Risk Management articles

Venture Capital (VC) and Private Equity (PE) firms take on a lot of risk when investing in a new startup or operating business. Although it is vital to perform all necessary due diligence on any new investment, VC/PE firms shouldn’t ignore their own risk. Rather, they need to take a hard look at their own cybersecurity posture. Hackers know that these companies may lead to significant payouts. After all, global venture investment in 2021 obliterated all previous records, hitting a […]

Yes, small to mid-sized enterprises (SMEs) continue to prove a fruitful target for cybercriminals.  The Allianz Risk Barometer reported that cyber risks are the largest concern for companies globally in 2022. And the number of cyberattack attempts per week reached an all-time high in Q4 of 2021.  Many hacking attempts — such as spam containing malicious links — are general in scope, not discriminating against the company’s size or sector. But the hit rate for small and medium businesses is […]

When it comes to cybersecurity risk – it’s not just devices and networks that are susceptible to attacks. Employees are a prime target for threat actors. Research suggests that employees of small businesses will be hit with a 350% higher level of social engineering attacks than those who work in large businesses.  Companies with a minimal security posture in place are the most likely to be compromised. Because they may not have robust cybersecurity measures in place, they’re essentially leaving […]

If there’s one thing we can definitely say about the post-2020 era is that we’re all more open to “going digital.” This comes with its own advantages and disadvantages. We are more open to remote work, and have access to more opportunities than ever, but we’re also more likely to become victims of cybercrime too. Cyber insurance stats and cybersecurity research show that now, more than ever, businesses of all sizes are more inclined to pay more attention to online […]

Top 3 Reasons Cyber Insurance Policies Make Sense for SMEs Threat actors don’t discriminate and often leverage advanced attacks that are deployed continuously, ready to hit companies that may not have the resources, technology, or awareness to properly defend themselves. This often results in SMEs taking the brunt of these attacks. As a result, almost half of all small businesses admit to having been victims of cyberattacks in the last twelve months. Yet, despite this increase in risk, small businesses […]

The importance of a curated stack, as told by a novice cyclist Around the start of Summer 2020 I began thinking: I really need to get outside more. This probably sounds familiar to anyone who was trying to make the best of a bad situation in 2020. I was already acclimated to a work-from-home situation, but my home office was feeling stuffy and I was tossing around the idea of getting a used bike. There was a large residential area […]

As public clouds supersede the datacenter for our customers, it’s not enough to represent just one facet of a general trend toward the dissolution of traditional perimeters. This trend requires a novel and comprehensive suite of controls around identity, configuration management, and endpoints, which represent the new attack surface. Ermetic provides crucial analysis of these modern infrastructure fixtures which is essential to delivering robust managed security to our customers. To launch our partnership with Ermetic, we talk to Arick Goomanovsky, […]

Small businesses suffer 43% of all cyberattacks, according to data from Accenture, but only 14% of small businesses are ready to defend themselves. Considering that cybersecurity incidents cost businesses an average of $200,000 and that 60% of small businesses will go out of business within six months of an attack, cybersecurity should be a top-of-mind concern for small to mid-sized enterprises (SMEs). Email is an enormous attack vector for SMEs, and it is often the doorway to much more sophisticated […]

As the cyber threat landscape evolves, cybercrime is becoming more professional, leading to more frequent and sophisticated attacks. All businesses are experiencing increased cyber risk – no one is excluded.  Mergers and acquisitions can cause an even higher period of risk as cybercriminals take advantage of the confusion, disarray, and shift in processes that can reduce an organization’s ability to detect and respond to potential attacks. Since small businesses make up a significant portion of acquisitions, they are a common […]

Traditionally, cybersecurity fell under the jurisdiction of IT, tech, or product teams and was overseen by the CISO. While these teams are still the primary players in cybersecurity decisions, the risk landscape is expanding, causing many companies to shift their thinking when it comes to cyber risk and cybersecurity. Because potential cyberattacks pose a larger risk to a business, the entire leadership team and the board (if it exists) should become key stakeholders over a business’ security efforts. The person […]

Remember the good old days when ransomware wasn’t so rampant across industries and all types of companies, large and small? Us too. Unfortunately, the way in which hackers are using ransomware has changed significantly in the last several years, leaving every company vulnerable. So, many companies have turned to cyber insurance to protect their bottom line in the case of an attack.  A recent SonicWall 2022 Cyber Threat Report claimed that governments around the world saw a 1,885% increase in […]

Any investment comes with an element of risk, and when you’re conducting due diligence on a potential startup or are working to mature a company in your portfolio, cybersecurity risk should be assessed and considered as early as possible. That’s because it can quickly spiral out of control and result in financial, reputational, continuity, legal, and compliance risk to the company and the investors In the past, cybersecurity might seem like something that could have been kicked down the line, […]

Many small and mid-sized enterprises (SMEs) choose not to invest in cybersecurity early on, and it’s understandable why, given its impact to the bottom line. Cybersecurity tools, software and services can be expensive, and it’s time consuming to determine which tools you need. You need to weed through more than 3,500 vendors offering solutions and the process of finding the right vendors and onboarding them can take years. Fast-moving startups and SMEs neither have the expertise, time or the money.  […]

7 costs of a data breach and how to minimize them It’s no secret that data breaches are occurring more frequently and they’re expensive. Just turn on the news and you’re sure to hear a story about the millions a major company lost thanks to a leak. Unfortunately, in too many cases, businesses experience a costly breach that could have been prevented. Something as simple as a misconfigured or insecure firewall or lack of two-factor authentication can cost a company […]