Small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) like yours typically only have a small IT team composed of just a few people. This is usually because of a small budget, or the thinking of some SMBs that they don’t need a lot of people to maintain their IT infrastructure. Some companies even hire part-time IT administrators who are not always available, leaving employees to set up their workplace computers and fix IT issues on their own.
This is where it gets problematic: not everyone in the office knows how to solve IT issues. When no one knows the solution to a tech problem and the IT team is unavailable, some employees might think of calling someone they know who might be able to solve the problem. This might be regular practice for some companies without proper IT personnel, but there’s an underlying cause for concern: granting remote access.
The threats of unsafe remote access
Let’s say that your business decided to contact a friend of one of your employees to help solve your malware problem. They are very knowledgeable in technical support, according to your employee, and they can quickly find the root of the issue and help your business get back up and running. They won’t even charge you a premium for their time.
But how sure are you that this third-party contractor — even if they were a friend of your employee — can be entrusted with fixing your IT systems? For one, you might not have an idea of how qualified they are to handle the problem. If you allow your employees to invite the first "IT tech" they find to handle your infrastructure and access all your confidential files, you are putting your company’s security at risk.
We can presume that the third-party tech support person might be able to identify the problem, but they might also stumble across confidential data such as business correspondence, contracts, company secrets, and personally identifiable information (PII) of customers and employees, among many others.
And because the remote technician has already gained access to your systems, they can easily infect your system with malware on purpose, or steal your information and leak them online.
Not only will you lose a lot of money because of downtime, but you may also lose customers because of reputational damage. You may also have to consider the consequences of breaking personal information protection laws and other industry regulations. In the end, what you thought to be a cost-effective solution to your IT problems can actually be the reason for your business’s downfall.
Why you need an MSP for remote support
The moral of the story here is pretty simple — never give remote access to entities that you don’t fully know and trust. You may think that your company has nothing of value to be coveted and you can just ask anyone knowledgeable in IT to fix a tech problem, but it’s much safer to take precautions. You may never know when an IT issue will hit your company, so it’s a good idea to be proactive about it instead of getting someone who may not be entirely trustworthy.
This is where managed IT services providers (MSPs) such as Binatech can help. MSPs provide SMBs with safe and secure business computer support services that help them reduce downtime brought about by various cyberthreats like malware and phishing.
Moreover, your current IT team might not always be well-rounded when it comes to solving IT issues, so partnering with a reliable MSP adds to their knowledge base and augments their capabilities.
Partnering with an MSP also ensures that your business is protected 24/7/365, even if your in-house IT team isn’t physically present in the office. You’ll be protected even if your business suffers a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack in the middle of the night. While other businesses would only be able to contain the attack as soon as the IT personnel comes in the following workday, your company can respond to the threat within minutes.
MSPs can proactively monitor your IT infrastructure for possible threats that may affect your business. In this situation, they can deploy the proper hardware and software to prevent DDoS attacks such as firewalls. They can also spread your servers across multiple data centers in different countries. This will make it harder for a cybercriminal to attack more than a portion of your servers; even if they get ahold of your data, not all of it will be affected.
And because MSPs are a team of professionals who are dedicated to keeping your business running smoothly and protected from all threats, you can be sure that they will keep your confidential data safe from prying eyes. IT providers also partner with technology industry leaders like Microsoft, HP, Dell, Samsung, and VMWare to deliver IT solutions that will work for many SMBs. The best part? MSPs don’t cost as much as in-house IT staff.
How to protect your business from unsafe remote tech support
Aside from hiring an MSP, you can also take some steps in protecting your business from the dangers of unsafe remote tech support. Let’s take a look at some of the best practices you can follow:
- Remind your employees that they must not make their computers remotely accessible to anyone not permitted by your company.
- Shut off remote access as soon as an issue is resolved. This way, you can ensure that the person who previously had remote access can no longer access your system and the files in it.
- Use web filters to block websites that may be advertising fake tech support services and malicious software downloads.
Binatech is the MSP that you can rely on for safe managed IT services. We will help your small business grow by proactively maintaining your IT infrastructure to prevent downtime. We provide Hamilton, Mississauga, and Buffalo businesses with a two-hour service demonstration to show how we handle daily IT needs. We can also run a full audit on your network to identify weak points and address them before they become alarming. Interested? Schedule a FREE network assessment today.
