This piece is presented by SDN Communications.

On June 28, 2017, a headline read:

Companies struggle to recover after Petya cyber attack 

About two weeks later, July 12, 2017, it was:

Companies That Suffer a Data Breach See 42% Slide in Stock Price 

And on the same day, different page:

Research: It Only Takes 9 Minutes Before Stolen Information Is Purchased & Used

They’re real headlines.

So are cyberthreats such as NotPetya, WannaCry, LockPoS and FlokiBot, just to name a few.

The bad guys and their cyberweapons are more sophisticated than ever. They’re attacking businesses in an unrelenting style at multiple levels with increasingly advanced techniques.

To adequately protect themselves, businesses and organizations need to take a layered approach to cybersecurity. That includes having good policies in place, maintaining good security equipment at every juncture and taking extra precautions with their most vulnerable asset: their employees.

“You can’t just have one layer of protection anymore,” said Vernon Brown, vice president of marketing and community relations for SDN Communications. “You can’t do it with your home. You can’t do it with your business network, either.”

As Brown notes, people use fences, locks on doors, strategically placed lighting, remotely controlled cameras, alarm systems and other methods to protect their homes.

“Why would we treat our businesses any differently? You have to have multiple layers of protection to keep your networks safe,” he said.

The need for layered security has taken on more urgency because businesses are creating, moving and storing electronic assets of greater value than ever before. Protecting those assets is a huge responsibility that can no longer simply be the duty of a company’s IT staff or hired service.

Effective cybersecurity requires that everyone in an organization understands basic risks and how to reduce them. Employees at every level should be trained, retrained regularly and held accountable for their actions.

Layered cybersecurity has become such an important component to the success of small and midsize businesses that Sioux Falls-based SDN addresses the subject in its booklet Cybersecurity: A Layered Approach.

Receive a free electronic version of the booklet for your business. Just visit this page and fill out the form.