JANUS Associates is participating as a 2026 Cybersecurity Awareness Month Champion. Cybersecurity Awareness Month is a global initiative every October that raises awareness about online safety and empowers individuals and businesses to protect themselves from cybercrime. 

Ransomware is a fundamental business risk that demands attention in every boardroom. According to the 2026 Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report, ransomware was present in a staggering 48% of all breaches, an all-time high that marks a steady and alarming rise from the previous year. The data is unequivocal: for most enterprises, ransomware is now the defining threat within the System Intrusion pattern, appearing in nearly three out of every four cases. These numbers should serve as a wake-up call for every executive, not just the IT team.

Small and mid‑sized businesses face the same cyber threats as large enterprises, but usually without dedicated security teams or big‑company budgets. Phishing emails, ransomware, stolen passwords, and vendor breaches can disrupt operations, drain cash, and damage client trust in a matter of hours. The good news is that you do not need an enterprise‑scale program to make meaningful progress; a focused set of cybersecurity basics can significantly reduce your risk and strengthen your resilience.

A cybersecurity incident response plan is a documented, repeatable process for detecting, containing, eradicating, and recovering from cyberattacks while minimizing operational, financial, and reputational damage. NIST’s incident response guidance emphasizes that formal plans reduce both the number and impact of incidents and improve the efficiency of detection, response, and recovery activities.

Data center operators face a difficult balancing act: deliver always-on services for critical workloads while navigating evolving threats, regulations, and customer expectations. As environments expand to include cloud, colocation, edge, and AI, cybersecurity in data centers becomes a multi-layered discipline that goes well beyond traditional perimeter defenses.