Ransomware Removal Services for Your Accounting Firm
Ransomware continues to threaten businesses around Canada and the world. While ransomware removal helps recovery, expert IT support will keep your firm secure.
Keeping up with technological changes is an ongoing necessity for businesses everywhere. Nowhere is this more evident than in the world of accounting. Firms across Canada recognize the growing need for advanced technology, increased IT support, and cybersecurity measures that further protect their clients’ data. As these changes take place, however, firms are also challenged with how to navigate growing threats such as ransomware, while allocating increasing IT budgets to other aspects of their technology. Managing cybersecurity and improving IT infrastructure can go hand-in-hand. Here’s how Vancouver accounting firms focus on key security measures—such as ransomware removal—while keeping up with changes in technology.
The Increased Threat of Ransomware
According to Alan Salmon and K2E Canada, in their 2019 Accounting and Bookkeeping Operations and Technology Survey, Canadian accounting firms, in an effort to improve IT infrastructure and keep up with changes, are increasing IT spending exponentially each year. Nearly half of small accounting firms in Canada are predicted to exceed an annual IT budget of $5,000 in the coming year. While firms are aware of the need for advancement in IT practices, the understanding of where those advancements are needed is still limited.
The 2019 Official Annual Cybercrime Report anticipates that a business falls for a ransomware attack every 14 seconds. For industries such as accounting, that means that critical client data has a high risk of being infiltrated and blocked by ransomware if it is not managed correctly. Many sole-practitioners—a solid 45%—still deal with technology issues themselves, leaning on their own understanding of how to manage the challenges of security, growth, and infrastructure. But as cyberattacks increase, firms should lean on the shoulders of professional IT support to help navigate these threats.
How Ransomware Works
Ransomware is sophisticated malicious software that uses social engineering to entice a user to open an email, click a link, or even scroll an ad that then allows the software access to the device. Once given access, the ransomware works to block the user’s access to key data—or even the network—until they pay a ransom.
While the majority of ransomware attacks take place because of user error, no business is immune from the growing threat. Even Canadian municipalities have been the target of ransomware attacks, leading to expensive recovery processes. But what is the solution once ransomware has been detected? For firms that have a thorough procedure for regular backups of data, the recovery can often be less painful than for firms that don’t have a current record of information. Regardless of your firm’s active security measures, ransomware removal is the only way to restore your system after an attack.
Investing in Ransomware Removal and IT Support
For accounting firms that have been hit by ransomware attacks, authorities recommend not paying any ransom. Instead, contact your local IT support team to discuss the measures needed for ransomware removal. Part of the removal process is restoring your computer, device, or network with its most recent backup. If backups are dated or incomplete, this part of ransomware removal can be devastating for many accounting firms. According to the 2019 survey by Alan Salmon and K2E Canada, three-quarters of accountants haven’t updated their tax software in the past 5 years. Along with outdated software, there is reason to believe that backups and other security measures are also outdated. While ransomware removal will help get rid of ransomware from your firm’s network, it will not recover the data that was lost. Only preventative security measures will do that. Instead, as your firm considers where to place it’s increased IT budget spend this year, allocating resources to cybersecurity and managed IT support will help secure your firm in the face of a ransomware attack.
Managed IT Support for Vancouver Accounting Firms
According to CPO Magazine, “by the time you raise your wrist to look at the time and lower it back, somewhere in the world a ransomware attack has already taken place.” To ensure your accounting firm isn’t next on the list of ransomware attacks, it may be time to partner with your local managed IT and cybersecurity experts. Serving Vancouver and the surrounding area since 1989, the team at Compunet Infotech have the knowledge and experience to go beyond ransomware removal and help your firm stay up to date, secure, and advancing at the speed of technology. Contact us today for more information about our managed IT services.
