Managed Security for the Small and Medium-Sized Business

Because of the expanding growth and complexity of the Internet and networking, our reliance on technology in every area of our lives, and the risks presented by a new breed of skillful hackers, serious security threats are an unfortunate certainty in both the home and office today. These threats are real and costly. In 2002, according to a joint Computer Security Institute (CSI)/FBI report, there was nearly a 50-percent increase in financial losses as a result of security breaches over the prior seven-year period. In 2003, Information Week reported that a successful virus strike costs individual businesses from US$100,000 to US$1 million a year in cleanup and related costs. In 2005, the CSI/FBI Computer Crime and Security Survey found that virus attacks, unauthorized access, and theft of proprietary information are the leading incidents generating the largest total losses. The losses associated with these three types of attacks generated over 80 percent of the total losses reported.

In today’s global marketplace, every business needs to be vigilant in proactively protecting its corporate assets. Gone are the days of simply scanning a floppy disk for viruses. Today a comprehensive, layered approach is required to secure the network and company resources from multiple types of threats. Small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are particularly vulnerable because they typically do not have expert resources on staff to ensure the network is secure, that regulatory compliance issues are being properly addressed, and that network monitoring and updates are effectively maintained 24 hours a day.