Here Is Why Your Non-Profit Needs To Use The Right Technology To Protect Your IT Assets
Your nonprofit faces unique challenges every day from cyber thieves all over the world. As cyber-crimes advance, the attacks become more and more sophisticated and effective. It can be difficult for a nonprofit organization to fully understand these threats. With one data breach now costing around $1.3 million, it’s imperative that the principals at your nonprofit organization be fully informed about the threats looming today on the Internet.
When most organizations think about “Cybersecurity,” they often start imagining how much it’s going to cost them to install and maintain strong security measures. At the same time, there’s a constant worry about what would happen if any data were lost to hackers. In light of that thought, the investment in security for your network is well worth the cost—especially for non-profits. If your organization experiences a data breach, it could weaken your efforts to obtain donors and damage your overall reputation.
What Are Some of the Top Security Concerns?
Phishing Campaigns
Phishing attacks are designed to trick users into giving up their log-in information. All types of malware have been created that use deception to acquire names and passwords. An email can be designed to look exactly like an authentic correspondence from a vendor or even a major company like Microsoft. Busy employees click on links in these emails without really taking a second look. Suddenly, a malware or ransomware virus has been downloaded into your system and you’re in real trouble.
Strong Passwords
Sometimes it’s not that hard to get log-in information because people don’t create strong passwords and/or they use similar passwords and usernames across different sites. This means that if one site is infiltrated, another site with similar credentials is also at risk. To be safe, your employees must create strong passwords and they should not use the same passwords for multiple sites.
What Can You Do To Protect Your IT Assets?
Encryption
Most stolen credentials are obtained by hackers who breach vulnerable websites where passwords and user names are stored in plain text. Typically, these websites have weak encryption. They’re an easy target for hackers. There’s just no reason for weak encryption protocols these days. Integris can make sure you’re using the strongest possible methods of encryption. That means that even if documents, files and emails are intercepted by cyber thieves, they won’t be able to read them.
IT Security
Hackers and malware viruses are growing at an alarming rate, victimizing nonprofits like yours. You can’t afford a data breach. If your members’ confidential information is exposed, you may end up in expensive litigation, not to mention a damaged reputation. Your supporters will think twice about funding your projects. Take advantage of what managed services provide – the IT security you need.
Data Backup & Recovery
You must schedule and perform backups both onsite and in a secure cloud-based solution. That way, if your hardware is destroyed your data will be accessible over the Internet. A good backup and recovery plan includes periodic validating that your data has been accurately backed up and is quickly recoverable. Your managed IT service provider should be performing regular backups and testing them:
- Backup Monitoring & Testing: This requires remote monitoring and testing of all your backups. If one backup fails, your IT department should immediately resolve any issues and restart the process.
- Perform Regular Recovery Dry-Runs: Regularly perform a mock recovery using your backups to ensure they are easily recoverable.
- Access: You should know how to access your backups and recover your data in the event of a real emergency.
Insurance
A cybersecurity policy is part of doing business today. Contact your insurance company or broker to discuss what is right for you.
Peace of Mind
Once you’ve taken all the steps to ensure that your IT infrastructure is fully secure and protected, you can get back to focusing on the mission of your non-profit. That’s a number one reason to work with a highly trained IT team—so you won’t have to worry about your technology anymore.
Predictable Budgeting
Many nonprofit organizations experience a reduction in IT costs when they use Managed Services. Not only because they pay a fixed, monthly fee, but because they experience less downtime and IT interruptions. When your staff can’t work, that’s money out the window – money that you can’t afford to lose. But with Integris handling your technology needs, you won’t have any huge unexpected technology-related expenses.
How Can Integris Help?
Helping nonprofit organizations like yours succeed through technology is our passion at Integris. We know how much good work organizations like yours do in Baltimore. We can also show you how to take advantage of all the latest technology solutions. We will work with you to train your employees so they understand what phishing emails look like. There’s a lot more to keeping your IT assets secure than most people think. Contact Integris at (888) 330-8808 or email [email protected].
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