b'Ohio Scores a Vict ory on LicensingThe Ohio House of Representatives has passed the Ohio Roofing Contractors Association?s Commercial Roofing Contractor bill by a very wide margin.With the passage in the House, the door is open to move the bill onto the Senate.ORCA extends its congratulations and gratitude to our bill sponsor, Representative Tom Patton, for his dedicated work on this initiative!Even if the Senate does not take action this year on the bill, passage bytheHouseinthissessionwillgiveusahugeleg-upinfinally getting commercial licensing passed next year.The bill was noted for its low fees and well-written grandfathering rules that are fair to all roofing contractors.The House recognized that the key to the bill is that it helps ensure roofing systems on public and private commercial buildings are completed by qualified contractors.House members also understood that there would not be a need to fundanewlicenseadministrativebureaucracy. Thecommercial contractors licensing would be administered by the already existing Ohio Construction Industry Licensing Board.And the best part is, it enacts a roofing section board made up of roofing contractors who really understand the industry.ORCA President, Fred Horner, thanks all of the members of ORCA for their help in getting to this point.We will keep you updated atRepresentative Tom Pattonthis important piece of legislation makes its way through the Ohio Senate.Ransomware in 20 21ADRansomware attacks were on the rise in 2020, and all indicators suggest the trend will continue in the new year. Ransomware is a form of malware designed to encrypt files on a device, rendering any files and the systems that rely on them unusable. Malicious actors then demand ransom in exchange for decryption.The most common methods used to spread ransomware are visiting a compromised website or clicking on a malicious link or attachment in an email. We saw a dramatic increase in ransomware when users went remote last April, but experts expect the number of attacks to continue to grow. Statistically 40% of victims pay the ransom, and criminals used last year to perfect tactics. Basically, all metrics tracking ransomware increased dramatically in 2020.In Q3 of 2020 we saw a 50% increase in ransomware attacks compared to the first six months of the year. The average cost per incident increased from $5,900 in 2019 to $8,100 in 2020. The average loss caused by downtime from a ransomware attack increased from $141,000 in 2019 to $283,000 in 2020.The estimated total cost of ransomware attacks almost doubled year over year increasing from $11.5 billion in 2019 to $20 billion in 2020.Often, small and medium sized businesses are targeted because many of them do not have the resources to defend against an attack. Small businesses accounted for 43% of all cyber-attacks in 2020, and 70% of small businesses say they are not prepared to deal with a cyber-attack. IT Security demands change quickly, and many small to medium- sized businesses are not able to keep up on their own.In need of an IT firm that bridges the gap for many small businesses who are not able to keep a high quality, up-to-date IT department on staff? Contact Quanexus at 937.885.7272 or www.quanexus.com.www.ohioroofing.com 4'