Something’s going on that’s moving faster than anyone can keep up with! 

Cyber Security.

Here’s the highlights of what we learned about it at our last meeting - in case you missed it OR need a reminder to take some action. 

First of all…thank you to Dawn Lanouette & Stacey Axtell from Hinman, Howard & Kattell.

These incredible experts generously shared their time & deep knowledge about how to protect our businesses. 

Honestly, we cannot cover all that we learned in this email...But there are a few shifts you can make right now!

FYI: Ineffective protections can cost you in a big way, even if you’re a small-to-medium businesses. The average loss is ~ $2500. The highest ransom paid in a data breach? $950K - and that didn’t even include data recovery!

So! A couple things you can do right now for yourself:

• Take your birthday of Facebook today. (Yes, seriously!) At the very least, take off your birth YEAR. And PRO TIP - stop posting your vacations while you’re on vacation!!

• Use reasonable measures to protect you and your clients: Password protect EVERYTHING - phone - desktop - files. 

• Level up passwords! Stop using your kids’ names & birthdays (Are you guilty of that?!) and change ‘em regularly - 

• Have a plan in place that your team is trained in: a standard of conduct, clear policies, and a roadmap will help everyone know what to do in a breach. Prevent yourself from having to deal with everything all at once!

Sound overwhelming? BREATHE! And seriously, don’t try to do this yourself. There’s PEOPLE to help you!

Thank you again to Stacey & Dawn! Use their brilliance to help you plan & save yourself from the headache of a Cyber Attack!

~Your WBOC Board 

PS: See you at our next meeting, when we’re celebrating 100 years of women having the right to vote! Register here - and bring a young woman who you’d love to celebrate with!