I work for a water tower contractor with annual revenues of around $30 million. We have 100 employees, give or take. We don't take credit cards. We aren't concerned about water tower industry spies seeking to infiltrate our systems and steal customer lists. Our data really shouldn't matter to anyone else. Why should cybersecurity be a big issue for us?
Well, because we have been attacked. More than once in the past year. First we ended up with our emails being blacklisted because someone was using our email server as a relay for their spam. Less than two months later, an employee (one of our owners) opened a link in an email which opened our network data to a ransomware crypto-locker attack, which if you haven't experienced one, attaches to a data file and requests a ransom in order to receive a key to unlock the file. You only have a certain amount of time to respond before the file itself is destroyed and cannot be unlocked.
We are a small to mid-size contractor in the upper Midwest of all places. How did these people find us? And why did we become a target? What do we need to do to protect ourselves? These are the questions we hope to have answered at our quarterly meeting this Wednesday.
It's pretty easy to think "it won't happen to me" but in all likelihood, it is not a question of whether but when. And will you be ready?
I would like to put in a final plug for the Heartland Regional Conference on September 25 & 26. Pretty sure you can still sign up and I can guarantee it will be worth your time!
We would also like to welcome our newest board member, Arin Powell, who has agreed to fill the position vacated by Ben Ellingson. Thank you, Arin, for being willing to serve the chapter.
Finally, please plan ahead to attend the Siouxland Chapter December meeting on December 10. We are bringing back an outstanding speaker from a few years ago, Dr. Todd Conklin. His "Fundamentals of Human Performance" presentation was a real eye-opener and was a lot of fun as well. Please invite anyone in your organization with any level of responsibility for safety. They will not be disappointed!
At our December meeting, we will also be celebrating our 10th Anniversary as a CFMA Chapter! I know I am grateful for the opportunities our local chapter has provided me, and I hope all of you are as well. Please join us in recognizing those who have made the past 10 years so successful!
Kit Gleason
President
Siouxland Chapter CFMA