As business owners, we are in a no-man’s land of challenge between vendors that say they can save us and cyber-criminal organizations that say they will either extort our money or close our business. The challenge becomes one of understanding the risks while not burdening our organizations with too many controls. There is a common factor in this battle that both foes and sellers agree and focus on.
That common factor is people. The staff that perform duties and enable our businesses to be successful. They are also potential targets, resources, and more. So how do we invest wisely in security? What can be done to maintain a suitable balance between risks and costs? The best answer, which is the one that consistently works, is to accept that no one solution will end this battle.
Case-in-point. For many years cybercrime was happening to only big companies and small businesses were under the cybercrime radar. That started changing, in approximately 2010. These days, there is no business too small to not be a target for cybercriminal organizations. What enabled the cybercriminals to expand their market? Technology. The emergence of cryptocurrencies provided criminals with a payment collection system that worked consistently.
The first company to offer protection specifically against ransomware was ZoneAlarm. They introduced their ZoneAlarm Anti-Ransomware tool, which was one of the earliest dedicated solutions to combat ransomware attacks. ZoneAlarm, a well-known cybersecurity software, was first developed by Zone Labs, which was founded in 1997. The company quickly gained recognition for its ZoneAlarm firewall, which provided robust protection for personal computers. In 2004, Zone Labs was acquired by Check Point Software Technologies, a global leader in cybersecurity solutions. Fast forward to today. In 2024, the ransomware protection landscape was quite extensive, with 95 active ransomware groups and numerous cybersecurity companies offering protection against these threats.
The bottom line is that companies offering protection are working as hard as cybercriminals.
What we, as business leaders and occupants of the no man’s land need to do is remember that we are not alone as major enterprises also need to survive in this zone. We need to be prepared to take advantage of the changes and improvements that they research, fund, and deliver for their staff to use.
Case-in-point. Multifactor authentication began to take shape in the early 2000’s. Today it has advanced to the point where there is no business no matter how small that cannot use it. Twenty-two years later the Fast Identity Online (FIDO) Alliance introduced passkeys as a modern alternative to passwords. Now in 2025, passkeys are becoming the new standard. The challenge to using passkeys is not technology. The challenge is in educating, training, and supporting staff in how to make the switch.
Executive Summary
Helping staff appreciate, understand, and embrace the consistency of change is the best way to crush cybercriminals. Investing in helping everyone understand clearly, and with patience how to make the change for both their work and personal computing environments as these are unavoidably connected today.
Remember that Lead IT Consulting is here to help small businesses understand and navigate challenges in the IT landscape so your business can grow. We eat, live, and breathe navigating IT challenges daily to minimize risks and work for our clients. To find out more about how Lead IT Consulting can help your company with this and more book a meeting with the author or send an email to happiness@leaditconsulting.net.
