Managed Security Can Protect Your Business From Cyber Attacks

In the early 2000s, Cyber Security Risks began to increase their effectiveness, but antivirus (AV) solutions kept small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) safe. With AV updates, employee training, and software patching, most SMBs were able to avoid the worst of cyber attacks — until now.

Incidents, like the Wanna Cry ransomware attack, which affected organizations across the globe, served as wake-up calls for many that cyber threats are changing, and many companies still aren’t prepared. Many SMB owners know someone who’s been forced to pay a ransom to retrieve data or even had to shut down because data and systems were too costly to restore or weren’t restored as promised. Still, others have experienced cleanup costs from other malware attacks.

Many SMB owners think they won’t be targeted due to their size or small attack surface. Yet, as the chart below shows, that simply isn’t the case. Cyber criminals increasingly target SMBs because it is much easier to circumnavigate their defenses than those of enterprise companies.

The Truth About SMB Security

You are a target: 43% of all cyber attacks targeted small to medium-sized business (SMB) operations in 2018.	Shadow IT is a real problem: Your employees are likely using more cloud services than you know about, creating a blind spot for your IT team and your organization’s security.
Passwords are a weak link: Employees often reuse passwords across accounts and use easy-to-guess passwords.	Human error is hard to prevent: Your employees may use public Wifi to do their work, accidentally click on phishing emails, or share sensitive data on cloud services or flash drives.
The latest threats elude AV: Weaponized documents, fileless threats, zero-day threats, and ransomware lack signature and can slip through scheduled AV scans.	You may have compliance risks: If your SMB works in a heavily regulated business, you could face regulator fines in addition to cleanup costs.
Data sharing: Your partners may not have air-tight security, exposing your data to unauthorized access.

What Can you do About Cyber Security Risks?

It pays to get serious about Cyber Security. Enhancing your security posture can proactively help you harden your defenses and protect yourself from threats before they hit your company networks and disable your business, systems, and data.

When you invest in managed security, you get:

• A comprehensive solution for all your security needs
• Cloud-based solutions that are updated automatically with the latest threat data
• The ability to “rollback” any systems hit with ransomware to a pre-infection state
• Complete security coverage and simplified cost structures
• And end to security management headaches and worries

Take the Journey to managed backup with our fictional protagonists, Visionary Veronica and Complacent Carl.

Considering the risks of data loss

Visionary Veronica and Complacent Carl are business owners and competitors in Anywhere, USA. They’re attending an online meeting with Tim, a managed services provider (MSP). He shares how managed backup can protect their businesses from everyday calamities.

The calamities include:

• IT failures and outages
• IT device threat or loss
• Extreme weather and other events
• Data corruption issues
• Ransomware attacks

Visionary Veronica immediately signs up for managed backup and starts that same day. Complacent Carl declines the offer since he already backs up files to the cloud.

Everyday calamities: IT equipment failures

Visionary Veronica and Complacent Carl are each hard at work on proposals to win the business of Melvin Millions. A win would transform the future of one of their companies. But suddenly, IT issues ensue for both of them.

Tim restores Visionary Veronica’s proposal in minutes to a backup laptop. The rest of her data is restored quickly as she continues to work on the 50-page document.

Complacent Carl opens his cloud backup account and begins to restore the data to his desktop. The hours tick by. He decides to go home and start again the next day.

Everyday calamities: Data corruption

The next morning, it’s back to work. When Visionary Veronica and Complacent Carl arrive at the office, there’s another issue to address: data corruption. Visionary Veronica can’t access her proposal. The file that finally finished downloading on Carl’s computer is also corrupted.

Visionary Veronica knows exactly what to do. She calls Tim, the MSP owner, and has him restore the date to a pre-corruption state. She’s lost a little data, but not much.

Complacent Carl is in quite a predicament. Since the cloud backup was his only copy and it was corrupted, he doesn’t have the time to start again.

Conclusion

The day of the presentation arrived. Complacent Carl dropped out of the running, so Visionary Veronica won the new account. She hires more staff to support Melvin Millions and is excited about the growth in her business.

Complacent Carl finally reaches out to Tim for managed backup services. He’ll be protected moving forward. However, he lost the chance to win a great new account that would have doubled his business.

Why take chances with your data? Get managed backup today.

Your in-house IT team is made up of high-quality technology professionals who support and facilitate the pursuit of your organizational objectives. We applaud them, their efforts, and their commitment to excellence.

We work alongside your IT department to enable your IT specialists to focus on pro-growth and big-picture IT department goals. Enterprise tools that might have been out of your budget’s reach are now available to you through your partnership.

IT Director/CIO

Leading the internal IT department of a growing business is a monumental undertaking. Everything from end-user requests to horizon-level cyber threats drain your team of resources. You want to leverage your expertise to drive digital transformation in the organization, but time, financial, and manpower constraints are holding you back. Metis Technology is here to support you.

CEO/CFO

Your company is highly dependent upon your IT assets, and your internal IT department keeps those assets running flawlessly. But they’ve let you know that your next big growth steps are going to take a toll on their limited resources.

Give your IT department access to a full complement of IT specialists and tools, freeing up its time and expertise to tackle the high-impact technology challenges you face.

How does our co-managed IT service work?

We’re here to do as little or as much for you as needed, but we’re not here to take over or displace your team. We love to work with like-minded IT professionals.

Our supplemental IT services can be used to help alleviate the burden of daily tasks to free up your resources to tackle the larger projects. Additionally, our Co-Managed IT services can be leveraged to assists in completing the larger projects that are piling up and slowing your forward momentum.

• Infrastructure management
• Antivirus management
• Patch management
• System updates
• Backup verification and monitoring
• IT procurement and vendor management
• Backup management
• Firewall management

Keep your IT staff — Let us fill in the gaps

A co-managed agreement gives you access to a full team of professionals to support your internal IT resources. Our clients lean on the niche specializations of our team for everything from daily IT tasks to helping with project rollouts.

Co-managed agreements (and associated pricing) are tailored to each engagement.

The benefits of co-managed services

• Leverage economy of scale with advanced IT management technologies
  • Tools that may have been out of reach or out of your budget now become available to you. Roll out our tools on day one—no need to wait for training. We can immediately begin to monitor and manage on your behalf, increasing efficiency across your IT department. Access to solutions out of your stack enables you to drive higher efficiency while saving your investment in those tools.
• Retain institutional expertise and knowledge
  • What your internal IT organization brings to the table is irreplaceable. Keep your current team happy, and in place while giving them the support and tools, they need to get more done.
• Keep IT department budgets in check
  • If the wages, benefits, and tax obligations associated with hiring additional in-house IT professionals are not in the budget, that’s OK! We’ll fill in the gap. We offer customized pricing geared specifically to your requirements of our team.
• Network Consulting – Project Management – vCIO
  • We are a dedicated technology liaison for your company. We help define IT objectives and plan out the technology roadmap.
• Access IT specialties
  • Your internal IT specialists have a wealth of knowledge and skill, but no one can know it all. Our co-management specialists are happy to add their expertise in niche areas to your already robust knowledge base.
• Obtain after-hours and vacation coverage
  • Your IT team members deserve their time off. Our co-managed services ensure they can get the rest and relaxation that they need to be at the top of their game.
• Gain some breathing room and space to grow
  • Your internal IT organization must have the capacity to grow with the company. If your in-house IT team is bogged down and overworked, they can’t help you achieve your objectives.

Your small or medium-sized business is a crucial part of our global economy. In fact, small and medium-sized firms like yours account for 90% of the world’s businesses and 50% of its jobs.

Interestingly, it’s now more difficult than ever to run and grow your business. From digital transformation to remote work and cyber threats, you constantly must anticipate and respond to trends that impact your enterprise. Consequently, as you consider your strategic technology priorities for the future, it is important to consider the following challenges:

1.  Technology isn’t your day job

You manage an ever-growing technology footprint, including mobile phones and tablets, laptops and desktops, networking systems, servers, storage resources, peripherals, and printers.

All these devices and systems need to be managed, monitored, upgraded and secured. Unfortunately, your job description does not include any of these responsibilities.

2.  How to maximize the value of your technology is a mystery to you

Your current IT systems probably work well but need extra care and support, given their age. Additionally, securing your systems is critical since digital risks and threats are on the rise.

3.  Implementing your own customized services and support is really a task beyond your expertise

The limitations on your staff and time present barriers to being able to assume these responsibilities in-house.

You need one solution to all these challenges – Metis Technology Managed Services.

When you team up with Metis Technology, you’ll have access to the right staff, skills, modern tooling, services, and ongoing support to accomplish your strategic technology priorities.

Our expert, experienced team will provide:

• IT services – We will take time to understand your company’s technology priorities and evaluate your current systems for effectively meeting them. Customized services will be created and designed to better meet your needs. This will include support from skilled staff utilizing modern tooling.
• Managed security –Our proven technology will help protect your security structure from the latest threats, including ransomware.
• Managed backup – With our technology, we will help ensure you always have access to your data, even if IT challenges.
• Remote IT support – Our skilled staff will ensure top-of-the-class maintenance of your services, including upgrading your system and troubleshooting. Through remote connections we will provide expert analysis of your systems to diagnose and fix any issue you may face to ensure the undisrupted productivity of staff and business.

Metis Technology is the managed service provider that will help you manage your ever-growing technology footprint, maximize the value of your current technology, and provide top-rated customized services and support for your business.

Our services are affordable for your business because we deliver services on a per-seat basis. That means you only pay for what you use – while also gaining the ability to add new services or scale usage as you grow.

Running an IT department probably wasn’t your top reason you started your business. But the more you try new digital tools to connect with customers, keep your financial records, planning, marketing and process sales or a hundred other opportunities, the more you realize managing technology is like a full-time job.

And with the news filled with cyber hacks and ransomware reports, you are probably more aware and more worried about security threats than you ever thought possible. A recent survey found that 62% of small and medium-sized businesses lack the skills necessary to protect themselves, or recover from, security issues — 52% felt “helpless” to defend against new cyber attacks.

Managed IT service providers can relieve the burden and the stress. It is our responsibility to secure, monitor and maintain your technology, allowing you to focus on your business.

We’re giving you five MORE reasons companies like yours are choosing managed IT services.

1. Can we say IT Rock Walls?

Businesses face more cybersecurity threats than any time in history. It’s hard to keep up as threats evolve — or be confident you’re protected. With an IT services arrangement, an IT services company like Metis can implement security processes that are proven and always up-to-date solutions keeping your business safe and compliant with data protection laws and regulations.

The approach makes us a top managed service provider. We can cover everything from endpoint protection for your devices to patch management for your applications, password management processes for your team, firewalls, external vulnerability audits and more.

BUT WITHOUT MANAGED SERVICES, IT’S LIKE ROCK CLIMBING WITH NO ROPE
If you neglect a managed service arrangement, you can be at risk of a data breach, ransomware attack, or loss of data, resulting in damage to your reputation, lost time and revenue, regulatory fines, and legal action. We’re not trying to scare you, but we’re a little scared.

1 Accessed Oct 2020: VansonBourne, 2019. Underserved and Unprepared: The State of SMB Cyber Security in 2019.

2. Predictable costs, Predictable results

An IT managed services provider can result in more control over your IT expenses. A cost structure tailored to your business billing means you can budget with confidence instead of incurring unexpected costs when something breaks down. Scheduled maintenance helps prevent breakdowns in the first place.

A trusted IT partner managing your IT environment creates more time to focus on your business and less dealing with IT issues. We are experts in all things IT, so that gives us the opportunity to advise you on technologies that will best meet your business goals. You can plan for those expenditures in advance.

3. Efficiency Creates Business Growth – the Experts Say it, so it Must Be So.

Metis is considered one of the top IT companies in the area, and we help ensure you get full value from the technologies you’ve invested in. This means we help you maintain your hardware’s peak performance, enhance software ecosystems you already own, reduce or eliminate downtime, and strategize on the tools and systems that will best serve long-term needs. This 360-degree approach helps improve productivity and efficiency so you can foster and experience business growth however you choose.

4. Protect Your Data as If Your Life Depends on It…. Your Business Life Does

There are many threats to your data, from nefarious IT hackers to natural events like power outages, floods, fires – and let’s not forget about pandemics! Any unexpected event can disrupt your business in the blink of an eye.

You have to get back up and running as quickly as possible. You need a well-designed data backup and protection plan designed by a respected and knowledgeable managed IT services provider. They don’t even have to be near you! We can craft business recovery measures to protect your company against all types of data loss.

5. Getting Ahead is Always Better Than Being Behind – Get Proactive

Managed IT services are all about being proactive – anticipate problems, don’t react and keep your technology working at its best instead of waiting for it to break down. This results in greater security, productivity and return on your technology investments — let’s not forget peace of mind.

Without Managed IT Services, well, It Can Be Fixed, I Guess If something breaks, we can fix it. But we can’t get you back the time lost while your IT system is “in the shop”. We call this “break/fix”, and it’s not a good way to run your business.

Call Metis to get ahead of your managed IT needs today.

Over the past year and a half, businesses and employees across the globe have grown accustomed to remote work. And even now, with loosened health restrictions, it seems that, for many, this new (remote) normal is here to stay.

So, what does that mean for your technology environment? And how can you feel confident that your employees have access to the right tools and support to be productive no matter where they’re located?

As an IT managed service provider, we’re here to help answer any questions you may have about remote work, including the following:
● What to do when multiple employees at different locations have technical issues
● How to secure employees who are handling financial data from home
● How to avoid risks to your business overall

Multiple Technology Environments

When your team works in different locations, you can have as many sites to manage as you have people — rather than a single office to connect and support.

Without professional assistance, managing support across multiple locations can be a difficult and daunting task. However, with a managed IT service provider, you’ll be on track to operating smoothly and successfully, no matter your employees’ physical locations.

A managed IT service provider will offer continuous equipment monitoring backed with expert support to help keep your team connected and productive.

Different Devices and Connections

With employees working from different locations, you’ll end up with a team with a wide range of devices, internet services and speeds, and many more.

Acting as your technical liaison, a top service provider will ensure that your employees have access to continuous connectivity and dependable support. IT support companies also keep your team ready and able to pivot fast if challenges should arise.

Online Collaboration

Although your team may be spread out across multiple locations, it’s still crucial to the success of your business that they’re fully capable of interacting and working alongside each other.

To encourage cross-location collaboration, distributed teams will require devices and software that make it easy to share and collaborate — and fit the needs of your business.

Different Kinds of Risks a Managed Service Provider Can Mitigate

Protecting and securing remote workers’ devices and data often requires different technologies than your traditional office setup.

IT support companies will offer enhanced protection so you can feel confident that internal information is secure. From security solutions that defend against attacks at each location to backups that guard against data loss, there are several ways to protect the information your remote employees are working with.

Contact Metis Technology to learn more about what we do as a managed service provider, and how we can help keep your network secure.

2020 was a year of massive change. Companies across the globe took a new approach, including a big move to the cloud and using virtual workflows for the first time.

However, this work-from-anywhere trend came with a price: Additional cybersecurity risk.

Cybercriminals raked in more than one trillion dollars globally in 2020, targeting businesses big and small.

Of those cybersecurity hacks, 28% of businesses successfully targeted in 2020 were in the “small business” category.

The bottom line is, no matter the size of your business, your company is at risk of a cyber attack.

The problem: Where will the next attack strike?

Your business process is made up of many layers that are supported by your IT environment. And with advanced cybercriminal tactics, each layer can be targeted individually. This includes everything from your internet use, network, employees, applications, and devices.

Simply deploying antivirus software, using a firewall, and regularly updating your operating system is no longer enough when it comes to successfully protecting your business.

Layered security

Layered security is the next step in securing your mission-critical data and workflow. As an IT services company, we provide cost-effective IT security management, monitoring and maintenance that are proactive and comprehensive.

As Metis Technology deploys protective protocols across each layer of your IT environment, we ensure that every individual aspect of your IT use is considered, including the following categories:
● Internet layer: Securing your data traffic
● Network layer: Protecting against lateral attack
● People layer: Protecting identities and accounts plus employee training
● Application layer: Employing proper software management
● Device layer: Keeping individual machines from becoming a target

Why layered security?

With layered security, you can rest assured that your systems will receive regulatory compliance checks. You’ll also avoid risks posed by new technologies.

With the work landscape shifting and many companies moving to remote or hybrid environments, a layered security approach will enable teams to work safely, no matter their location.

Layered security also ensures that unplanned downtime is limited and that proprietary information and confidential client data are totally protected.

The business benefits of layered security

Using a layered security approach, you’ll be able to confidently and securely pursue organizational objectives. Additionally, zero-to-limited downtown will increase productivity.

Layered security will also ensure that your business is compliant with cybersecurity insurance mandates. You’ll receive faster responses to and resolutions of IT security incidents and granular IT security posture reporting to demonstrate compliance.

Keep your business running at full speed — let us handle the cybersecurity

Working with a managed IT service provider gives you peace of mind when tackling the next phase of your organizational development, landing new deals, and expanding into new markets.

Our team helps you move forward by taking on the time-consuming tasks of cybersecurity management.

Each of our cybersecurity management agreements is cost-effective and tailored to the level of protection you need today and to grow tomorrow.