We’re all aware of cyber security. The Software that guards every device within your business network. From laptops, desktops, phones and servers.
But what is Endpoint Protection?
Well, unlike your traditional antivirus, it analyses behaviour, spots suspicious activity, and contains threats before they can spread and take over your business.
When a new client comes to us, we find that their security tends to have a similar picture.
Free antivirus on some machines, but most notably, no cyber awareness training, so staff have never been taught what a phishing email is, what it looks like, and how it can be prevented.
That’s not a criticism. Most small and medium businesses grow their IT setup one device at a time, and security was never a priority
Unfortunately, threats are always present, and old defences don’t cut it anymore.
A weak set-up isn’t a small risk, it’s a potential disaster.
KNP Logistics was unfortunately a victim of this mindset.
KNP was a Northamptonshire haulage firm trading under the Knights of Old name. It had been going for 158 years.
In 2023, the Akira ransomware group got in through a single employee’s password, reportedly one weak enough to simply guess. There was no multi-factor authentication to stop them.
From that initial attack, the attackers moved through the entire network, encrypted their systems and demanded £5 million, which the business could not afford to pay. Even with cyber insurance.
The company went bankrupt, 700 people lost their jobs, and a business that lasted over 150 years went down under.
All it takes is a password. And with nobody monitoring their systems, the intruders singlehandedly destroyed a legacy business.
The government’s Cyber Security Breaches Survey estimates around 19,000 UK businesses are hit by ransomware each year, and the vast majority start exactly like this.
What an old anti-virus does is work from a list.
It knows what yesterday’s viruses look like and blocks any that register any old patterns.
The ugly truth is that most viruses nowadays have evolved, and brand-new threats are set upon the horizon.
Modern Endpoint security works differently.
It analyses, identifies suspicious behaviour, and enables rapid containment protocols to ensure threats can’t attack your operations.
It doesn’t need to have seen the exact threat before. It watches what’s happening on the device, and the moment something behaves like an attack, it springs into action.
So if your files are being encrypted in bulk or an account is reaching for data it has no business touching, it flags it and shuts it down.
Would you rather have a reactive security system, or a model that’s proactive?
Here’s our honest thoughts.
Placing software is the easy part, but what keeps you truly protected is patching software before attackers exploit the holes, monitoring the alerts, but most importantly, training your staff so they stop the dodgy email before it ever becomes an incident
Prevention is the real goal. We implore you to take on Endpoint Protection, but your best defence is understanding how your business can be attacked, and what you can do to protect.
So, we suggest taking on cyber awareness training because an attack that’s stopped — because a member of staff spotted a phishing email, or because a device was patched in time — is a crisis you never have to recover from.
The best way to determine if you’re covered or not is to ask yourself a few questions.
Do you know exactly which devices connect to your network, including staff phones and home laptops? Is multi-factor authentication switched on across your accounts?
Would you notice if a device started behaving strangely at 2am?
If you’re hesitating on any of those, that’s the gap. It’s rarely a lack of care that catches businesses out. It’s simply that nobody’s job was to watch the door.
If any of this sounds like your business, the good news is that getting protected is more straightforward than you’d think
We take a look at your systems in a consultation, assess the size of your business and your security gaps, and then recommend what your company will need to stay safe online.
Our mission is to ensure that a weak password isn’t the reason you go bankrupt.
But it’s important to remember that the businesses that survive aren’t the ones that react, but the ones that are proactive in preventing potential cyber crises.
Ready to find out where you stand? Get in touch with HDUK for a consultation, and we’ll take it from there.
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