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1. Your Employees Haven’t Been Trained to Spot Cyber Threats
   
2. You’re Not Using Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
3. You Don’t Have Reliable, Tested Backups

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A single hour of downtime can cost Utah businesses thousands. But most aren’t ready for a ransomware attack, and don’t even know it.

Here are three warning signs your business is more vulnerable than you think, and what to do now to protect yourself.

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1. Your Employees Haven’t Been Trained to Spot Cyber Threats

Cybercriminals know your weakest link isn’t your tech—it’s your people.

• 70% of small businesses don’t train their staff in cybersecurity
• 95% of cyber breaches happen because of human error

Most ransomware attacks start with a simple phishing email. And untrained staff are easy targets—1 in 3 employees will click on a phishing link, and 1 in 8 will share information without realizing it’s a scam.

Real Example: A Utah accounting firm with ~50 employees was hit with a $300,000 ransomware attack—twice. The root cause was no training and poor IT oversight. One bad click took down the entire operation.

How to Fix it: Regular cybersecurity training (even short monthly refreshers) helps your team recognize red flags before they click.


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2. You’re Not Using Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)

Still using just passwords to protect email or financial apps? That’s not enough.

• Over 50% of SMBs don’t use MFA
• 99.9% of account hacks could be stopped by MFA

Hackers love easy wins. If they steal one employee password, they can access your systems and launch a ransomware attack. MFA (like a text code or app approval) shuts the door on those intrusions.

Real Example:A wealth management firm in Utah had an employee’s email hacked. Without MFA, the hacker sent malware to the bookkeeper—and locked the firm’s financial records.

How to Fix it: Set up MFA on every business account, especially email, accounting software, and cloud apps. Many tools make it free and simple.

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3. You Don’t Have Reliable, Tested Backups

Here’s the brutal truth: 75% of small businesses have no proper backup plan. And even if you do backups, when’s the last time you tested a restore?

• 60% of businesses shut down within 6 months after major data loss
• Only 7% of small businesses recover their data after paying ransom

If ransomware hits and you don’t have clean backups, you’re stuck: pay the ransom and hope for the best—or lose everything.

Real Example: A regional CPA firm thought they had backups. But they never tested them. When ransomware hit, they discovered the backups hadn’t worked in over a year. They lost years of client records.

How to Fix it: Use the 3-2-1 rule:

• 3 backup copies

• 2 types of media

• 1 offsite or offline

And test your recovery process every few months.


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Don’t Wait for a Ransomware Attack to Fix These Gaps

Ransomware criminals target small and mid-sized businesses in Utah because they know most aren’t protected. If your team hasn’t been trained, you’re not using MFA, and your backups are weak, your business is an easy mark.

But the good news? These are all fixable, and we can help.

Get a Free Network Assessment with Equinox IT Services

We’ll review your systems, check for vulnerabilities, and give you a full report—no pressure, just helpful insights.

Get peace of mind. Protect your business. And avoid being the next ransomware headline.

➡️ Schedule your free network assessment today