Submitted photo Mountaineer Insurance Services, Inc. staff and guest speakers addresses cyber attacks and security and how it can affect small business. From left are Donna Roberts and Holly Scott from Travelers Insurance; Jonathan Kyle, Mountaineer Insurance Services, Inc.; and back row, Sean O’Brian and Chris Warman.

Submitted photo
Mountaineer Insurance Services, Inc. staff and guest speakers addresses cyber attacks and security and how it can affect small business. From left are Donna Roberts and Holly Scott from Travelers Insurance; Jonathan Kyle, Mountaineer Insurance Services, Inc.; and back row, Sean O’Brian and Chris Warman.

ELKINS — Have you ever wondered where cyber warfare originates? Why one day, your data is secure and the next day it’s been compromised?

Founder and CEO of @RISK Technologies, Inc, Sean O’ Brien, an active consultant working with Fortune 500 companies nationwide, delivered a telling presentation that outlined the confusing world of cyber warfare during a luncheon held Wednesday afternoon at the Isaac Jackson Hotel/1863 Bistro, sponsored by Mountaineer Insurance Services, Inc. of Elkins.

O’Brien opened the presentation by bringing to the table a network of extensive military field experience as an Army officer and ranger with active clearance into the vast background of Army cyber security, and offered this opening comment.

“The global average annual income per family is $4,000 per year. Worldwide television programs and movies portray the United States as a country that offers a fictional, screen-income lifestyle of $250,000 a year. Is it no wonder that internet pirates in less fortunate countries hack us? They think we are rich.”

During the well-attended event, local business leaders examined the cyber threats currently challenging small business and how to combat them.

“Ransomware is a good example of one way small businesses are being attacked,” he said. “Through Ransomware, the “bad guys” control your computer. By opening an email from a hacker, a program is installed that locks down all data until you pay the requested “ransom” to “unlock” your own files.”

To date, he said, there are no government agencies protecting small and mid-sized businesses from cyber warfare and international hackers.

“The problem is that we are not even close to treating cyber war like a war. The first tenet of warfare is to understand your enemy. You, as a small company, must understand your hardware and software, and have to recognize common vulnerabilities.”

O’Brien pointed out that hackers always infiltrate the easier targets, and the first line of defense is to make your small business a more difficult “target”.

He continued by illustrating several ways to obtain higher standards of security by examining how to shut the doors to business data, devices and user services; including shutting down unused portals in firewalls and the use of a bonafide virtual private network.

“Mid-size and small companies need much more protection than larger companies because they are the most vulnerable conduits to attack larger companies,” he emphasized.

“If the U.S. dollar would be diminished through hacking the Federal Reserve, we would absolutely be at risk of losing the U.S. dollar as a world currency and would be reduced to a third-world country within a scant 36 months,” said O’Brien.

For more information on how to secure online networks, contact Mountaineer Insurance Services at mountainerins.com or call 304-338-2902.