Uncategorised | October 26, 2022
October Update
Cybercrime is Expensive
In today’s increasingly digital landscape, where cyber threats are constantly evolving, keeping your business secure and minimising cyber risk, (especially events that involve fraud and data breaches) is crucial, as the consequences of lost data, breaches of privacy and potential fraud – is expensive.
Cybercrime Losses
According to the ABS, the majority (92.6%) of reported cybercrime loss is from small businesses with a turn over less than $2 million. Businesses with under 100 employees are also the most targeted by cyber criminals. Small businesses, with less than 20 staff have an average loss of $45,965 and medium businesses (20-100 staff) suffer the highest average cost of $97,203. 22% of all businesses report having experienced a cyber security incident.
SME Targeted
Though there has been a 16% drop in notifiable data breaches in 2023 from 2022, the majority of the affected business were SME, with less than 100 employees.
Guard your credentials
Additionally, the most common attacks suffered are due to stolen or compromised credentials.
These stats show that criminals are actively targeting small to medium businesses, typically using a scatter gun approach (it’s a numbers game) to trick and or steal user credentials.
Fortunately, there are existing cyber security frameworks and solutions from Microsoft that make it easier and more affordable for SME to combat these and other common attacks.
That is why we recommend adopting the Australian Made Essential Eight Cyber Security Framework and achieve Maturity Level 1 by leveraging Microsoft 365 Premium’s security solutions.
This is a tried and tested pathway to truly securing your users, devices and data without introducing friction and high costs.
What is essential Eight I hear you ask? Great question.
The Essential Eight: The Gold Security Standard in Australia
What is the Essential Eight?
he Essential Eight is a set of eight essential cyber security strategies developed by the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC).
By adopting these strategies, your business will be able to clearly prioritize the most effective and cost-efficient strategies to mitigate cyber risks – aka focus on the best bang for buck.
Lets take a peek into what the Essential Eight means for your business:
- Patch applications: Regularly update software to fix vulnerabilities that hackers might exploit
- Application control: Only allow authorized applications to run on your devices, preventing malicious software from taking hold..
- Configure Microsoft Office macro settings: Disable macros in emails and documents to avoid potential malware attacks.
- User application hardening: Configure system settings to limit user privileges and minimize the risk of unauthorized access.
- Restrict administrative privileges: Grant administrative rights only to users who absolutely need them, reducing the impact of potential breaches.
- Patch operating systems: Update your operating systems regularly to address security vulnerabilities.
- Multi-factor authentication (MFA): Add an extra layer of security by requiring a second verification step beyond just a password.
- Regular backups: Regularly back up your data to ensure you have a copy in case of cyberattacks or accidental data loss.
Preventing Cybercrime with Microsoft 365 Business Premium & Essential 8
The good news is that you can implement Essential Eight by leveraging Microsoft 365 Premium, which is the go-to Gold Standard for securing your business.
This solution is a cost-effective, long-term and robust cyber security solution that significantly reduces the risk of falling victim to cyber attacks.
Helping your business to:
- Reduce the likelihood of suffering a data breach
- Reduce the likelihood of being targeted by criminals
- Reduce Cyber Insurance Costs
- Reduce Directors risk
- Improve compliance and meets privacy obligations
- Reduce indirect costs caused by cyber attacks:
- Business Interruption
- Information loss
- Revenue loss
- Productivity loss
This is great news for 2Gen Customers that already use the Microsoft 365 products as the step up to Microsoft Premium is the most cost-effective way to secure your business and implement the ssential 8 framework.
Microsoft 365 Copilot: Your Competitive Advantage - but get your security sorted first.
Microsoft recently released Microsoft 365 Copilot, an AI-powered assistant within Microsoft 365, which is an exciting, game changing technology that improves employee productivity and effectiveness.
We see AI as a real opportunity for your business to address skills shortages, reduce staff attrition and importantly, provide you with a competitive advantage.
However, Microsoft recommend that you have your security sorted, building out a strong security posture using Microsoft 365 Business Premium and the Essential Eight framework before you implement AI.
Copilot is something we are all watching and waiting for as it will be a game changer for hybrid workforces and work force productivity!
Join us!
For a bit of a deeper dive into how Microsoft 365 Business Premium, Essential 8 and the exciting prospect of how Microsoft 365 Copilot will work in your business and to see some real-life examples.
Join us on March 20th 2024 at 11.30am AEST for our next lunch and learn live event where we invite Tim O’Neill from Leader Systems and 2Gen’s own Richard Fitzgerald to discuss how Microsoft 365 Business Premium, Essential Eight and Microsoft 365 Copilot will be your new gold standard for cyber security and productivity!