I would like to tell you a story today as real stories manage to pass the most important messages in the most effortless way.

One night I went home very late. Actually, it wasn’t that late in comparison with other days but anyway. So, when I went home I found emails, phone calls, messages from a lady I know on a personal level. She was very upset, and she told me that her husband’s firm got hacked and they had to pay ransomware in order for their data to be released. Yes, ransomware attacks do take place in Cyprus as well even though they are not announced for obvious reasons.

Throughout the conversation we uncovered that her most valuable assets were her intellectual property and her clients’ data. That is always the first step; to identify what the most valuable asset for your business is.

She asked me if I could take over and fix their “hackability problem” making sure they will not have to face a similar situation in the future.

I did explain to her that attacks are inevitable due to many factors but there are two components in a solid security approach which will allow her to control the outcome of an attack which is what really matters.

1. The ability to avoid triggering an attack that comes your way. You do have this ability even though you might not be aware of it yet and
2. The ability to minimize the impact of an attack by detaching elements which can cause a chain reaction of negative implications. In other words, how much damage an attack can cause you depends on this ability.

I will not analyze how you can do that in this article/podcast as my focus is on something else today, but I will do it in a future article/episode. However, I want you to keep those two in mind as in modern attacks those two are your winning factors for effective protection.

Want a little help?

So, let’s get back to the message of my story.

The decision she made that she doesn’t want to go through this stressful, expensive and uncertain of the outcome process of an attack again is the wisest choice she could make for her business protection and survival.

Have in mind that this attack happened just two days before May 25^th which is the GDPR compliance starting day. Two days after that and she would be legally responsible to inform both her clients and the data commissioner of her country regarding the attack. Other than the costs of the attack she would most probably be required to pay a fine as well.

So, you understand that it was the top priority to figure out how they managed to penetrate her business network in order to close that security hole.

To do that she should understand:

• What security measures did the attacker surpass?
• What user/insider vulnerability did they take advantage of?
• What data did the attacker have access to?
• How can the attacker use that data for a future attack or cause damage to her business?
• How can she stop the attack cycle?
• Are her valuable assets protected properly?
• What mechanisms does she have in place to avoid an attack?

and many more.

Going through this process she will be enabling her business protection. Of course, it is much better to make this decision before you have to pay the cyber-criminals because of an attack but even at this stage it is better than nothing.

As Tony Robbins says, “decisions shape our destiny” and decisions do shape our business destiny as well.

The choices you make for your business protection will affect the destiny of your business as security has become the most important pillar for business survival.

Remember, a true decision is not when you say “I have decided. I will start tomorrow”.

A true decision is when you act on it. When you identify what the first step is and take it immediately.

So, I am now turning it over to you with no further delay.

Ponder, what is the decision you choose to make at this moment for your business protection and what is the first step you will take towards that decision realization?

I cannot wait to hear your comments so leave them below and let’s continue the conversation.

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