Managed IT Services Blog

Amazon Web Services (AWS) offers small businesses a number of benefits. There are plenty of Amazon Machine Instances that are preconfigured so a small IT team can quickly spin up a virtual appliance, server, or other computing resource. Like any other cloud service, AWS offers scalability to allow business IT resources to grow on demand and it helps control costs by offering a number of different pricing plans. There are, of course, other benefits that entice small businesses to turn to AWS for a number of their computing needs. However, like any other resource, there are security considerations that you need to make.

The following list outlines five of the most important best practices any small business needs to consider when using AWS in their environment.

When it comes to choosing a victim, cybercriminals often look for low-hanging fruit. They seek the path of least resistance to keep their chances of success high and of getting caught low.

This is why so many criminals target small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs). It is no secret among SMBs that they are frequently targeted by attackers. In fact, a research report from the Better Business Bureau shows that 87 percent of SMBs are aware that they are not safe from cybercrime. Despite this awareness, cyberattacks cost SMBs an average of $2,235,000 in 2017. This means smaller companies are still failing to properly secure their assets.

Two Factor Authentication (2FA) or Multi-factor Authentication (MFA) is the most common preventative measure that companies and organizations implement as an additional layer of security to the standard username and password login credentials on a website or application. Taking a half-step back, 2FA/MFA can be described as something you know and something you have. 2FA/MFA is currently used on almost every application, from banking websites to SaaS services to video games