MSP relies on CYBONET to Protect against Ransomware

Blough Tech on the Front Lines

As smaller businesses struggle to keep up with the emerging threats inundating networks around the world, it is becoming increasingly clear how ill prepared many organizations continue to be.

As the owner of an IT services company focused on SMB customers, Paul Blough must balance the expectations of his clients to be protected against the latest threats in the headlines, while also remaining conscious of the specific needs of smaller organizations. Paul comments: “In many ways, smaller businesses today are an even more appealing target to cyber criminals than large enterprise networks. There are more of them and there is often less awareness of the threat, little to no technical staff with a security background and certainly less budget to invest in security technologies.”

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Smaller organizations are often at pains to justify security oriented IT spending, as technology managers struggle to quantify the ROI and clearly communicate the threat landscape to business owners. A recent study conducted by the Ponemon Institute surveyed 618 IT professionals from small and medium-sized enterprises. It found that with the increase in malware attacks, only 13% of the respondents said they felt prepared to prevent a malware attack, and a staggering 51% of the respondents claimed to have already experienced a ransomware attack - though many of these organizations had not reported it for fear of damaging their reputation.

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Blough Tech - Email Security as a Cornerstone

Blough Tech is a Managed Services Provider, providing computer and network support services to over 200 small and mid-sized companies in Southern Georgia and Northern Florida. With close to two decades servicing SMBs, CEO Paul Blough has seen the evolving threats to smaller business networks first hand: “The sad truth is that most of these smaller organizations do not have the financial depth to withstand a serious malware initiated attack. That’s why our approach to security is multi-faceted.” To Blough Tech, the first step in preventing malicious malware attacks is education; from the business owner to the summer intern. “Education and awareness of the threat of malware to anyone with access to the company network, and specifically those employees with company email addresses, is central to reducing the overall vulnerability of an organization” says Paul.

In parallel to education, Blough Tech has also deployed the CYBONET PineApp Mail Secure solution as a front-line defense against the malware attacks that are daily bombarding their customers’ email inboxes. PineApp Mail Secure guards against zero-hour virus infections, with several security engines that work together to block new strains of viruses, malware and ransomware. “With email being so vital to our customers’ business operations, we see CYBONET as an important part of our security offering” adds Paul Blough. “Since we deployed CYBONET’s PineApp Mail Secure solution close to a decade ago, we have had zero instances of ransomware attacks in any of our clients’ networks.”

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While media attention on the latest big ransomware attacks helps to temporarily focus business owners, broader preparation and recognition of the daily threats that are facing their organizations remain a critical priority. It is crucial that small and midsize business owners stay focused, and realistic, about the actual threats that they are facing.

To learn more about CYBONET’s PineApp Mail Secure, we invite you to click here, or contact info@cybonet.com for more information.