SIMPLE STEPS TO PREVENT CYBER LOSSES TODAY

5 Simple Steps to Prevent Cyber Losses Today

BY TODD SHEPARD, FOUNDER OF SHEPARD & SHEPARD INSURANCE SOLUTIONS

Worldwide spending on cybersecurity is forecast to reach $133.7 billion in 2022. The average ransomware attack on a business now costs over $100,000! The statistics become more and more disturbing each year. Fortunately, you can avoid most issues by following so very simple safety procedures.

Don’t procrastinate- say ‘Yes’ to the Update! Installing updates promptly is one of the best ways to help protect your system and keep it more cybersecure. The next time you see and app that is asking to update click ‘Yes’ instead of ‘remind me later’. Take a short break and let the system updater. In the long run you’ll save time.

Strengthen your passwords.

I have a slide I like to display when discussing passwords. It is a list of the most popular passwords (the word password is one of them) and combinations such as the name of your business, your pet, favorite sports team, child, or otherwise and year of birth, graduation, etc. If its been a while since you’ve updated your passwords consider doing it today. Oh, and get rid of the sticky note taped to your laptop or under your desk phone, it’s not fooling anyone any more than hiding your wallet in the toe of your shoe when you go swimming.

Stop clicking on stuff you don’t recognize.

Scammers are masters of making you second guess or worry something has gone wrong. Let’s say you get an email that says your bank account authorized several hundred be paid out and to click the link if you did not authorize. STOP! Unless you have reason to believe that your account has been compromised this type of email is usually a scam. Nearly 100% of all malware is sent via email. Commit to take a deep breath before clicking anything moving forward. This holds doubly true if the email indicates you must take immediate action or uses the word ‘urgent’. Think about it, if something was truly ‘urgent’ would sending an email be the most effective path of communication?

Move it or lose it!

Actually, a better way is ‘save it or lose it.’ Become a fierce data backer upper. If you save all of your data on a secure cloud or hard drive that you then store off-site you can prevent the majority of all cyber losses. I like to think what would happen if my computer were to fall into a lake or get burned up in a fire. If that happened, would my data be available easily and quickly to be uploaded to a new system? If the answer is ‘yes’ you are in good shape. If not, its an easy fix- just back it up!

Lock Down

Secure your WI-FI account with a password and ensure each user has his or her own password to enter your server and log into their computer. Securing your WIFI with a password protects you from an unauthorized system introducing whatever virus or issue it has into your network. Requiring each user to have his or her own password makes it easier to identify the people involved in the event of a cyberattack. Sharing of passwords should be discouraged or outright forbidden.

Insure against cyber losses

Despite doing our best, a cyber crime can still find its way into the business and wreak havoc. This is the time where having a Cyber-Liability insurance policy will come in helpful. Such a policy provides coverage for investigation, rebuilding, reputation repair, identity theft, and more. Visit with your insurance agent about the options available for a cyber-liability policy. n

Todd Shepard is the founder of Shepard & Shepard Insurance Solutions and regular contributor to the Front Row. For a review of your garage policy and a competitive quote or more information on cybercrimes and cyber insurance call 855-396-0488 or visit www. shepquote.com

Is your dealership ready for the future?

BY EMIL SCARSELLA, TOWN & COUNTRY AUTO SALES & WSIADA PAST PRESIDENT, CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD, BOARD TRUSTEE, AND BOARD TREASURER

You may think so but let’s look a little closer. Your job is to find vehicles you want, buy them as economically as possible, detail them, advertise them and sell them to your customers. Then repeat the process over and over so you can continue your business model and provide a decent living for yourself, family, and employees.

Mostly gone are the days where folks would hop into the old clunker and go out searching for a new or used car that would satisfy their needs. They would drive up and down ‘Auto Row’ to view the models available on the lots. They would find the model that would make their hearts race just at a glance. Great looking, great running, and reasonably priced that would usually make them the envy of their friends and family alike once they were behind the wheel running around town in their new ride.

Well, that was then, and this is now. Yes, some folks still shop that way, but for most buyers in this day-and-age, they prefer digital shopping online or by mobile device: no salesperson pressure, no leaving the house. They simply shop on social media, dealer platforms, or whatever they are exposed to or told to look through by what they read or see online.

Now, you can shop from your living room sitting in your pajamas staring at dozens of auto dealerships’ websites, and even Facebook is a major platform for your customers. They can shop for hours without moving from where they are comfortable and can compare you with your competition quickly. They get told by an animated fox if it’s a poor deal, a good deal, or a great deal. Who knew they were so smart, like a real fox, I guess? Their self-interests, all the while, charging as much as the dealership is willing to pay for exposure.

That’s what we had to look forward to before COVID and now it seems worse. Fast forward to supply and demand issues: fewer parts inventory in stock for you to do repairs, if needed, employees are harder to find, chips to manufacture new models or fix old ones, semi-bare lots with not-nearly-enough inventory for normal times, wholesale prices, etc.

Enter the insane world of what is known as “irrational exuberance.” That is when you are paying a premium that is way higher than what it is really worth just to say you have it.

Seems reasonable enough, right? But it doesn’t make much business sense, does it? Hence the word “irrational”.

The automobile business has changed so much that it is a mere image of the golden age of what dealerships once were. Dealers would build beautiful lots and shops with modern facilities to provide a better experience for the customer, offering great incentives to purchase from them. And if they were savvy dealers, they would even have a knowledgeable sales staff and office managers with service departments, making the experience worthwhile for the customer and more profits for themselves. Now we have websites doing our job as sales professionals, demonstrating features and how options work on a screen for the consumer. With a straight face they can even tell you it was “hand made by a robot.” Most people will believe them, reducing the salesperson to being an order taker. The future holds more of the same it seems. The future dealerships will be owned, in one way or another, by other big corporations who will finance the inventory and structure the business as a machine to supply vehicles for buyers, rideshare programs, and short-time hybrid leases for the consumer.

Brick and mortar will be just a thing of the past.

The future of the automobile industry may soon force some dealers into early retirement because of all the “crazy technology” they can’t understand or don’t want to, including “Electrification of Automobiles” with its own set of issues, limited supply of vehicles because the factories control how many vehicles get manufactured and they may only be available to the factory stores with direct to consumer selling, and rideshare options.

The factories control the technology; therefore, they control the market with pre-installing of proprietary onboard technologies designed by manufacturers, so they are in control. Let’s not forget the advent of autonomous vehicles-that is a different animal all together, with interconnectivity through factory warranty stations who do the repairs, etc. The independent auto dealer will most likely be on the outside looking in with little they can really do besides control their own thoughts.

It’s early in the “electric vehicle revolution” and way too early to tell if auto dealers will