Episode 65: How One Company Lost $300k & How to Prevent it from Happening to You with Cyber Security Expert Kris Bliesner

Covid not only caused extreme business, economic, and lifestyle shutdown, but Cyber threats are now at an all-time high. With the advent of moving employees to work from home, the security measures many businesses relied on to protect their company and assets are now compromised. It is so crucial to understanding the threat. Today we are going to take a deep dive into understanding cybercrime and how to better put in place safety measures that will keep your company safe and secure. Buckle up for a sobering ride as we welcome cybersecurity expert Kris Bliesner onto today’s show.

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3 Key Takeaways

1. With the advent of working remotely, cyber breaches are a huge cause for concern for your business.
2. Implement safety measures and train your employees to know those safety precautions to keep your business safe and secure.
3. Now more than ever smaller businesses have the technology to compete with much larger corporations.

Show Notes

How did Kris get his start in Cybersecurity?

• After studying Computer Science in college Kris turned down numerous job offers at Microsoft to work with startups in Seattle. 
• The events of 9/11 caused Kris to desire a job with more normalcy and so he returned to Microsoft.
• Kris was at Microsoft working in security operations for their commercial platforms such as MSN and Xbox.
• With over six years under his belt working with Microsoft, he moved back into working with startups in Cloud Computing.
• He launched a company called 2nd Watch that helped build business infrastructure on the Cloud.
• 2nd Watch now works with brands like Coca-Cola, Nike, Toyota, and Starbucks to name a few.
• After seven successful years with 2nd Watch, Kris launched another company called Vega Cloud that offers a software Cloud subscription for businesses.

We started just as a small startup with some small companies in Spokane and just grew from there with our first client of note being Coca-Cola. - Kris Bliesner

What things did Kris miss in the corporate world that drew you back to the startup life?

• Kris really enjoyed creating and building things from scratch.
• The easiest way to help people and improve business is often with startups as they don’t have any legacy software or commitments. 
• Many companies are held back by this and they aren’t able to execute as efficiently because of that. 
• There is significant freedom in being a startup as you can solve difficult problems and not worry about their past.

The purpose of technology is to help improve people’s lives and business workflow. The easiest way to do that is as a startup. - Kris Bliesner

Three takeaways from working at Microsoft

• Learning the inside of how to do business internationally and not just in your own part of the world.
• Networking potential of being surrounded with the masters of their particular subject area. 
• Ability to strategically utilize tremendous resources where they can have the greatest effect.

You have on one side of you the expert in Windows Servers because he built it. It’s incredible the number of talented people they have amassed. - Kris Bliesner.

Should businesses be freaked out about cybersecurity in 2021?

• Cybersecurity is a huge concern for businesses. There is a huge increase in cybersecurity breaches due to working remotely during COVID.
• Cybersecurity attacks are up over 800% over previous years.
• There are over 4000 cybercrimes reported every single day just in the U.S. alone that are reported to the FBI.

There is just a huge increase in things going on in the world and new attack factors that we have to be aware of that people were not thinking about when we pushed everyone to work remotely. - Kris Bliesner

Understanding cyber breaches

• When employees were working in the office the networks were much better protected. 
• Now that employees are working from home the security is far easier to breach.
• Hackers are always going after money grabs wherever they can make money.
• Something that has changed recently is more often smaller scams are decreasing and larger scams are on the rise. 
• More often insurance agencies are trying to settle with ransomware rather than to fight it. 

Three crucial foundations to protect your small business

• Educate your employees to avoid phishing scams. Not everyone knows to watch out for suspicious emails.
• Put into practice safety measures. Change passwords regularly and your email accounts and wifi networks.
• Don’t be afraid to reach out to firms who specialize in penetration tests to see how formidable your defenses are.

The mission of Vega Cloud (Kris’s day job)

• Infrastructure as a service and Cloud as a service is a huge growing industry.
• Many large companies have the Cloud and Infrastructure, however, it often seems unattainable for small businesses. 
• Vega Cloud helps to simplify Cloud server units by preconfiguring systems for small businesses that are simple and user-friendly.

In Cloud, things change all the time. We help keep businesses on top of the optimization so the business doesn’t have to. - Kris Bliesner

What key things have changed for the IT Professional in the last 10 years?

• Capabilities are extremely different now than ten years ago.
• The playing field has been levels significantly between what a small business can do and a huge company. 
• It’s never been better and more affordable for a small business to compete against larger-scale companies.

Resources For You:

• To learn more about Kris’s company Vega Cloud go to https://www.vegacloud.io
• If you need help building (or selling) a valuable business, reach out to Cathedral Consulting at [email protected]
• Questions for Seth? Send us your feedback at [email protected]
• Pick up your copy of Ambition: Leading With Gratitude