(and Why You Need One Before an Audit) “We have antivirus. We’re fine.” It’s an understandable assumption. If your computers have antivirus software, your firewall is turned on, and your employees know not to click suspicious links, it can feel like your business is reasonably protected. But basic security tools
It’s 2 a.m. Your team is locked out of its systems. Files won’t open, email is down, and a message on your screen says your data has been encrypted. Do you know what to do next? An incident response plan is the difference between a controlled response and total chaos.
– Don’t Sign Anything Until You’ve Asked These Hiring a cybersecurity provider feels straightforward until you’re sitting across from a vendor who uses terms you’ve never heard, promises things that sound comprehensive, and hands you a proposal that doesn’t mention your contract requirements once. For small government contractors, choosing the
— And What That Means for Your Government Contract A lot of small government contractors are running their IT and their cybersecurity through two completely separate vendors. One company keeps the computers running. Another handles the security side. On paper, it sounds like a smart division of labor. In practice,
— And What Government Contractors Can’t Afford to Ignore Let’s be direct: hackers aren’t going after the big fish anymore. They’ve changed their strategy — and small businesses are now the preferred target. Here’s why. Large companies have gotten serious about security. They have dedicated IT teams, round-the-clock monitoring, and
You just discovered a breach. Systems are down. Data may be compromised. Your first instinct? Wipe the machines and get back online fast. Stop — because that instinct could end your federal contracts. When a cyber incident hits an SMB defense contractor, it doesn’t just create one problem. It creates
— And How to Fix It Every security leader I talk to says some version of the same thing: “We know we have risks, but where do we even start?” It’s not that you don’t have security tools. Most organizations have plenty. The problem is figuring out what actually matters.
Too often, organizations treat cybersecurity and compliance as separate problems. The security team focuses on stopping threats. The compliance team focuses on checking boxes. And nobody’s really talking to each other. The result? You end up with gaps. Your security might be solid, but you can’t prove it when auditors
We’ve seen it happen more times than we can count. An organization invests heavily in compliance hires consultants, implements controls, passes their audit. Everyone celebrates. Mission accomplished. Then six months later, they’re dealing with a breach. What happened? They confused compliance with security. They implemented controls because the framework required
