…Adam Robernolt and William Le Sauvage…to annoy our enemies at sea or by land, wheresoever they are able…so that they share with us half of all their gain.”
King Henry III of England declared these words to issue one of the first letters of marque, creating a relationship of convenience where “private men of war” (later shortened to “privateers”) were granted a license to get rich by robbing the ships of their country’s enemies without punishment, provided they gave the king half of their spoils.
The King of England was all too willing to turn a blind eye to the shenanigans of these criminals because, first and foremost, it allowed him to build a naval army for free while securing a pure-profit revenue stream for his kingdom. Second, he was able to find and conquer the New World at the expense and risk of someone else. And third, he could rob his enemies blind in the process. A perfect plan.
Privateering is STILL going on today but in cyberspace, not by sea, and denied by all doing it, with the US being the #1 country to be plundered, China being the country doing the majority of plundering. Last week, the FBI testified before Congress that the People’s Republic of China was preparing to “sow chaos” by taking down the US power grid, oil pipelines and water systems in the event of a conflict over Taiwan.
If ANY group should understand the seriousness of this, and the probability of something like this happening, it’s THIS audience. We KNOW they’re already “in” the network, waiting for the okay to push the button. God help us if an attack on our infrastructure should happen. If serious, it could cause more harm than 9/11 and Covid combined. This news about China brought a couple of things to mind…
First, THERE IS GREAT OPPORTUNITY FOR THOSE WHO ARE CAPABLE OF PROVIDING PROTECTION AGAINST THESE THREATS. Over the last decade, there’s been a positive major shift for MSPs, not only in the allocation of budgets toward the protection against cyber threats, but also in the willingness of CEOs to have their CTO or IT lead sit at the boardroom table and have greater influence on strategy, HR, operations and growth.
BIG QUESTION: What are you doing NOW to continue to capitalize on this continual groundswell of opportunity, both in security and compliance? What new services are you introducing? What specific talent are you hiring and developing for your team? What new target markets have you identified and built solutions for? Are you studying the marketing and models of “loss prevention” companies, such as fire alarm and security systems, the personal protection industry, theft protection, insurance, etc.?
If not, how can this be? You’ve been handed the opportunity to secure untold riches while doing good in the world, and you’re asleep in a hammock? One “secret” to success is that those in the top tier are constantly preparing to succeed while doing the work necessary today, ALWAYS on the lookout for the next “ship” to plunder.
A second important point: IT CAN ALL GO AWAY IN A HEARTBEAT. Didn’t Covid teach us all something? Have we forgotten so soon? In a very short time, everything ground to a halt. Grocery store shelves were barren, companies went belly-up and massive layoffs happened. Kids weren’t permitted to go to school and MILLIONS were forced into lockdown, facing arrest if they dared to go outside of their homes. You couldn’t get routine medical procedures and checkups, and even major surgeries were delayed. Yet what has our government changed to prepare for such an event in the future? Nothing.
BIG QUESTION: What are you doing NOW to be prepared? Do you have a plan for if the power is cut off for days or weeks? If you were unable to get gas for your car? If the water supply was hacked? Just this past December, roughly 10 water utilities were hacked by criminals breaking into Internet-connected devices with default passwords. You have to accept that our government is incredibly inept, unprepared and flat-out grossly stupid about all of this and is NOT coming to save you or even help you. They ARE a major part of the problem, and we all know it.
Far too many people live their lives grossly unprepared for any type of emergency situation – and that’s a danger to those of us who are prepared. THEY will come for you when their food, water, gas and electricity are shut off. For business owners like us, our risks multiply. The risk of rogue employees, unethical competitors, failures of vendors and CYBER ATTACKS. What does YOUR disaster recovery plan look like? Does it even exist? Does it include a plan if YOU get hit by a bus or drop dead from a sudden, unexpected heart attack? Would your spouse know what to do? Your employees? IF (when) you get hacked, what is the plan?
This crowd should KNOW better than anyone about the need to be prepared. Consider this your wake-up call as a good time to take a hard look at where the threats are and start plugging the holes before YOUR ship is plundered.
Join me at the IT Sales & Marketing Boot Camp in April where we’ll equip you with the strategies and tools to navigate the unpredictable seas of the digital world. Grab your tickets at https://robinsbigseminar.com before seats sell out.
