The $21,000 Click A Case Study in Cyber Resilience
Building Trust, Delivering Protection:
How Plexis Shields Clients in a World Where Security Alone Isn’t Enough
For over 30 years, Plexis has been a trusted IT partner in Southern Ontario, Canada. What began
as a custom-built PC retailer has evolved into a full-service Managed Service Provider (MSP)
focused on proactive protection. Led by Andrew van Grieken, VP of Operations, Plexis operates
on a simple principle: advocate for clients and eliminate uncertainty in IT
The Plexis Approach:
More Than Just IT Support
Andrew believes in equipping his team with the autonomy to act in a client’s best interest. It’s not just about fixing problems but preventing them in the first place. In 2020, Street Lake Construction*—a multimillion-dollar firm with 100+ employees and contractors—turned to Plexis after struggling with an unresponsive MSP. Plexis rebuilt their trust, implementing a best-in-class security stack to safeguard their business.
*Fictitious name to protect client’s identity
Even With Layers Of Protection, They Were Compromised By Human Error
Street Lake Construction had every critical security measure in place:
Advanced endpoint protection (SentinelOne)
Remote monitoring and management (Ninja)
Email security (Microsoft)
Business continuity and disaster recovery (Datto)
Employee security awareness training (Infima)
And yet, they were still compromised.
The Response:
Action Without Delays
When the attack was identified, Plexis and Cork moved fast.
Within an hour –
Plexis escalated the issue to Cork, and the virtual credit card was issued
Within two weeks –
Cork reimbursed the full $21,000 payment
No hoops, no delays
just a fast-acting virtual credit card to swipe.
A New Differentiator for MSPs
This attack revealed a supply chain vulnerability: even if a business follows every security best practice, it can still be compromised—especially if vendors are targeted
Street Lake Construction’s case proves a harsh reality: Security alone isn’t enough. No security tool detected the incident. The phishing attempt bypassed every layer of protection. The only reason it was caught? The vendor never received payment.
Cork’s financial protection ensures businesses don’t face financial loss when security fails. While traditional security focuses on prevention, Cork closes the gap—ensuring MSPs like Plexis can offer true end-to-end protection.
49% of small businesses fail after a cyber attack due to financial loss
69% of SMBs lack cyber insurance
In a world where compliance isn’t enough, Cork makes resilience possible.
“Our partner-first culture is built around listening to IT service providers, and our joint clients solutions paired with the Cork active insights platform, delivers on those requests.”
About Cork
Cork’s cyber risk insight platform is designed to instantly evaluate risks across endpoints and notify of vulnerabilities exposing MSP and clients to cyberattacks. All backed by a cyber warranty designed to be resold as financial peace of mind to customers. The AI-enhanced cyber risk engine leverages MSPs existing IT stack and delivers to MSPs and their clients peace of mind with near-instant coverage and settlements in the aftermath of security incidents. Cork’s agentless and integrated platform pushes actionable insights, drives flexible cyber insurance premiums, and empowers MSPs and SMBs to protect the digital assets they value most.