parents ] Travis and Sandra ,” Debra begins , “ and I ’ m the daughter , along with my sister and brother who also work here . Although the three of us have been running it for about 32 years now , I still have fond memories of when I was maybe 5 years old , getting paid 25 cents to clean the shavings out of the machines so I could buy bubble gum . So , you could definitely say this company is in my blood .”
Unfortunately , about 15 years ago , it was just a regular day when suddenly T & S Machine Company fell victim to a ransomware attack . “ The hacker had somehow gotten into our system and locked all of our files ,” explains Debra . “ We lost 32 years of our traceability , which is every business owner ’ s worst nightmare .” In manufacturing , you need to not only be able to show where your raw materials came from but also retain your emails as part of your traceability . However , this attack threatened all of that . “ Homeland Security and the FBI told me not to pay him , but I didn ’ t have a choice ,” recalls Debra . “ I knew there was no guarantee that this hacker would unlock my files , but I had to take the chance . After sending the money in bitcoins and getting the passcode , thankfully , [ the hacker ] started unlocking our files . The cherry on top was that at the end [ of this incident ], the hacker said , ‘ Thank you for your business .’”
Although this was a tough lesson learned , it also meant that Debra and her team had a new perspective on just how vulnerable they were . “ After this incident , I called up a local IT team and got them to come in and update everything — a new server , firewall , the works . But this company ended up getting too big and selling out , leaving us yet again without an IT team by our side .” After about three or four years without IT , Debra was losing sleep over their lack of cybersecurity . “ During this time , my sister and I liked to joke that the T & S really stood for Tension and Stress , but that all changed once we found Quinn Technology Solutions .”
A CYBERSECURITY OVERHAUL
Debra first became privy to Quinn Technology Solutions through their continual outreach attempts . “ They were very persistent in their sales tactics ,” Debra says . “ About once a month , I ’ d get a call from them asking if we ’ d like to set up a consultation . One day , after a particularly stressful night lying awake thinking about the business , I decided ‘ What did I have to lose ?’ and we set up a meeting .” She continues , “ The first thing they brought to our attention was just how vulnerable we truly were . They showed us how our name was being sold on the dark web thanks to that previous hack , and I knew immediately after that first meeting that Russell and his team were the perfect people to help us .”
Starting first with changing out the old servers and hardware , Quinn Technology Solutions also prioritized implementing several redundancies and backups . “ The ransom company was also able to access and lock our backups ,” says Debra .
“ WE HAD NO EXTRA REDUNDANCIES , BUT NOW THAT QUINN IS BACKING UP OUR SERVERS — IN HOWEVER MANY WAYS THEY DO IT — WE ’ LL NEVER LOSE OUR DATA AGAIN . AFTER WE GOT THIS BACKUP SET UP , I FELT AN IMMENSE RELIEF KNOWING THAT OUR BUSINESS WAS GOING TO BE PROTECTED MOVING FORWARD .”
And over the last year , Quinn Technology Solutions has not only helped T & S Machine Company become more secure but they ’ ve even presented as a guest speaker on cybersecurity at the Montgomery County Sheriff ’ s Department , spreading critical knowledge to other local businesses .
Beyond ensuring their security , Quinn Technology Solutions also helps with any day-to-day inquiries staff may have . “ Anytime there ’ s a problem now , I tell my employees , ‘ You see that sticker on your computer ? You call them or send them an email ,’ and they ’ re on it ,” states Debra . “ In fact , I was just telling Russell yesterday that I sleep so much better now knowing they ’ re here to help .” In terms of what she would tell other decision-makers who know their company is vulnerable but don ’ t know where to turn , Debra mentions , “ Regardless of how good you think you are on computers , having someone behind the scenes to keep your business running optimally and securely is probably one of the most important IT decisions you can make . And for us , that trusted IT advisor will continue to be Quinn Technology Solutions .”
Looking ahead , Quinn Technology Solutions and T & S Machine Company plan to remain on this path of streamlining and protecting the organization while , of course , always looking for new ways to implement innovative technologies . “ Just recently , Russell called and told us that we needed to migrate our emails over to a new host ,” explains Debra . “ So it ’ s continuously looking at little things like that , which , in turn , is going to make us a lot safer .”
Ultimately , by removing the technology piece and , therefore , the stress of impending cyber threats off of Debra ’ s plate , she and her team can get back to focusing on what they do best — providing their oil and gas clients with top-tier machined products . Thanks to the vigilant oversight of Quinn Technology Solutions , T & S Machine Company is now poised to confidently leverage cuttingedge technologies for continual future growth .
For more information about Quinn Technology Solutions , visit www . Quinn-Tech . com .
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