Of all the reasons that a business may have to postpone a migration to the cloud, there is one that probably ranks as the worst. This one reason effectively boils down to a “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” mentality. Despite whatever history of success a business may have, statistics tell us that, eventually, any business will experience data loss, period.
As we have often said, the greatest vulnerability in securing your system will be due to human error. Not due to maliciousness or incompetence, just mistakes that we all have made. Phishing is one of the most common methods of compromising your security, its goal to capture sensitive information. Since phishing often disguises itself as a friendly entity, it can be extremely difficult to recognize until it’s too late.
While cloud computing is becoming more mainstream, we find there is still some pushback from IT departments and ‘C’ level executives who don’t understand what the cloud offers and IT professionals may be worried more about maintaining their control than realizing it’s time to let go.
The latest malware threat that attacks IoT devices is called the VPNFilter. VPNFilter is malware which infects routers or NAS (network storage devices). These devices are primarily older consumer and SOHO (small office home office) grade level devices. When first discovered last May, VPNFilter had already hijacked half a million devices from a handful of vendors. However, as time has progressed, the malware had increased its reach, commandeering six new vendors and increasing the number of models it could infect.
As part of the nation’s focus on jobs for the future, most elementary and high schools have been emphasizing STEM, (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) as a means to provide students with the skills needed to compete in a brave new world. As technology-based employment is destined to become even more dominant than ever, communities in the know are preparing their students for the jobs of tomorrow.
When was the last time you saw a room full of color-coded files in your health provider’s office? If it was recently, then your provider is part of the approximately 10% of providers who still update and maintain their patients’ (your) records by hand and on paper. Today, nearly 90% of office-based health providers are using some form of electronic health record (EMR/EHRs) system.
The Internet of Things is everywhere, from the devices in our pockets, to the computers on our desk and even the stoves we cook on. Connectivity is the trend and smart devices are providing all manner of devices with unheard of functionality. We are becoming more and more connected to our technology, as they become more connected to each other. However, the more our devices speak to each other, often without our knowledge, the greater the risk of exposure. Quite frankly, as our devices become smarter, so do the cybercriminals and with our ‘always on’ connectivity, the hackers have ample time to find the vulnerabilities in our networks.
Despite cryptocurrency, such as Bitcoin, becoming more and more part of the mainstream, there is still some confusion as to what exactly cryptocurrency is. While many of us know of the concept of cryptocurrency, many of us don’t truly understand what steps are needed to acquire and to use them.
As more small and medium-sized businesses realize the value in working with a managed IT provider, there is now an increasing number of computer repair shops who are hopping on the IT bandwagon; claiming to offer fully-proactive managed IT services. While a computer repair shop may be great at recovering a broken hard drive or solving a quick issue, managed IT is much more than fixing broken stuff.
When it comes to securing your network, are you treating security and protection like a 9-to-5 job? That is, do you assume that once you close your office for the day, hackers stop attacking your servers and go home to eat dinner? That it’s like, “Honey, Star Trek is on, stop your DDoS and make some popcorn?”
Over the past couple of decades, we have been quickly reducing the barriers between average people and technology. There was a time not so long ago when much of the technology we use these days was considered out of reach financially for most people.
For technology to become accessible, it must first become affordable and when it becomes affordable; it becomes disposable. In the early days of technology, the products were expensive, which meant that people invested the time to keep them running. If they broke, you got it fixed; if it couldn’t be fixed, you tried to save whatever parts you could salvage, because you may need them for something else. It wasn’t uncommon to go into garages and basements and find pieces and pieces of other technology being saved for other uses.
You know that sound.
The Click….Click….Click, as your hard drive searches for data it most likely will never find again. The sound of the drive heads hitting the internal head stop. You did back up your data, didn’t you? If so, what did you back it up to?
An efficient Data Backup and Recovery (BDR) solution consist of more than just backing up your data, “just in case.” BDR, like most forms of insurance, is about planning for the future and doing all to ensure your business can not only be prepared for a disaster but survive it. As nearly 70% of businesses that lose their data, quickly go out of business, we can see the importance of developing a BDR plan.
“640K ought to be enough for anyone.” - Bill Gates*
Oh, how have times changed. I have been in this industry long enough to remember when one gig drives were first introduced, and we felt our storage needs were finally solved with the power of one thousand floppies! Who would ever need that much space, let alone use it? ...yeah.
Face it, the days of people sitting in the parking lot, hacking your WiFi to ‘share’ your bandwidth is gone. Today their goal is to co-op your technology for their own nefarious needs and use your own data against you.
Celebrated on January 28, Data Privacy or Data Protection Day, was first held in January 2008. Its goal is to bring awareness and develop best practices to how we manage our data and who we share our information with. KT Connections offers a variety of security services to help protect your business from risks to your data safety and your privacy.
At KT Connections, we understand that your security is paramount to your business’ success. We are committed to providing the means for your organization’s data to be as protected as possible against the variety of threats that you can potentially encounter. To accomplish this, we leverage a security measure known as Unified Threat Management.
For a hacker, there’s no such thing as a holiday break. As a matter of fact, some attack vectors are seen more commonly during this time of year. One of these attack vectors, spear phishing, becomes a particular favorite for many hackers. In order to stay safe, you need to be more careful on social media, webmail, and ecommerce sites.
You must consider a series of worst-case scenarios if you want to protect your business in the long run. While various factors such as physical security, employee training, and network security can help you mitigate the majority of issues you face, what happens when each of these efforts fails? You know what they say--prepare for the worst and you’ll never be surprised by a data loss event again.
