Sep 20, 2016 | SMB Technology, Technology News
We all read about Cyber attacks in the news. There is no denying the loss of productivity from a virus-infected laptop or the embarrassment of hacked email. With threats from Ransomware on the rise, it is no surprise leading market analysts Juniper Research, predict the cost of data breaches to $2.1 trillion globally by 2019, an increase of nearly four times the cost of breaches in 2015. Why Cyber Attacks are on the Rise Now here is the surprise: according to a recent report by the Ponemon institute, 79% of IT and IT security professionals report they lack the proper infrastructure to identify and defend against cyber attacks. Lack of tools and resources was cited as a reason why they felt their Cyber defense systems were nonexistent, partially deployed, or inconsistently deployed. Check your Network For Cyber Vulnerability Due to the risk and exposure of Cyber Attack, there are a number of tools and techniques you can deploy to identify vulnerabilities. Here is a short list to check your network health: Check firewall security settings. Ensure your company is protected from malware attacks, hackers, and viruses. Scan for spyware. Malware and other unauthorized access can silently steal your company’s bandwidth, which can slow your computer systems while stealing confidential information about you, your employees, and your business. Verify your network’s backup system to ensure it is working properly, and is consistently backing up all of the critical files and information. Ensure you have the up-to-date operating system and security patches on your network. Diagnose slow and unstable PCs that may be vulnerable. Taking these important steps may save you...
Sep 8, 2016 | SMB Technology, Technology News
Ransomware is a type of malware designed to block access to your computer until a sum of money is paid. Ransomware issues have impacted many individuals with home computers; however, it is only a matter of time before this malicious software attacks business. Starting with Cryptolocker in 2013, Ransomware exploits have become increasing sophisticated and have cost individual companies thousands of dollars in ransom. Here are some tips to take to help your business avoid being held captive by Ransomware. Backup to the Cloud to Recover from a Ransomware Attack. An inadequate backup strategy without real-time backups or offsite backup could hamper your ability to recover from a Ransomware attack. Being able to recover data from your Cloud Backup could get your systems up and running in a hurry, avoiding the need to pay ransom. Keep Your IT Assets Up to Date and in Compliance If your systems get behind in operating system and applications patches and updates, you may create a security hole that can be compromised by Ransomware. Many managed security and managed service offerings include proactive management and delivery of these important updates so your network will not be held hostage by ransomware. Training Your Employees to Detect and Report Ransomware Your employees are your front line of defense when it comes to your systems security. Make sure your employees know how to identify a phishing email and understand the risks of opening documents and attachments (including unfamiliar file extensions or .exe file formats) from unauthorized sources. Ensure your employees understand what Ransomware is and how it can impact your company’s productivity and drain financial resources....
Jun 15, 2016 | SMB Technology, Technology News
By proactively monitoring and managing your Network infrastructure, you can avoid the hassles of downtime due to bottlenecks, security intrusions and more. By having the latest data at your fingertips, you can make the best decisions based on the current status of all the devices connected to your network. Proactively managed devices including desktops, laptops, smartphones, tablets, routers, switches and firewalls all contribute to the overall health of your network. By monitoring your network for performance and auditing your devices for compliance, you can keep things running smoothly. Moving to Managed Services Managed services offers a fixed-price model to manage your network and IT infrastructure. A managed service provider will proactively audit the assets on your network, monitor performance, and remediate or escalate issues as part of a fixed-price service agreement. Because the cost of service delivery is fixed versus billable hours, the managed service provider has incentives to keep things running with minimal interruption. A managed service agreement often includes onsite and remote support options in addition to remote monitoring and management. As a result, you have a trusted source to call when problems arise. Is Your Network Worry Free? By having a consolidated asset inventory of your entire network, your managed service provider can isolate issues that cause your network performance to degrade. This helps avoid jitter, packet loss, and data delay for networking infrastructure. Desktops, laptops, smartphones and tablets can be checked to ensure they are in compliance and free of malware, viruses and other sources of network intrusion. Benefits of Managed Services The managed service model provides a predictable cost to the business...
May 18, 2016 | SMB Technology, Technology News
How secure is your network? A recent study by CompTIA links human error as the primary cause of security breaches. In fact, human error is at fault 58 percent of the time, as compared to technology error occurring 42 percent of the time. This survey of over 1500 business and technology executives points to the need to teach staff the importance of Network Security. Common Cybersecurity Threats Today’s businesses rely on a number of Cloud Services to maintain competitive edge, agility and efficiency. These applications run on a variety of devices including tablets, smartphones, and other mobile devices. Failure of employees to keep up with threats from social media and mobile malware can impact the security perimeter of your business. The more your employees know of the risks, the more likely they are to follow policies and procedures to help avoid compromise. Network Security Risks Big companies are big targets. Larger organizations may have big databases of customer information that may entice hackers to strike. However, larger organizations may have sophisticated threat detection to identify security breaches so they can respond quickly to a cyber attack. Alternatively, threats at smaller companies may go undetected. While the amount of data may not be as large, hackers may view smaller organizations as easy targets. What’s worse, smaller organizations may be less likely to recover from a privacy breach. Security Training for Your Staff There is a range of topics to address within your company. It is important for your team to understand the range of threats that can compromise your company data. Antivirus, Malware, Phishing and even SMS Phishing (SMISHING) are...
May 12, 2016 | News, SMB Technology, Technology News
The Internet of Things (IoT) is a term that describes everyday objects that have network connectivity, allowing them to send, receive and act on data. One day, everything that can be connected will be connected. According to the Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) the number of “things” connected to the Internet will reach 50.1 billion by 2020. As the Internet of Things makes its way into our lives, what do you need to know to take full advantage? Internet of Things (IoT) in the Workplace Devices connecting to the Internet can provide a number of benefits and savings to business. Smart controllers can regulate heating, cooling, lighting and more. This technology may cut energy costs and save you money. Hospitals can keep better track of pharmaceuticals, avoiding shortages while minimizing inventory. The Internet of Things can even collect data from mobile devices to see if online shoppers make it into your store to check prices or buy. With all of this data being collected and acted upon, it raises a number of issues around security, privacy and connectivity. Internet of Things is Built on the Cloud Windows powered desktops and laptops, while Android and IOS powered tablets and smartphones. It is expected that the Internet of Things will run on the Cloud. Cloud Services will deliver functionality, collect data, and eventually connect machines to other machines to analyze and take action on data collected by Internet of Things. Your business will need robust connectivity and a secure network to take full advantage of the Internet of Things. Securing Internet of Things Articles have already emerged about zombie refrigerators attacking...
