Host: Jeremy Cherny interviews Joe Skotarzak, General Manager at MotherG-Wisconsin

“At MotherG, we’re focussed on being a managed service provider. We really strive to help small businesses manage their technology. Security is a big part of that, so it’s certainly a focus area for us.”

 Why is security important?

As we’re out there working with small businesses, every small business is dependent on some level of technology. Some of them it’s a tool that's foundational to what they do and how they compete and how they deliver. The downside is these cyber security threats. They can upset and turn the whole thing over. It’s important because it potentially could bring a business down. It’s foundational to make sure that it’s a part of every relationship and managing every client and their network.

How do you stay on top of the latest security threats?

It’s a multi-faceted approach to things. We do a lot of reading and talking. We’ve got partners who are specialists in this, both from the manufacturer perspective and from the delivery perspective. It’s a big part of all of our jobs and it’s always growing in importance. It’s a lot of reading, listening to podcasts, listening to experts. It’s a lot of talking to manufacturers and staying abreast of what they’re doing.

How do you address security awareness training for your end users and the different stakeholders that you work with?

Again, it’s a multi-layered approach. We use a lot of tools - KnowBe4 is a good one, it’s a service that really helps. They do spoof attacks to allow the business owner to have a really good clear understanding of how susceptible they are. We look at tools and resources and try to make those a part of our culture. People need to know what the rules are to keep things safe. We also make sure that our clients know that we’re their partner in this. We try to have interaction and really learn what our clients need and want.

What are the most important things that people can do to protect their online information?

The number one thing is to have an awareness and a little bit of paranoia that someone could be after you. We say that a healthy skepticism goes a long way. If something doesn’t look and feel right, maybe just take a breath before you do something. There’s a lot of phishing campaigns out there and we’ve seen an increase in them with COVID. Two-factor authentication is another big thing, just in terms of keeping your information safe. A lot of that stuff gets exposed unfortunately. 

What do you see as the future of information security?

We see it as really an arms race with good guys and bad guys. We also see that cyber security is going to be a growing business. With small businesses leveraging more and more, there’s going to be more attacks as well. The days are gone when all you needed was an antivirus software.