Frequently Asked Questions information security threats security vulnerabil

watchrai is a complete managed information security service for small to medium businesses (SMB). Providing protection for all of your computing environments - users desktops/laptops, on-prem servers, or cloud environments.

More details will become available as we move out of stealth mode.

SMB cyberattacks are very common because small and medium-sized businesses have the same type of information, customer data, and digital infrastructure that draw attackers to bigger companies, but they don't have the enterprise level IT and InfoSec Departments to properly secure it.

The top 5 security threats that small/medium businesses face are:

• Ransomware
• Malware Attacks
• Phishing Attacks
• Weak Passwords
• Unpatched/Vulnerable systems (PCs, Laptops, and Servers)

If your business is subject to PCI, HIPPA, TSC, NIST, or GDPR Regulartions we can provide you with the insight and prescriptive guidance to keep you secure and compliant.

According to the "2023 Data Breach Investigations Report"(DBIR), the median loss to a ransomware attack has risen to $26,000 and can go as high as $2.25 million. 

Ransomware is a viable threat with a 97% increase in 2023 over events reported in 2022. Other statistics are more concerning:

• 46% of targets had to pay the ransom to get their data or services back.
• Only 61% of the encrypted data held for ransom was able to be restored.
• Astonishingly, only 4% of those who paid the ransome got ALL of their data back.
• Lightning does strike twice - 18% of ransomware victims were successfully targeted again within 6 months.

Remote work has become a highly popular and common practice. While this practice increases flexibility, improves productivity, and enhances work-life balance it does introduce security risks.

• Weaker Security Controls: Home networks do not have the same infrastructure you do in the office, and many times they are left at their defualt secureity settings.
• Expanded Attack Surface: When you were just securing your office network, your attack surface was much smaller. Now your attack surface has expanded to include all of your remote workers.
• Weak Passwords: Even if you have a robust password policy for your work environment most consumers still use extremely simle passwords for their home equipment.
• Public Places: Remote work isn't always contained to the home office. The coffee shop, hotel/resort, or book store wifi isn't nearly as secure as your office network.