Are your data security measures strong enough?

Let me start this blog by asking you a question. How did your business respond to the security threats brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic? The reason we are discussing this is because a recent survey conducted by Password Keeper and Ponemon Institute revealed that during the 2020 Coronavirus pandemic, the effectiveness of organizations’ IT posture in terms of cybersecurity dipped by almost 30%.

One of the main reasons for the compromise in IT security was the hurried transition of so many businesses to the remote work model. Working from home often meant the staff were using their personal computers to access work data, sometimes, even on shared WiFi networks without the latest software updates, security patches and firewalls--all invitations to cybercriminals. But, the research also pointed out that almost 50% of the respondents were also concerned about the physical safety of their data. When employees work from home, business data is stored on their personal devices. This includes personal laptops, desktops, thumb drives, external hard disks and sometimes, even smartphones and tablets. Ensuring the data stored in such a manner is not lost, stolen or inadvertently made public is a huge challenge. The cloud can help resolve this challenge to some extent. By migrating your data to the cloud you get a range of benefits such as

• It is easily accessible-from anywhere, anytime using an internet enabled tablet, computer or even a smartphone
• The cloud service provider offers multiple layers of security to keep your data safe from prying eyes
• There is no chance of losing data due to misplaced thumb drives or computer hard disk crashes

An MSP offering cloud services will be able to assist you in making the transition from physical data storage to the cloud smoothly. They can also address cybersecurity concerns and offer solutions. However, migrating to the cloud alone is not the solution to all data security issues. You will still need to train your staff on how to identify and avoid malware attacks, phishing scams and to practice basic password hygiene and data security best practices.

WFH is here to stay. Are you ready?

The year 2020 was nothing like what we had seen before. At a certain point in time, it felt like the world would come to a standstill. With lockdowns and travel restrictions imposed across the world, businesses were pushed into a ‘new normal’. One of the things that was a part of the ‘new normal’, was working from home. This WFH set up brought along with it multiple challenges, especially to those organizations which weren’t into this model already. Accessing critical work information, carrying out meetings on Zoom, attending conferences remotely and even setting up trade show booths online, were all new concepts. While the pandemic may be temporary, one thing is certain--the remote work culture is not.

WFH existed even before the Coronavirus pandemic. There were a sizable number of companies--primarily in the IT industry that routinely hired remote workforce. Freelancers operated remotely too for the most part. However, the pandemic forced every company that can operate remotely to adopt the WFH model. While the initial switch was cumbersome, challenging and even frustrating, the benefits offered by the WFH model can’t be discounted.

Here’s how it benefited employees:

• Helped save time and money that would otherwise be spent on commuting from home to work
• Offered greater flexibility, as working from home let employees choose their working hours, at least in some cases
• They needed fewer days off as things like staying home and caring for a sick child/spouse or an elderly parent didn’t mean having to take a day off work anymore
• With lesser workplace oriented distractions, they were able to accomplish more in lesser time, which means they had more personal time and a better work-life balance

From the organizational perspective, work from home:

• Meant more productive, focused, energetic employees with workplace distractions and long commutes eliminated
• Resulted in lesser absenteeism as employees had flexible work schedules and could be home when their presence was needed, without having to take a day off
• Helped them save on costs related to maintenance, utilities and employee recreation that they would be otherwise incurring
• Can help companies save on huge rental expenses by trading larger office spaces for smaller/shared workspaces and conference rooms

So, there’s no doubt that the trend of WFH will continue well beyond this pandemic and become a norm in daily lives. It seems to be creating a win-win situation for both, the employees and the organizations they work for. However, for WFH to function smoothly, you need to have a solid IT infrastructure ensures the transition from the traditional office setup to the WFH model is smooth and the integration between the various elements involved in the new WFH environment is seamless.

Are you ready to switch to the WFH mode? It’s time to get in touch with a managed IT service provider who can help you make this move.

Data security in the ‘Work-from-home’ environment

2020 threw a lot of challenges at the world. One of them, from the business perspective, that overshadowed the others was cybersecurity. How to ensure data safety and security in an environment where businesses can’t really control what employees do even during work hours? With the world almost a year into the pandemic, new best practices emerged that will be in use not just during the pandemic, but probably also in the future, post-pandemic era. Because the trend of working from home now seems to be here to stay. This blog will discuss some best practices for data security that can be deployed when working remotely.

• If you can provide your employees with a computer that they will solely access for work, then that solves the majority of the issues. When employees use their own devices for accessing work data, the risk of a security breach is higher as businesses don’t have any control over staff’s personal devices. Your employee’s computer may have security loopholes such as pending updates and security patches or unauthorized software programs. If, instead, it is a company device, you can install control mechanisms that limit what your employees can do with the device. You can impose firewall restrictions, make it a part of your intranet and also monitor employee activities freely.
• If you are allowing employees to use their personal devices for work purposes, you can encourage them to keep their device safe by alerting them about software updates, security patches and offering to install the latest version of antimalware software for their devices. This is a win-win situation for you and your employees, as you get to keep your data safe, while they get to keep their device and personal data secure.

In either case, you need to educate your employees on the basics of data security. These include password hygiene, identifying phishing attempts, attachment hygiene, etc.

Don’t forget the cloud! The cloud can help you keep your data safe and secure even in the remote working environment by adding layers of data security and eliminating storage of data on local hard drives and removable storage devices. Contact a cloud service provider today to learn more!

How the cloud is a solid survival tool for your business during a crisis

One thing the Coronavirus pandemic taught businesses is the fact that it is important to move with the times and adopt and adapt to the latest technology. While you don’t have to be the first one in the market to invest in the newest technology, once its effectiveness and usefulness is proven, it does make sense to switch to it. Here’s how the cloud allowed businesses to overcome the challenges posed by having to suddenly switch to the remote operations model.

Challenge-1: Access to critical data and applications

This could have been easily resolved by migrating to the cloud. The cloud offers unparalleled connectivity to your data—from anywhere and at any time, with any internet-enabled device.

Challenge-2: Data safety, cybersecurity concerns

The cloud provides solutions to data safety and cybersecurity challenges as well, as data stored in the cloud is naturally much safer and difficult to break into than data stored on your employee’s home computer. The cloud offers multiple layers of security, including some from your cloud service provider.

Challenge-3: Data loss

With the cloud, businesses wouldn’t have to worry about losing data, as it wouldn’t be stored on their employee’s personal computer, but at a centralized location in the cloud.

Challenge-4: Hardware issues

The cloud rendered any hardware issues non-existent, as the employee’s personal devices were just gateways to access their work stored in the Cloud. They needed devices that met the basic specifications, and the rest of the work was happening online, without additional load on personal devices.

Challenge-5: Phones

Businesses that had adopted the VoIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) were able to overcome this challenge easily. VoIP allows you to communicate by sending voice as data packets using the internet. The VoIP system is primarily software-based and can be accessed from anywhere, using an application that your VoIP provider offers. (Physical instruments are optional). This meant, companies with VoIP systems could keep their office phone numbers responsive even when their staff were working from home.

While these technologies can help a great deal to maintain business continuity, you will need the assistance of a reputable MSP to deploy them and also to ensure they are functioning as they are supposed to. Plus, there are always other security concerns that crop up in a remote working environment when you can’t monitor your staff’s IT activities. Your MSP will be able to offer solutions and control mechanisms that can help put those concerns to rest.

Tech agility: A must-have for crisis survival

It is a known fact that survival of any species depends on its ability to adapt to change. One major change for businesses in 2020 was the need to switch to the work-from-home model to keep things running during the time of pandemic. When countries all over the world started imposing lockdown restrictions, companies had no choice but to switch to remote operations if their line of business allowed them to do so. This blog post discusses the key challenges faced by businesses that had failed to adopt the latest technology on time.

Access to critical data and applications

For businesses that didn’t store their key data and applications in the cloud, this was a huge challenge. How do you ensure each of your employees have access to all the business data, programs and apps they need to operate efficiently? Companies that had already adopted the cloud as their core data storage means they didn’t face this challenge: everything was cloud-based and accessible from anywhere, using any internet enabled device (laptops/PCs/tablets/smartphones, etc., )

Cybersecurity concerns

With employees working from home, businesses’ fears of cybersecurity incidents were increased. Cybercriminals, on the other hand, knew full well all the security lacunae that existed in a hurried remote working environment setup and exploited them to the fullest. Industry reports showed that the initial few months of the pandemic saw an increase in cybercrime and related attacks on businesses.

Data loss

For businesses that didn’t operate in the cloud, data loss was another angle to look into. How do you ensure data backup and recovery when your staff is using their personal devices for work? Also, how to ensure they are taking all the precautions necessary to keep the data they are storing on their devices, safe?

Hardware issues

Some businesses provided their employees with work devices at home. For example, employees in some companies were allowed to take their office computers home for work use. But, that still didn’t solve the backup and recovery or cybersecurity challenges entirely, because the management still lacked ways to maintain control over the devices.

Phones

With employees working from home, it was a challenge for many businesses to manage their phone numbers--especially for client facing employees. Businesses with VoIP phone systems could make this transition easily, whereas those still relying on the traditional phone setup had to resort to cell phones and couldn’t use their business numbers for a while.

Key lesson: Move with the times, adopt new technologies, adapt to newer ways of working