Homeland Security Releases New Cybersecurity Tool

Homeland Security Releases New Cybersecurity Tool

As a small business owner, there is a lot you should know about IT security and protecting yourself from cyber attacks. Fortunately, there is a new server that can help you test your own security systems without much difficulty. Homeland Security offers you a cyber security evaluation tool, so you can take a hard look at your IT servers to make sure you are not particularly vulnerable to a cyber attack. Once you identify your gaps and weaknesses, using this tool you can easily protect your IT servers, ensuring you will not be victimized.

How can a Cyber Security Evaluation Tool Help your Small Business?

Cyber attacks can be detrimental to your business, costing you lost revenue while you work to secure your networks again. Anything you can do to prevent an attack is going to help your business continue to run smoothly. An evaluation tool like this is going to help you figure out if you have any gaps in your IT networks that are vulnerable to cyber attackers trying to hack into your systems.

Once you identify these gaps, you can firm up your protection efforts and strengthen your IT security. Think of this evaluation tool as the first step in your line of defense against cyber attacks.

Not protecting your IT Servers is like the business version of leaving yourself entirely exposed and vulnerable. We don’t do that in our personal lives, you shouldn’t leave your business unprotected either.  Preventing attacks is easier than cleaning up and recovering after an attack. Remember that it’s easier to run this tool a couple times a year and will cost less time and money than recovering after an attack if you are victimized.

How will the Tool Work?

The tool is going to serve as a systematic and repeatable process that you can use on your security systems. The best way to use it is to use it regularly. Dont’ run it one time and think everything is fine. As cyber security attackers get smarter and try new methods, you will want to continue to run the tool and protect against new attacks and threats to your IT systems.

The primary focus of this tool from Homeland Security is on information networks. So, if you use this tool regularly, you can be confident your information network will be protected.

The tool offers different levels of evaluation. It’s going to start you out by asking basic questions and increasing over time. The intent is to firm up the most basic of your IT protection. If you don’t have a good foundation, nothing else matters.

The tool will then proceed to intermediate and more advanced functions after you have implemented basic protection.

There are a few ways the tool works for you:

• A team of IT experts and engineers will analyze the results of your vulnerabilities as identified within the tool.
• Based on your answers to their questions, a Security Assurance Level (SAL) is going to  be assigned. This SAL will determine how much security your organization requires.
• The team will ultimately come up with a dashboard that is unique to your small business and will highlight any of your weaknesses, while also providing a plan to help you fix them.

How do you get this Tool?

With an open source license available through MIT, and downloadable through GITHUB, you can easily install this evaluation tool on any device that uses Windows. Homeland Security makes it pretty easy to use this tool. It’s not tucked away behind paywalls or anywhere you can’t easily access it.

The government has recognized there is a need to help smaller businesses with IT issues like cyber attacks, which is why they worked with Homeland Security to create this tool. Whether you are selling shoes in a small retail shop or running an elaborate IT company in the defense industry, all small businesses need to protect themselves from IT cyber attacks or your entire business could be in jeopardy.

Since this tool is sponsored by the government and by Homeland Security, you can use this tool with confidence knowing it has been tested diligently before being rolled out to the public and small businesses. It’s safe to put your trust in this tool provided by Homeland Security.

What happens if you don’t protect your Company?

To say you could lose your entire business because of a cyber attack is not dramatic. That could happen. Hackers have gotten creative. They can steal everything from passwords to bank account information. Depending on how deep the attack goes, this could shut down your business indefinitely and also cause you to lose the trust of your customers, especially if their bank account was in your computer systems when it got attacked.

All it takes is one cyber attack to affect your company’s reputation. Even if you recover all the assets and don’t lose out financially immediately, what will the trickle effect be on your customers in the future?

You want to set the tone as a company that takes action, is proactive about security, and takes your information security seriously. Using this Cyber Security Evaluation Tool can help you accomplish this.

What’s next?

Reach out and contact us today. Our team is standing by and can help you with anything IT related. As a small business owner, spend your time and resources focusing on what makes your business great! Let our team come in and help you with anything IT related, so you can get back to focusing on your business.

We can help get you access to this Cyber Security Evaluation Tool and walk you through every step of protecting your IT infrastructure, so your business will be protected from hackers. If you have already been hacked, we can help recover your assets and get back on track. A dedicated IT team will be able to help you every step of the way from preventing and protecting your business from cyber attacks to helping you recover in the event that you are victimized.