is no longer enough to rely solely on traditional antivirus software.
Safety Doesn’t Mean Convenience
Just as putting a lifejacket on isn’t the most convenient, freeing feeling in the world, cyber security solutions may not always be convenient but it’s necessary for any business that wants to protect its data. Don’t get complacent. Be sure to use IT support and cyber security to help you stay cyber safe.
Choose Run Networks
At Run Networks, we provide top-of-the-line IT support and cyber security services to help businesses protect their digital infrastructure. Our Security 2.0 initiative ensures that our managed networks are protected, which means we can keep your data safe. Contact us today to learn more about how we can protect your business from cyber threats.
