Technology never stops moving, and it can feel nearly impossible to keep up. While you shouldn’t feel pressure to always have the latest, greatest devices at your disposal, you should be leery of letting your equipment become obsolete. If you are a small to medium-sized business, you have a target on your back for cybercrime and you’ll find that your old computers might be causing more than the occasional speed issue. While we all wish our computer systems could age like fine wine, that is simply not the case. Older systems are much less secure and pose a real threat to your organization. In this post, we’ll provide 3 examples of how outdated devices could be putting you at risk, and we will show you what you can do to stay ahead of the game.
Why are old computers putting you at risk?
Old machines may not be capable of running the latest security software, operating systems, and/or line of business applications. The inability to access the latest updates of these systems and applications will leave you vulnerable to malware and other malicious activity.
1. Unpatched security issues
Software developers are always working to uncover any vulnerabilities in the current version of an application or operating system. That is why software companies are constantly releasing new versions with a seemingly excessive amounts of numbers (“v. 11.7.2.32.2”). At the same time, cybercriminals are constantly working to discover those same vulnerabilities and exploit them.
Unpatched systems continue to be one of the leading causes of unwelcome intrusions on organizations in the Texas panhandle and across the country. This is why patch management is a critical piece of the puzzle that your Managed IT provider should be uncompromising about.
2. Old software leaves data vulnerable
Most people have loads of documents and PII (Personally Identifiable Information) on their computers. This is like a gold mine to cybercriminals, allowing them to act under your name while conducting malicious activity, or even sell your information at a premium.
In another scenario, bad actors might encrypt your data and charge a ransom. In these ransomware attacks, there is no guarantee that paying the ransom will get your data back.
Keeping your software up-to-date helps minimize the likelihood of these unfortunate situations.
3. Cyber attacks are EXPENSIVE
Cybercrime is expected to cause $6 Trillion in damages in 2021 and climb to 10.5 Trillion by 2025. But when you consider what it means to have your data locked, the cost extends well beyond the ransom. According to this 2020 Ransomware Report, the costs of downtime are nearly 50x greater than the ransom requested.
If your organization is subject to HIPAA compliance, there are also fines associated with not following patch management requirements. According to StorageCraft, nonprofit organization Anchorage Community Mental Health Services was recently hit with a fine of $150,000 by the Office for Civil Rights, for the nonprofit’s failure to apply software patches, resulting in a security breach.
Sure.. New equipment costs money. But when you factor in the risks associated with not upgrading, the cost quickly becomes easy to justify.
To keep your hardware and software evergreen, your IT provider must be aligned with your long-term goals, and capable of researching solutions, their impact on your business, and the time needed to complete the implementation.
If you are looking to get more out of your IT investment, click here get in touch with us.