"You're Too Expensive." A Year Later, They Called Us About Ransomware.

From the IT Trenches | Complete Computing Solutions

A few years back, we were talking with a local company about taking care of their IT and cybersecurity.

We went through what we could do for them, what protections we recommended, and why we thought those protections were important.

Their response?

"You're too expensive. We'll just handle it in-house."

Fair enough.

Look, I get it. Nobody likes spending money on something they can't see. And cybersecurity is one of those things that, when it's doing its job, you don't really notice it.

But we tried to explain the risk.

Running a business without proper cybersecurity protection is a lot like playing Russian roulette with your company. You might get away with it for a while. Maybe even a long while.

But every day you're taking a chance.

They weren't interested.

So we wished them well and went on about our business.

Almost One Year to the Month

The phone rang.

It was that same company.

"Hey, we've got ransomware."

Not exactly the call you want to get.

Then they explained that it wasn't just one computer, or even one office.

All three of their offices had been hit.

The ransomware had apparently spread across the VPN connections linking their locations, including a sister office in Juno, Alaska.

Three offices.

One problem.

A really big problem.

And then came the question.

"Can you help us?"

This Is the Part of My Job I Hate.

Let me tell you something.

There's absolutely no satisfaction in getting a phone call like that.

I wasn't sitting there thinking, "Well, I told you so."

I was thinking about the people in those offices who probably couldn't work. The business owner trying to figure out what was going to happen next. The employees wondering whether their files and information were gone.

Because I've seen what these situations can do to a business.

And I had to give them an answer nobody wants to hear.

We couldn't just come in, flip a switch, and put everything back the way it was.

Once ransomware has encrypted your systems, there isn't some magic button an IT company can push to undo it.

Depending on the attack, there may be ways to recover. Clean backups, incident response, and rebuilding systems can sometimes get a business back on its feet.

But those options depend on what was in place before the attack happened.

And that's the part people miss.

The best opportunity we had to help that company was a year earlier, when we were sitting across the table from them.

Two Types of Motorcycle Riders

Years ago, when I used to ride motorcycles, somebody told me something I've never forgotten.

"There are two types of people who ride motorcycles. Those who have crashed, and those who are going to."

Now, I don't know that everybody who rides a motorcycle is destined to crash, but I understood what he meant.

Don't ride around thinking it can't happen to you.

I think about that saying a lot when it comes to cybersecurity.

There are businesses that have already dealt with a cyberattack.

And there are businesses that haven't.

The second group shouldn't assume they're immune.

Because the people behind these attacks don't particularly care whether you've got three employees or three hundred. They're looking for an opportunity.

And when they find one, things can go downhill in a hurry.

"We'll Handle It In-House."

Let me be clear about something.

There's nothing wrong with having an internal IT person or even an entire internal IT department.

There are some very talented people doing IT in-house.

But having somebody who can fix a printer, set up a computer, or troubleshoot your network isn't necessarily the same as having a cybersecurity program.

Who's monitoring suspicious activity?

Who's checking that your backups can actually be restored?

Who's watching for compromised accounts?

And if something gets into one office, what keeps it from spreading into the other two?

Those are the questions that matter.

You don't want to start asking them after every computer in the company is showing a ransom note.

The Most Expensive IT Bill Might Be the One You Never Paid.

I understand why business owners hesitate to spend money on cybersecurity.

It's an expense. And when everything's working, it's easy to think you're paying for something you don't need.

But you're not just paying for software.

You're paying for preparation, monitoring, expertise, and a better chance of keeping your business running when something goes wrong.

Could that company have still experienced an attack if they'd hired us?

Of course.

Nobody can promise otherwise.

But they would have been in a much better position to prevent it, detect it, contain it, and recover from it.

And that's a whole lot better than trying to figure everything out after three offices have been hit.

I wish that phone call had never happened.

And I'd much rather have a business owner tell me we're too expensive today than have to tell them tomorrow that we can't undo the damage that's already been done.

Because cybersecurity always looks expensive until you find out what it costs to go without it.

Until next time, stay safe out there.

— Mike
Complete Computing Solutions

If you're wondering whether your business is properly protected, CCS can help you figure that out. We'd rather have that conversation before you need us in an emergency.