tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-54088872565603753892024-03-15T21:12:20.288-04:00The WerksThe Werks is an IT related commentary bringing you the unvarnished truth steeped in a vat of reality. The information contained herein is the opinion and rantings of a 30+ year veteran of the IT industry. This will hopefully give you helpful knowledge untainted by any specific vendor focused kool-aide. Occasionally, you may find that this collection of brain droppings will also give you the laugh you needed to make it through another day locked in the IT gulag. Read-on, brave soldier!Mike Giovaninnihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03035012476793618804noreply@blogger.comBlogger501125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408887256560375389.post-51550537713155619262023-10-16T12:35:00.003-04:002023-10-16T12:35:51.567-04:00Reducing the Challenges of Workforce Collaboration <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCUZpiB4W0TM8GIEKzOBQBbc0BrzLav9YTdU8yOzNrTnlSJfbv3XNGrhdpZUaZ2COgS0qYMS3SukWeg8i6Zpo5lj3r0iUiSycig1fiiUCRlo40XrMSRadwYdRgesArCJVud4_L9q5cnv7t3ZfW842jnMHlMBm90QwHYzFNQrHE8JWlw7VE1jobqRXhgrnf/s2564/44690466_m_normal_none.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Teamwork and Collaboration" border="0" data-original-height="1636" data-original-width="2564" height="374" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCUZpiB4W0TM8GIEKzOBQBbc0BrzLav9YTdU8yOzNrTnlSJfbv3XNGrhdpZUaZ2COgS0qYMS3SukWeg8i6Zpo5lj3r0iUiSycig1fiiUCRlo40XrMSRadwYdRgesArCJVud4_L9q5cnv7t3ZfW842jnMHlMBm90QwHYzFNQrHE8JWlw7VE1jobqRXhgrnf/w588-h374/44690466_m_normal_none.png" width="588" /></a></div><br /><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">How
Do You Reduce Headaches Of Managing Projects (While Saving Money On
IT)?</span></b><p></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">It’s a special kind of relentless attack which all business owners
and managers face: the persistent, crazy, chaotic assault on your time and
attention. No one is immune, and every business deals with it. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">Some leaders handle the constant pressure on their attention
brilliantly, keeping the team organized and highly productive. But most people
struggle with this, They often feel crushed and overwhelmed by all the things
they have to keep track of and do. This goes double if your business is in
growth mode and not “standing still” or casually strolling through its existence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">Add to this a remote workforce, and it can be intensely
difficult to wrap your head around all the projects, to-dos, deadlines and
client deliverables you and your leadership team must manage. Pulling all the pieces together from many different directions is complicated. Keeping things from slipping through the cracks can become a full time job. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">While we as an IT company cannot tell you what projects are
most important, we can absolutely help you and your team stay far more organized. With the right tools it is easy to know if the people on your team are properly aligned,
prioritizing the right work, and focused on their MVP's (Most Vital Priorities).
We can also help you organize communication to lessen the chances of a dropped
ball or a breakdown in communications. In our experience, this is by far the #1 reason why problems
happen in business.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">One of the tools we recommend to clients wanting to regain operational control and experience clearer communication is Microsoft Teams. There are a
lot of reasons why this is a “super tool” for productivity and organizational
alignment, and as a bonus, it typically ends up saving our clients quite a bit
of money on technology. We often find that clients are using multiple channels of communication between different areas of their business. Applications like Slack,
Zoom, and a myriad of popular project management platforms can be replaced by leveraging the power of Microsoft Teams, a core component of Microsoft 365. The result is putting all of these divergent technologies into
one lower-cost, more secure, and more tightly integrated system.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">Let me share just a few of the cool features you’ll love in
Teams. Keep in mind that this list is far from complete. Microsoft Teams has
over 1,900 applications you can pick from to integrate into a Teams Channel to
organize information, workflow, tasks, deadlines and documents. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;"><b>Posts:</b> The “post” feature works a lot like Slack in
that it will allow you to post questions, reminders and status updates to
everyone on that Team regarding that project. This not only keeps ALL
communication for a project in one place, but it creates a history and alerts
everyone on the team to what’s going on. This feature saves a lot of money for
companies using Slack since it’s native and included in Microsoft Teams.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;"><b>Workflow Management:</b> This section of Teams is one of
our favorites because it allows you to create “complex” to-do lists where you
can assign each item to one or more people; have a progress status, priority
and due date; add documents and files; and create a checklist of all the things
that need to be done. Better yet, team members who are responsible for the
project can provide status updates and check off items that are completed so
you know where you are with any given project. If you want to put this part of
Teams on steroids, consider integrating with workflow management apps such as
Tello. One of the challenges, especially in a distributed, remote workforce, is
keeping an effective sense of workflow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Being able to easily assign team members to particular project tasks using
an app like Trello means fewer details fall through the cracks.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;"><b>Video Conferencing:</b> While Teams is not as slick as
Zoom, it does have some features that make it better for team collaboration and
projects. The biggest advantage over Zoom is that you can hold a video
conference, and the recording of the meeting – along with all of the notes,
files and links – will remain in that Team for easy reference later on. This
can be extremely helpful for people who might not have been able to attend a
meeting, making it easy for them to find and watch the recording, and it also
retains a record of critical conversations. Plus, it eliminates expensive Zoom
licenses for all employees because it’s included in Microsoft 365. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;"><b>Business Intelligence:</b> Tracking project goals, data
points, and trends is made easier in the Teams environment when the data mining
and reporting features of Power BI are integrated with the popular collaboration
platform. Embedded interactive reports can help move discussions along and fuel
innovation, growth, and a deeper sense of buy-in.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">These examples only scratch the surface of what you can do with Teams, With such a wide array of integrations, Teams can be
customized to fit most every business to enhance organizational collaboration and control. If
you want to see a demo of Teams or do a cost analysis to see how implementing
this can save your organization money on Slack, Zoom and other project management
platforms by combining it into one application, <u><a href="https://go.scheduleyou.in/E37hXQb?cid=is:~Contact.Id~">click here</a></u>
to schedule a brief call.</span><o:p></o:p></p><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></b><p></p>Mike Giovaninnihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12328279662836448463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408887256560375389.post-43695397825167988392023-10-12T14:58:00.001-04:002023-10-12T14:58:38.207-04:00Who Owns It: Cybersecurity Compliance?<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR-kSmkiOYk4T9XoCEx8CWtVcsJXteEClYHrJ49K7G55md_idL7oNVbYQAA1Bty4s-5nbd_iOg10dwoijOx0HIsK4cu_TIFyrY6QZ7ETurc10NdlmCojT__o5gq4dMhTolxUkkvdFK6ToqDwyznHAo6LZB1Q9xJ2MavuI0XAfiQDaycU0KIb2D5vfYAv_u/s2607/147619177_m_normal_none.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Cybersecurity" border="0" data-original-height="1609" data-original-width="2607" height="348" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR-kSmkiOYk4T9XoCEx8CWtVcsJXteEClYHrJ49K7G55md_idL7oNVbYQAA1Bty4s-5nbd_iOg10dwoijOx0HIsK4cu_TIFyrY6QZ7ETurc10NdlmCojT__o5gq4dMhTolxUkkvdFK6ToqDwyznHAo6LZB1Q9xJ2MavuI0XAfiQDaycU0KIb2D5vfYAv_u/w565-h348/147619177_m_normal_none.png" width="565" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: Lato;"> <b><span style="font-size: 20pt;">Why
Cybersecurity Compliance Doesn’t Belong In The IT Department’s Hands</span></b></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-add-space: auto; mso-para-margin-bottom: 1.0gd; mso-para-margin-left: 0in; mso-para-margin-right: 0in; mso-para-margin-top: 1.0gd;"><span style="font-family: Lato;">What if you discovered that
all of the hard work, investments and time you’ve put into growing your
business is at risk due to a failure of your outsourced IT company, or possibly
even your well-meaning (but overburdened) in-house IT department? If you were
exposed to that level of risk, wouldn’t you want someone to tell you about it?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-add-space: auto; mso-para-margin-bottom: .0001pt; mso-para-margin-bottom: 1.0gd; mso-para-margin-left: 0in; mso-para-margin-right: 0in; mso-para-margin-top: 1.0gd;"><span style="font-family: Lato;">This article
is that wake-up call.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-add-space: auto; mso-para-margin-bottom: .0001pt; mso-para-margin-bottom: 1.0gd; mso-para-margin-left: 0in; mso-para-margin-right: 0in; mso-para-margin-top: 1.0gd;"><span style="font-family: Lato;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-add-space: auto; mso-para-margin-bottom: .0001pt; mso-para-margin-bottom: 1.0gd; mso-para-margin-left: 0in; mso-para-margin-right: 0in; mso-para-margin-top: 1.0gd;"><span style="font-family: Lato;">Over the last
several years, the risks associated with cyber security attacks have grown in
magnitude. They are no longer a low-probability hazard that will result in a
minor inconvenience. Businesses of all sizes and types are getting hacked and
losing hundreds of thousands of dollars, or even multiple millions, in addition
to suffering significant reputational damage and loss of customer goodwill. For
some, it’s a business-ending event. For nearly everyone else, it’s a
significant financial disaster that can negatively impact profits and revenue
for years. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-add-space: auto; mso-para-margin-bottom: .0001pt; mso-para-margin-bottom: 1.0gd; mso-para-margin-left: 0in; mso-para-margin-right: 0in; mso-para-margin-top: 1.0gd;"><span style="font-family: Lato;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-add-space: auto; mso-para-margin-bottom: .0001pt; mso-para-margin-bottom: 1.0gd; mso-para-margin-left: 0in; mso-para-margin-right: 0in; mso-para-margin-top: 1.0gd;"><span style="font-family: Lato;">Yet too many
CEOs and small business owners are still abdicating critical decisions regarding
risk tolerance and compliance policies to their IT company or IT department
when these decisions never really belonged there. For many organizations, they
rely on the basic risk assessments offered by external IT companies as enough
information to base what amount to policy decisions. It is not enough. They do a commendable job
assessing one facet of risk, typically the technology side of things, yet leave
the people and process components to their own devices. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-add-space: auto; mso-para-margin-bottom: .0001pt; mso-para-margin-bottom: 1.0gd; mso-para-margin-left: 0in; mso-para-margin-right: 0in; mso-para-margin-top: 1.0gd;"><span style="font-family: Lato;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-add-space: auto; mso-para-margin-bottom: .0001pt; mso-para-margin-bottom: 1.0gd; mso-para-margin-left: 0in; mso-para-margin-right: 0in; mso-para-margin-top: 1.0gd;"><span style="font-family: Lato;">Here's a good
example: Let’s suppose you have an employee who refuses to comply with your data
security and password policies. They also consistently avoid taking the
proscribed cyber security awareness training. These deficiencies put your
company at risk for a cyber-attack and compliance violation. This is clearly a
People and Process problem. Should your IT manager or IT company discipline
this employee? <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-add-space: auto; mso-para-margin-bottom: .0001pt; mso-para-margin-bottom: 1.0gd; mso-para-margin-left: 0in; mso-para-margin-right: 0in; mso-para-margin-top: 1.0gd;"><span style="font-family: Lato;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-add-space: auto; mso-para-margin-bottom: .0001pt; mso-para-margin-bottom: 1.0gd; mso-para-margin-left: 0in; mso-para-margin-right: 0in; mso-para-margin-top: 1.0gd;"><span style="font-family: Lato;">Is it sensible
for the CEO to abdicate a response to what is purely a culture problem to their
IT department? If you say yes, the question is, when was the last time you met
with them to specifically address this issue and direct them on how to monitor
and manage it? Likely never – or once, a very long time ago.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-add-space: auto; mso-para-margin-bottom: .0001pt; mso-para-margin-bottom: 1.0gd; mso-para-margin-left: 0in; mso-para-margin-right: 0in; mso-para-margin-top: 1.0gd;"><span style="font-family: Lato;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-add-space: auto; mso-para-margin-bottom: .0001pt; mso-para-margin-bottom: 1.0gd; mso-para-margin-left: 0in; mso-para-margin-right: 0in; mso-para-margin-top: 1.0gd;"><span style="font-family: Lato;">Therein lies
the problem. Most CEOs would agree that it’s not up to the IT department to
make that call. And yet, many of these same CEOs leave it entirely up to the IT
department (or outsourced IT company) to handle the situation and make
decisions about what is and isn’t allowed, how much risk they want to take,
etc. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-add-space: auto; mso-para-margin-bottom: .0001pt; mso-para-margin-bottom: 1.0gd; mso-para-margin-left: 0in; mso-para-margin-right: 0in; mso-para-margin-top: 1.0gd;"><span style="font-family: Lato;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-add-space: auto; mso-para-margin-bottom: .0001pt; mso-para-margin-bottom: 1.0gd; mso-para-margin-left: 0in; mso-para-margin-right: 0in; mso-para-margin-top: 1.0gd;"><span style="font-family: Lato;">Worse yet,
many CEOs aren’t even aware that they SHOULD have such policies in place to
ensure their company isn’t compromised or at risk – and it’s not necessarily
your IT person’s job to determine what should or shouldn’t be allowed. That’s clearly
the responsibility of the CEO. Culture starts at the top.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-add-space: auto; mso-para-margin-bottom: .0001pt; mso-para-margin-bottom: 1.0gd; mso-para-margin-left: 0in; mso-para-margin-right: 0in; mso-para-margin-top: 1.0gd;"><span style="font-family: Lato;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-add-space: auto; mso-para-margin-bottom: .0001pt; mso-para-margin-bottom: 1.0gd; mso-para-margin-left: 0in; mso-para-margin-right: 0in; mso-para-margin-top: 1.0gd;"><span style="font-family: Lato;">As another
example, many companies have invested in cyber liability, ransomware, or crime
insurance policies to provide financial relief in the event of a cyber-attack.
The logic here is to cover the exorbitant legal, IT, and related cleanup costs
that result when such an event occurs. Yet our experience shows that most
insurance agents and brokers do not understand and cannot convey to the CEOs to
whom they are selling a policy what the IT requirements needed to secure a
policy. Therefore, they never advise their client to make sure they get with
their IT provider or internal IT to ENSURE the right protocols are in place, or
risk having coverage denied for failure to comply with the requirements in the
policy they just sold them.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-add-space: auto; mso-para-margin-bottom: .0001pt; mso-para-margin-bottom: 1.0gd; mso-para-margin-left: 0in; mso-para-margin-right: 0in; mso-para-margin-top: 1.0gd;"><span style="font-family: Lato;"><br /><o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjbZM09_TzxHLt_H5Mrr3KVt9yosvShUJPw03-36UMqSTIHCrMxXkqUf8HI0pQ1RP-Oh-rrhpAW-sz-n6UZWi47_7rX0rw7DfaQxoV5fBZX5WSleu9e0yd6RGCugDDbdBf78MV0fWDQcvDax5FsrBCV5mtomDRjTLzSYINBbDN9UzgHn8yvN01DfEy_tj4/s2632/148711969_m_normal_none.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Cyber Insurance" border="0" data-original-height="1594" data-original-width="2632" height="171" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjbZM09_TzxHLt_H5Mrr3KVt9yosvShUJPw03-36UMqSTIHCrMxXkqUf8HI0pQ1RP-Oh-rrhpAW-sz-n6UZWi47_7rX0rw7DfaQxoV5fBZX5WSleu9e0yd6RGCugDDbdBf78MV0fWDQcvDax5FsrBCV5mtomDRjTLzSYINBbDN9UzgHn8yvN01DfEy_tj4/w282-h171/148711969_m_normal_none.png" width="282" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-add-space: auto; mso-para-margin-bottom: .0001pt; mso-para-margin-bottom: 1.0gd; mso-para-margin-left: 0in; mso-para-margin-right: 0in; mso-para-margin-top: 1.0gd;"><span style="font-family: Lato;"> </span><span style="font-family: Lato;">When a cyber
event occurs and the claim gets denied, whose fault is it? The insurance agent
for not warning you? Your IT department or company for not putting in place
protocols they weren’t even briefed on? Ultimately, it’s on you, which is why you
as the CEO must make sure that decisions impacting the risk to your
organization are informed ones, not decisions made by default.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-add-space: auto; mso-para-margin-bottom: .0001pt; mso-para-margin-bottom: 1.0gd; mso-para-margin-left: 0in; mso-para-margin-right: 0in; mso-para-margin-top: 1.0gd;"><span style="font-family: Lato;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-add-space: auto; mso-para-margin-bottom: .0001pt; mso-para-margin-bottom: 1.0gd; mso-para-margin-left: 0in; mso-para-margin-right: 0in; mso-para-margin-top: 1.0gd;"><span style="font-family: Lato;">Of course, a
great IT company will bring these issues to your attention and offer guidance,
but most are just keeping the “lights” on and the systems up, NOT consulting
their clients on enterprise risk and legal compliance. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-add-space: auto; mso-para-margin-bottom: .0001pt; mso-para-margin-bottom: 1.0gd; mso-para-margin-left: 0in; mso-para-margin-right: 0in; mso-para-margin-top: 1.0gd;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Lato;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-add-space: auto; mso-para-margin-bottom: .0001pt; mso-para-margin-bottom: 1.0gd; mso-para-margin-left: 0in; mso-para-margin-right: 0in; mso-para-margin-top: 1.0gd;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Lato;">If you want to make sure your organization is prepared
for and protected from the aftermath of a cyber-attack, </span></span><span style="font-family: Lato; font-size: 16px;">call (413) 786-9675</span><span style="font-family: Lato; font-size: 16px;"> or </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Lato;"><a href="https://go.scheduleyou.in/AUHG8uSM?cid=is:~Contact.Id~">click here</a> </span></span><span style="font-family: Lato;"> to schedule a private consultation</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Lato;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Lato;">with one of our compliance advisors about your
concerns. It’s free of charge and may be extremely eye-opening for you</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Lato;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Lato;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Lato;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Lato;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Lato;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Lato;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Lato;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Lato;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Lato;"><br /></span></span></p>Mike Giovaninnihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12328279662836448463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408887256560375389.post-67657343504263414742023-09-27T11:26:00.003-04:002023-09-27T11:26:55.005-04:00MOVEit over? Not just yet!<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNHxQ6AvfUf-xWKBy8BRiGtb6hymQGGOkLR7O7VPLy4-tB3ZjpR-AwBTnKrPQN4zr-e5A4kZuMexL5kLEdAS4LWARi3DJzTMiXDLeyLFFkGyLaO3jDWfsSLaavtipPL65WfbfgoPPYl8UnEXsvhE0FAohHBz-KAsEjmHRLU-kxgVltGjnotPUf0kXUCmac/s2613/139457161_m_normal_none.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1605" data-original-width="2613" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNHxQ6AvfUf-xWKBy8BRiGtb6hymQGGOkLR7O7VPLy4-tB3ZjpR-AwBTnKrPQN4zr-e5A4kZuMexL5kLEdAS4LWARi3DJzTMiXDLeyLFFkGyLaO3jDWfsSLaavtipPL65WfbfgoPPYl8UnEXsvhE0FAohHBz-KAsEjmHRLU-kxgVltGjnotPUf0kXUCmac/w589-h242/139457161_m_normal_none.png" width="589" /></a></div><b><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Lato;"><p><b><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Lato;">This HUGE
And Recent Data Breach Practically Guarantees YOUR Personal Information Was
Stolen</span></span></b></p></span></span></b><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">Back in May, the company MOVEit, a file transfer platform
made by Progress Software, was compromised by a Russian ransomware operation
called Cl0p. They used a vulnerability in Progress’s software that was unknown
to exist at the time. Shortly after the attack was noticed, a patch was issued.
However, some users continued to be attacked because they didn’t install it. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">The software is used by thousands of governments and
financial institutions and hundreds of other public and private companies from
around the world, and it’s been estimated that at least 455 organizations and over
23 MILLION individuals who were customers of MOVEit have had their information stolen.
As the days, weeks, and months pass, more affected business and government
agencies have indicated that they, too, were compromised.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">Some of these organizations include:</span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: Lato; text-indent: -0.25in;"> The US Department of Energy</span></li><li><span style="font-family: Lato;"><span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><!--[endif]-->New York City Department of Education</span></li><li><span style="font-family: Lato;"><span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><!--[endif]-->UCLA</span></li><li><span style="font-family: Lato;"><span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><!--[endif]-->Shell</span></li><li><span style="font-family: Lato;"><span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><!--[endif]-->Ernst & Young</span></li><li><span style="font-family: Lato;"><span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><!--[endif]-->Northwest Mutual</span></li><li><span style="font-family: Lato;"><span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><!--[endif]-->Pacific Premier Bank</span></li><li><span style="font-family: Lato;"><span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><!--[endif]-->TransAmerica Life Insurance </span></li><li><span style="font-family: Lato;"><span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><!--[endif]-->Honeywell</span></li><li><span style="font-family: Lato;"><span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><!--[endif]-->Bristol Myers Squibb</span></li><li><span style="font-family: Lato;"><span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><!--[endif]-->Gen/Norton LifeLock</span></li><li><span style="font-family: Lato;"><span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><!--[endif]-->Radisson Hotel</span></li><li><span style="font-family: Lato;"><span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><!--[endif]-->BBC</span></li><li><span style="font-family: Lato;"><span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><!--[endif]-->British Airways</span></li></ul><!--[if !supportLists]--><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">The majority of those organizations (73%) are based in the
US, while the rest are international, with the most heavily impacted sectors
being finance, professional services and educational institutions.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">Cl0p is a type of ransomware that has been used in cyber-attacks
since 2019. Data stolen is published to a site on the dark web – a section of
the worldwide web where cybercriminals sell and trade information without
having to reveal themselves. The ransomware and website have been linked to
FIN11, a financially motivated cybercrime operation that has been connected to
both Russia and Ukraine and is believed to be part of a larger umbrella
operation known as TA505.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">What makes this attack so terrible is that many of the
organizations compromised provide services to many other companies and
government entities, which means it’s very likely their customers, patients, taxpayers
and students were compromised by association. As more victims come into the
light, the chances of the breach impacting millions more is imminent. And yes,
you’re probably one of them. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">The big question is, were you notified?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">For some reason, this breach didn’t make mainstream
headlines, often only during the late news cycle when only those of us with
insomnia were watching. The truth is,
however, when a company is compromised, they are obligated to tell you if your
data was stolen. This can come in the form of an e-mail or snail mail letter.
However, due to spam filters, e-mail delivery is clearly not a reliable way to
ensure an important message is received. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">And, how many pieces of junk mail do you receive in your home mailbox that
never make it to the door, but rather wind up in the waste bin? Unless it is
clearly marked from an organization you recognize there is a pretty good chance
that it will not be opened in a timely manner, if at all. Let’s face it, the
logistics of organizing a letter for over 36 million people can take time. Just
like that proverbial check, the notification letters may still be “in the mail”.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;"><b>What to do:</b> If you suspect that your account credentials may
be among those compromised (and they probably are), you need to ensure that all
your passwords and PINs are changed ASAP! You must also be on the lookout for
any strange activity. Don’t use the same passwords and make sure they are at
least 12 or more characters long, using uppercase and lowercase letters, as
well as special characters and numbers. If you do not already used one,
consider a password management application like Keeper which will allow you to
use longer, more challenging passwords without losing your mind. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">You should also ensure that MFA, or multifactor
authentication, is turned on for all critical software applications and
websites you use, such as Microsoft Office, QuickBooks, banking and payroll
software, your credit card processor, etc.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Lato;">Want to know if your company’s information is on
the dark web? <b><a href="https://go.scheduleyou.in/E37hXQb?cid=is:~Contact.Id~">Click
here to request a free Dark Web Vulnerability Scan</a></b> for your
organization (sorry, we don’t offer this for individuals). Simply let us know
your domain name and we’ll conduct the search for free and contact you to
discuss what was found via a confidential review (NOT via e-mail). Questions?
Call us at 413-786-9675.</span></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span>Mike Giovaninnihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12328279662836448463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408887256560375389.post-69881528660875584092023-09-06T18:06:00.004-04:002023-09-06T18:06:48.213-04:007 Quick Fixes To Fix SLOW Home Wi-Fi<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVhsF7k8yJ7IdRH3tSXUhn1Hd7LyUb9yYv1nWp6IY6E4pNfTnoTeNBZeXZnHgwEBgtTJsas45pQTjAH4DM7FoWR6jWrSs-JkC0F9FsIrl32Oo09RnNpn3-B6gLcuX9yJteaJLlKAys-XqyOPaVJiVvKl_nV_pZP3bSM3xJtAmYMNlCQtM5k-K0aHGN02oy/s2507/108287642_m_normal_none.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1673" data-original-width="2507" height="388" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVhsF7k8yJ7IdRH3tSXUhn1Hd7LyUb9yYv1nWp6IY6E4pNfTnoTeNBZeXZnHgwEBgtTJsas45pQTjAH4DM7FoWR6jWrSs-JkC0F9FsIrl32Oo09RnNpn3-B6gLcuX9yJteaJLlKAys-XqyOPaVJiVvKl_nV_pZP3bSM3xJtAmYMNlCQtM5k-K0aHGN02oy/w580-h388/108287642_m_normal_none.png" width="580" /></a></div><span style="font-size: large;"><p><br /><span style="font-family: Lato;">7 Quick Fixes To Fix SLOW Home Wi-Fi<br /><span style="font-size: large;">(or.. How to claw your way out of the pit of frustration)</span></span></p></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">Nothing is more aggravating than attempting to watch a video
or use your PC when the Internet is operating slower than molasses flowing
uphill in winter. Well.. maybe getting disconnected from your big sales pitch
video conference when working from home might trump binge watching the latest
hit shows just a little bit.. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">For our clients, we have many solutions to make your Internet
connection faster, more reliable and secure. But what about at your home?
Spotty, unreliable Wi-Fi is almost certain to happen at the most inconvenient
time, like when you’re about to watch a great movie on a Friday night.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">Here are our top 7 fixes for slow home WiFi signals.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;"><b>Step 1: Make sure your Internet Service Provider (ISP)
isn’t having issues.</b> Most ISPs will have outages published on their website.
It is best to check this using your phone’s mobile network instead of your home
Wi-Fi. If there are no outages or known problems, you can move on to the next
steps.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">Side Note: If you haven’t talked to your ISP in over a year,
you should call and see if they have new plans that will give you more
bandwidth for less money. You might also shop other providers to see if they
have recently upgraded their network and can offer better, faster service than
your current ISP.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;"><b>Step 2: Update your router, especially if you haven’t
done so in the last 2 to 3 months.</b> This will not only reset your router
with the latest (and fastest) connection speeds but also ensure you’re
up-to-date with security patches and other preventative programs. You might
just reboot it as well, powering it off and on again. Sometimes that’s enough
to fix the problem. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">I would also suggest you get a new router if yours is over 3
years old. Aim for one with Wi-Fi 6 and dual or triple band capabilities, which
allows your router to connect with multiple devices without sacrificing any
speed or bandwidth. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;"><b>Step 3: Change the channel.</b> Download the app Network
Analyzer to help find the most appropriate channel for your connection. If
you’re using the 2.4 GHz frequency, change to another less “noisy” channel. How
you do this depends on the brand and model of your router, so refer to your
router’s manufacturer for details. 2.4G signals can be impacted by other
devices in that wireless range. With more home appliances connected to the net
(and most often on 2.4G bands), your network can quickly become saturated.
Also, some home appliances like microwave ovens when in use can disrupt a 2.4G
WiFi signal.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;"><b>Step 4: Upgrade to a mesh Wi-Fi router.</b> When too many
devices connect, Internet speeds decline. One option is to <span data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="" data-darkreader-inline-bgimage="" data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-bgcolor: #181a1b; --darkreader-inline-bgimage: initial; --darkreader-inline-color: #e8e6e3; background: white; color: black;">get
a mesh router like NETGEAR’s Orbi Mesh, Asus ZenWiFi AX (XT8), or Eero Pro 6E Mesh
from Amazon. Unlike a traditional router which broadcasts it’s signal
from a single device, a mesh system uses multiple devices to balance loads
among many points of entry. In smaller homes, upgrading to a single, more
expensive router like a Nighthawk could help. One downside of mesh systems:
they struggle in old homes such as Victorian era construction due to the density
of the building materials used.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;"><b>Step 5: Turn on QoS, or Quality of Service.</b> This is a
router feature that lets you prioritize traffic and apps, such as Zoom or
gaming programs. Essentially, your router will prioritize certain uses over
others. Of course, how this is done varies by router, so you’ll have to check
your router’s manual for details. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;"><b>Step 6: Check that you haven’t been compromised.</b> If
your Wi-Fi network is open without security or is using WEP, WPA or WPA2,
change your settings immediately. Go with WPA3 encryption (which is the most
secure) and disable any remote management options on your router. Viruses and
hacks can suck up resources and may be the reason for your network grinding to
a halt. Also, make sure your devices firmware is up to date and you have changed
the default password to a complex password with more than 12 characters (we
recommend 20 or more characters).<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;"><b>Step 7: Change your router’s location.</b> The basement
might not be the best place to store your router. Try placing it up high and as
close to the center of your home as possible, free from obstructions and
appliances, mirrors, concrete walls and metal materials that can cause signals
to bounce or be blocked. If you put your router on a wall of your house, your
signal is only impacting half of your home. If you have a large house, you will
probably need to invest in Wi-Fi extenders around the house to boost the
signal.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p>
<span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Lato;">If your business Wi-Fi is slow, spotty and
problematic, <b><a href="https://go.scheduleyou.in/E37hXQb?cid=is:~Contact.Id~">click
here</a></b> to request a free diagnostic of your office Internet connection to
see what’s causing the problems you’re experiencing. Obviously, business Wi-Fi
is more important than home Wi-Fi and can cost you in untold frustration and
low productivity if not fixed. Contact us today at 413-786-9675!</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>Mike Giovaninnihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12328279662836448463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408887256560375389.post-16478454597182188252023-08-30T11:06:00.000-04:002023-08-30T11:06:06.417-04:00Are Your Business Tools Ticking Time Bombs For A Cyber-Attack?<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifO1Qzupz5qcBTplDEy7Alm-WVhy8UI4VxudhNfSCNJytMt6tzK9CwP2GgayltIbqzuoEDvJVgqkcJhR4aE9kcK-UhFY9d5xVcQgGwS5RNPIcRei_zEIxoDb_U-XT2381jgwI9WmfnDF8g4LHOkGR3_ZtKvjSZ9OlN826NulA5RaNpg3-oppf9H63Z_FEA/s2896/60586178_m_normal_none.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1448" data-original-width="2896" height="302" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifO1Qzupz5qcBTplDEy7Alm-WVhy8UI4VxudhNfSCNJytMt6tzK9CwP2GgayltIbqzuoEDvJVgqkcJhR4aE9kcK-UhFY9d5xVcQgGwS5RNPIcRei_zEIxoDb_U-XT2381jgwI9WmfnDF8g4LHOkGR3_ZtKvjSZ9OlN826NulA5RaNpg3-oppf9H63Z_FEA/w603-h302/60586178_m_normal_none.png" width="603" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: Lato;"> Business Risk Starts Within...</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: Lato;">In June a popular file-sharing software amongst big-name
companies likes Shell, Siemens Energy, Sony, several large law firms, a number
of US federal agencies such as the Department of Health and more was hacked by
Russia-linked cybercrime group Cl0p. In its <a href="https://www.securityweek.com/nearly-1000-organizations-60-million-individuals-impacted-by-moveit-hack/">August
24 article</a>, <i>Security Magazine</i> reported that, to date, there are 988 known
companies impacted by the breach, resulting in the personal information of more
than 59 million people being compromised. More are expected to emerge as the
investigation continues.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">If you’re reading that list of company names thinking, “I’m
just a small business compared to these big guys – that won’t happen to me,”
we’ve got news for you. Many of these companies have cyber security budgets in
the millions, and it still happened to them, not because they were ignoring the
importance of cyber security, but because of a piece of software they use to
run their business.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">Progress Software’s MOVEit, ironically advertised as a tool
you can use to “securely share files across the enterprise and globally,”
“reduce the risk of data loss” and “assure regulatory compliance,” was
exploited by a tactic called a zero-day attack. This occurs when there is a
flaw in the application that creates a gap in security and has no available
patch or defense because the software maker doesn’t know it exists. Cybercriminals
quickly release malware to exploit the vulnerability before the software maker
can patch it, essentially giving them “zero days” to respond.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="font-family: Lato;">These attacks are dangerous because they are difficult to
prevent and can quickly and easily ruin smaller businesses.</b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">Depending on the organization’s motives, the stolen data can
be deleted, held for ransom or sold on the dark web. Or, if you are lucky
enough to recover your data, you might still end up paying out thousands or
more in fines and lawsuits, losing money from downtime and coming out on the
other end with a damaged reputation that causes clients to leave anyway. In
MOVEit’s case, the cybercrime agency Cl0p has claimed on their website that
their motivation is purely financial and has allegedly deleted data obtained
from government agencies as they were not the intended targets.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: Lato;">What does this mean for small businesses?</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">For starters, it underlines the harsh reality that cyber security
isn’t just the concern of big businesses and government agencies. In fact,
small businesses can be more vulnerable to cyber-attacks, as they often dedicate
fewer resources to protection. While the small business might think that no one
is interested in their data, the threat actors know that it is important to the
business owner and their clients. Using that leverage, either through ransomware
or extortion, the threat actor often wins. Again, their motivations are most
often purely financial in nature.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">It also means that even if your organization is secure, the
third-party vendors you work with and the tools you choose to use in your
business still pose potential risks. Most of MOVEit’s customers that were
affected likely had strong cyber security measures in place. Even though it was
no direct fault of their own, at the end of the day, those companies still must
go back to their clients, disclose what happened and take the verbal, legal and
financial beating that comes with a data breach.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">The MOVEit hack serves as a grim reminder of the critical
importance of cyber security for businesses of all sizes.</span><b style="font-family: Lato;"> </b><span style="font-family: Lato;">In the face of
an increasingly sophisticated and fast-moving cyberthreat landscape, businesses
cannot afford to ignore these risks. Cyber security must be an ongoing effort,
involving regular assessments, updates, monitoring, training and more. As this
terrible incident shows, a single vulnerability can lead to a catastrophic
breach with severe implications for the business and its customers.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: Lato;">In the digital age, cyber security isn’t just a technical
issue – it’s a business imperative.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">An important facet of creating a cybersecurity aware culture
in your organization is to ensure that all your business tools, service
providers, and third party resources have been evaluated to determine what
level of risk they impose on your organization. From there, determine what
controls must be implemented to minimize that risk. When you consider your
current IT provider, to what extent do THEY protect themselves from becoming a
headache for you?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">If you have ANY concerns about your own business or simply
want to have a second set of eyes examine your network for vulnerabilities, we
offer a FREE, objective Cyber Security Risk Assessment.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://go.scheduleyou.in/uKbxWZ" style="font-family: Lato;">Click here</a><span style="font-family: Lato;"> to
schedule a quick consultation to discuss your current situation and get an
assessment on the schedule.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>Mike Giovaninnihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12328279662836448463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408887256560375389.post-84077710309287000532023-08-29T10:59:00.002-04:002023-08-29T10:59:51.484-04:00The Key To Scaling Your Company Efficiently<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLNGiEgvjdYnE5R8xKUvJA2pWoYpguDKzGsjvTJhKDaiOIVG0pzPQ7nh96fBvCDqC2pygOULKwQaKyh2Z1XKilAtU670MbxUgoXSB1ReRtu4LkozQeWp6IJ_BKIORBOlkjLSnheLDtB6lvn95jiwf4cFfwrqNMSF_O67jXmFC21YBDiRxsdvlWb-HClK_4/s2509/77226550_m_normal_none.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1672" data-original-width="2509" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLNGiEgvjdYnE5R8xKUvJA2pWoYpguDKzGsjvTJhKDaiOIVG0pzPQ7nh96fBvCDqC2pygOULKwQaKyh2Z1XKilAtU670MbxUgoXSB1ReRtu4LkozQeWp6IJ_BKIORBOlkjLSnheLDtB6lvn95jiwf4cFfwrqNMSF_O67jXmFC21YBDiRxsdvlWb-HClK_4/w602-h400/77226550_m_normal_none.png" width="602" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: Lato;"><span data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-color: #e8e6e3; color: black;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>As a
business owner</b></span></span><span data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-color: #e8e6e3; color: black; font-size: 11pt;">, you know that continuous, steady growth is an essential part of
success. When you’re ready to get serious about scaling your organization,
several vital activities must happen. Documented workflows and processes,
streamlined hiring, onboarding and training, well-oiled marketing systems and
more top the list. One key but often overlooked element of scaling success that
can make or break your efforts is leveraging technology to enhance operations
quickly, efficiently, and cost-effectively.</span></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-color: #e8e6e3; color: black; font-family: Lato; font-size: 11pt;">With
the realization of Covid-19 causing a major shift from office-based to
distributed workforces, many companies were caught flat-footed. With much of
their corporate culture driven by internal, on-premise systems, the lift and
shift from on-premise to remote work posed unanticipated constraints on pivoting
to the new normal. This became the Achilles Heel for many businesses. As we
look in the rear-view mirror at a challenge that, sadly, resulted in the downfall
of many small to mid-sized businesses, we need to look at the lessons learned.
This relates directly to businesses looking to grow.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-color: #e8e6e3; color: black; font-family: Lato; font-size: 11pt;">As
history taught us, flexibility is a must for a business to thrive and grow in
today’s economy. When we look at the available options of how to use technology
as a leverage point for growth, one resource we can’t overlook is implementing cloud
based systems and resources. The cloud, which now integrates with numerous AI
tools, giving it more capabilities than ever before, allows you to streamline
and automate your operations without large, unnecessary investments.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-color: #e8e6e3; color: black; font-family: Lato; font-size: 11pt;">In
this article we’ll cover what the cloud is, the major benefits you should take
advantage of and how you can use it to grow your organization without
overspending.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-color: #e8e6e3; color: black; font-family: Lato; font-size: 11pt;">The
cloud is simply a global infrastructure of servers that gives you remote,
on-demand access to both applications (think Microsoft 365), as well as computer
system resources, including cloud based servers, workstations, and data storage.
Cloud based resources are in most cases virtual systems run on in data center
and accessed over the Internet instead of on your computer’s hard drive. With
these capabilities, your business doesn’t need to invest in its own hardware or
perpetual software licenses, allowing you to pay only for what you use when you
use it. Software and hardware can be expensive, making this a great solution
for businesses in growth mode without unlimited budgets.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-color: #e8e6e3; color: black; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Lato;">How can the cloud help your organization? Here are 5 benefits to
consider:</span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li><span data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-color: #e8e6e3; color: black; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Lato;"><b>E</b></span></span><b style="font-family: Lato; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-color: #e8e6e3; color: black; font-size: 11pt;">conomies of Scale –</span></b><span data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-color: #e8e6e3; color: black; font-family: Lato; font-size: 11pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"> As mentioned, with most
cloud-based programs you can expand the services as your business grows. When
revenue increases and you take on more clients, you can choose to upgrade your
services or invest in new features or capabilities, so you never pay for more
than you need at the time. It takes only a few clicks from an administrator.</span></li><li><b style="font-family: Lato; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-color: #e8e6e3; color: black; font-size: 11pt;">Enhanced Collaboration</span></b><span data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-color: #e8e6e3; color: black; font-family: Lato; font-size: 11pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"> – In a digital world, we need
real-time access to tools for collaboration, no matter where our employees are.
Cloud-based programs can typically be accessed anywhere in the world on any
device by multiple members of the team simultaneously. This allows for
colleagues to work on projects together even if they aren’t in a physical
office or are in different time zones, increasing productivity all around.</span></li><li><b style="font-family: Lato; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-color: #e8e6e3; color: black; font-size: 11pt;">Increased Automation </span></b><span data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-color: #e8e6e3; color: black; font-family: Lato; font-size: 11pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">– You can save money and your
employees’ time by having cloud-based programs automate certain repeatable
tasks such as regular backups, logging and monitoring networks, resource
allocation and much more. <b>Most business owners don’t know how many tasks
they can automate or how much money and time they can save until they have an
IT professional review their network.</b></span></li><li><b style="font-family: Lato; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-color: #e8e6e3; color: black; font-size: 11pt;">Faster Access to Resources </span></b><span data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-color: #e8e6e3; color: black; font-family: Lato; font-size: 11pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">– With the cloud, your employees
no longer have to wait for extensive downloads or installations. Most tools are
readily available instantly, making it easier and faster to get work done.</span></li><li><b style="font-family: Lato; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-color: #e8e6e3; color: black; font-size: 11pt;">Reduced Disaster Recovery Costs </span></b><span data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-color: #e8e6e3; color: black; font-family: Lato; font-size: 11pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">– Disasters rarely damage
cloud-based data and assets that are hosted virtually on servers, not on
hardware in the office. <b>Your IT professional should have multiple backups of
your data, so if something goes wrong, it will be easy to get it back up and
running.</b></span></li></ol><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">Cloud-based programs are a great resource for business owners who
want to scale. They are generally easy to use, simple and flexible to expand,
cost-effective, great for collaboration, more secure than other programs, and
much more.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">If you think you’re not harnessing all the power that cloud tools
provide, you’re probably not. The best next step is to have an IT professional
do an in-depth review of your current network to find the areas of opportunity
in your business.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato; font-size: 12pt;">We offer a FREE
Network Assessment, where we’ll extensively review your network and sit down
with you to review what should be done differently to save you money and
enhance your business operations. If you’re serious about scaling and want to
do it the right way, </span><a href="http://go.scheduleyou.in/E37hXQb?cid=is:~Contact.Id~" style="font-family: Lato; font-size: 12pt;">click here</a><span style="font-family: Lato; font-size: 12pt;"> to
book a Network Assessment with our team or call our office at (413) 786-9675 to
get a meeting on the schedule. </span></p>Mike Giovaninnihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12328279662836448463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408887256560375389.post-33827004899626429562023-08-14T23:14:00.002-04:002023-08-14T23:14:56.499-04:00Best Kept Secrets About Cyber-Liability Insurance<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEim94c3wR3GyrPqs_w5fEO2g8sGseTJ61iUvcKC-J4dXQCE2SvimGHKsNBvmPkcifQi4VzGS5tOzfcB1fZptnWFUrNGJ9iwaCEckQbhOhwyrr0Sc69Vcmu13AX2ebimk7TtvdDjZ3cwzyN5KKn4K2lIeoIdLXHFk9Q0xkc1UhMnrJOYo2XjC2wxeNbFSv/s2508/91792041_m_normal_none.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1672" data-original-width="2508" height="379" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEim94c3wR3GyrPqs_w5fEO2g8sGseTJ61iUvcKC-J4dXQCE2SvimGHKsNBvmPkcifQi4VzGS5tOzfcB1fZptnWFUrNGJ9iwaCEckQbhOhwyrr0Sc69Vcmu13AX2ebimk7TtvdDjZ3cwzyN5KKn4K2lIeoIdLXHFk9Q0xkc1UhMnrJOYo2XjC2wxeNbFSv/w569-h379/91792041_m_normal_none.png" width="569" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Lato;">Warning: The
Hole In Your Cyber-Insurance Policy That Could Result In Your Claim Being
Denied Coverage<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">You’ve all heard the stats – small businesses are the #1
target for cybercriminals because they’re easy targets. A recent article in <i>Security
Magazine</i> reports that nearly two-thirds (63%) of small businesses have
experienced a cyber-attack and 58% an actual breach. What many still don’t
understand (or simply don’t appreciate) is how much a cyber-attack can cost
you.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">That’s why one of the fastest-growing categories in
insurance is cyber liability. Cyber liability covers the massive costs
associated with a breach, which may include the following, depending on your
policy:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: Lato; text-indent: -0.25in;">Legal fees to handle any number of lawsuits,
including class action litigation against your organization, as well as fines
and penalties incurred by a regulatory investigation by government and law
enforcement agencies.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: Lato; text-indent: -0.25in;">Negotiation and payment of a ransomware demand.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: Lato; text-indent: -0.25in;">Data restoration and emergency IT fees to
recover your network and get it operational again.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: Lato; text-indent: -0.25in;">Customer notifications and credit and identity
theft monitoring for clients and employees.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: Lato; text-indent: -0.25in;">Public relations expertise and call center costs
for taking inbound calls and questions.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: Lato; text-indent: -0.25in;">Loss of revenue related to being unable to
transact; if your operations and data are frozen, you might not be able to
process sales and deliver goods and services for days or weeks.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: Lato; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="font-family: Lato; text-indent: -0.25in;">Errors and omissions to cover liability related
to a failure to perform and deliver services to customers, as well as
allegations of negligence in protecting your customers’ data.</span></li></ul><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">If you want to make sure you don’t lose everything you
worked so hard for to a cyber scumbag, cyber liability is a very important part
of protecting your assets. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;"><b>Here’s the new reality, and what you need to know:</b> In
order to get coverage, businesses are required by insurance companies to
implement much more robust and comprehensive cyber-protections. Obviously, the
insurers want the companies they are underwriting to reduce the chances and the
overall financial impact of a devastating cyber-attack so they don’t have to
pay out – and this is where you need to pay attention.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">MANY business owners are signing (verifying) that they DO
have such policies and protections in place, such as 2FA, a strength of
password requirement, employee awareness training and data recovery and
backups, but aren’t actually implementing them, because they assume their IT
company or person knows this and is doing what is outlined in the policy. Not
so in many cases.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">Unless cyber security is your area of expertise, it’s very
easy for you to misrepresent and make false statements in the application for
insurance, which can lead to your being denied coverage in the event of an
attack and having your policy rescinded. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;"><b>If you have cyber liability or similar insurance policies
in place, I urge you to revisit the application you completed with your IT
person or company to make absolutely certain they are doing everything you
represented and affirmed you are doing.</b> Your insurance agent or broker
should be willing to assist you with this process since your IT company or
person cannot be expected to be insurance professionals who know how to
interpret the legal requirements outlined. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">What’s critical here is that you work with your IT company
or person to ensure 100% compliance with the security standards, protocols and
protections you agreed to and verified having in place when you applied for
coverage. <b>IF A BREACH HAPPENS, your insurance provider will NOT just cut you
a check.</b> They will conduct an investigation to determine what happened and
what caused the breach. They will want to see tangible evidence and documentation
that proves the preventative measures you had in place to ward off
cyberthreats. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">If it’s discovered that you failed to put in place the adequate
preventative measures that you affirmed you had in place and would continue to
maintain on your insurance application, your insurance company has every reason
to deny your claim and coverage. Be certain that the insurance company is going to look for every possible way to get out of paying the claim.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">Many small businesses fail to seek cyber-liability coverage due to the cost. The average cost of a cyber-event cleanup is in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. If you lack adequate coverage (the rider in your general liability policy typically caps out at $10,000 and only covers about 6 of the 40 or more components that make up a cyber incident response. Failure to have adequate coverage is like playing Russian Roulette with semi-automatic weapon. It's not likely to end well. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">If you have ANY concerns over this – including whether or
not you need coverage, whether your coverage is sufficient and whether you are
doing what you need to do to avoid an insurance denial, <a href="http://go.scheduleyou.in/uKbxWZ">click here</a> to schedule a quick
consultation to discuss your current situation and to receive a referral to a
cyber insurance expert we recommend.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p>
<span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Lato;">Further, if you would like us to conduct a FREE
cyber security risk assessment to show just how secure and prepared you are for
ransomware or a cyber-attack, we can discuss that too! Just <a href="http://go.scheduleyou.in/uKbxWZ">click here</a> to schedule a phone
consultation.</span></span><br /> </p>Mike Giovaninnihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12328279662836448463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408887256560375389.post-43547531361072964682023-08-02T21:40:00.002-04:002023-08-02T21:40:30.329-04:00Your Personal Titanic Moment<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrASBTTF0Gnr4RXH9yPpqEFWccZ-_PFDUHVDP9Q88n4L2R3zDOn4zdD_3ysyfTfRgTp3hnB8N0D7ONdyZhKETE_tF5RsXWynyrJ2zyl2azPP6BNDL0J2sCsph8i3AlGNji_8AgD7lET_oSIk27pATYZFV3ftCiEcWpqm0TKfbrc4FE28EPFPckcP4SG4pp/s2508/202711123_m_normal_none.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1672" data-original-width="2508" height="382" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrASBTTF0Gnr4RXH9yPpqEFWccZ-_PFDUHVDP9Q88n4L2R3zDOn4zdD_3ysyfTfRgTp3hnB8N0D7ONdyZhKETE_tF5RsXWynyrJ2zyl2azPP6BNDL0J2sCsph8i3AlGNji_8AgD7lET_oSIk27pATYZFV3ftCiEcWpqm0TKfbrc4FE28EPFPckcP4SG4pp/w574-h382/202711123_m_normal_none.png" width="574" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">On a recent interview about the <i>Titan</i> sub
catastrophe, director of the movie <i>Titanic</i> James Cameron, who has made
33 successful dives to the <i>Titanic</i> wreckage site, pointed out that this tragedy
is eerily similar to the 1912 <i>Titanic</i> disaster: the captain of the 1912
RMS <i>Titanic</i> was repeatedly warned about ice ahead of his ship, yet he plowed
ahead at full speed into an ice field on a moonless night, resulting in the
deaths of over 1,500 innocent souls. <o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">The captain of the sub <i>Titan</i> and CEO of the company
OceanGate, Stockton Rush, was also repeatedly warned about his vessel’s safety,
lack of certification for the vessel’s integrity, lack of a tracking device
(think airplane black box), their experimental approach to deep dives (despite
the fact that this is a very mature and well-understood practice) and lack of a
backup sub. He also proceeded to plow ahead at full speed, taking people in an
extremely unsafe vehicle, which resulted in the deaths of innocent people. If
there was ever an example of willful negligence, this is it.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">When it comes to IT security and compliance for small
business, this kind of <b>willful negligence</b> is rampant. Sometimes it ends
with an abrupt, catastrophic “implosion,” as with the <i>Titan</i>, where a
company is destroyed by a ransomware attack, operations shut down, unable to
transact, employees and clients harmed and their reputation tarnished. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">In other cases, the risk is there but hasn’t been addressed
because nothing bad has happened – <i>yet</i>. <b>Willful negligence in IT
security and regulatory compliance to data privacy and protection comes in
three forms.</b><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;"><b>The first is willful ignorance.</b> Some people running a
business are young and inexperienced, too new to the business world to
understand the risks they are incurring by failing to protect their clients and
themselves. They don’t know what they don’t know. Often, they are being advised
by the wrong people – an IT firm that knows how to make their tech work but
lacks the expertise to implement good security protections. You kind of can’t
blame them for getting it wrong <i>initially</i>, but at some point they’ll get
smacked with a cyber-attack and learn the error of their ways the hard way.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;"><b>The second type of willful negligence is <i>willfully</i>
<i>foolish</i>. </b><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">This group CANNOT claim “ignorance” as their defense. They
KNOW they should be protecting their business and their clients’ data from
cyber-attacks. They’ve heard the stories, they know the laws and may have been
warned by their IT company or person, but foolishly believe “that can’t happen
to us,” or choose to assume they’re “fine” because they are using a cloud
application that promises compliance (which is correct for THEM, not
necessarily for YOU). They trust but don’t verify that their IT person or
company is actually doing what they’re supposed to, and often lack cyber
liability insurance, choosing to take the risk because they’re cheap or can’t
be bothered. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">The third type of willful negligence is, in my opinion, the
TRUE meaning of willful negligence and the most immoral and unforgivable. <b><i>Determined
negligence</i>.</b> These people stubbornly insist on continuing to operate
without proper security protocols in place, without a disaster recovery plan,
without any insurance, without assessing and inspecting their environment, refusing
to<i> acknowledge </i>ALL facts, history and evidence to the contrary. They
know they are acting irresponsibly but don’t care. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">After the tragedy of the sub, multiple experts came forward
to point out all the risky behaviors Rush was allowing. The hull had not gone
through any type of cyclical pressure testing or thermal expansion and
contraction testing. The hatch could only be opened from the outside and not
the inside, which wouldn’t allow them to escape if needed in the event of an
emergency – one small fire inside would have been catastrophic. No atmospheric
system to monitor interior gases such as oxygen, carbon dioxide and carbon
monoxide. No emergency air breathing system. The viewing window was only
certified to 4,000 feet, not the 12,500 feet of the <i>Titanic</i> wreck. But
the most egregious of all was an egotistical assumption by the CEO that he knew
better than everyone else around him.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">I wonder if he put<span data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-color: #e8e6e3; color: black;"> all </span>of this in the brochure and explained that philosophy to the
people in the sub who lost their lives that day.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">Everyone makes mistakes. Everyone has a moment in their
lives when they place trust in someone they shouldn’t. Everyone has blind spots,
and we’re all ignorant and misinformed about <i>something</i>. The question is
do you STAY <i>willfully</i> ignorant or foolish to the point of being <i>determined</i>
to hold steady to your course of action to the point where you not only do harm
to yourself, but to others as well?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">If you do, it’s only a matter of time before you have your
own ship sunk, your own personal <i>Titanic</i>-size wreck. Sadly, if you’re
the CEO of a company that holds financial data, credit cards, medical records,
tax returns, Social Security numbers, birthdays or even the contact details of
your clients OR employees, YOUR willful negligence in cyber protection will
absolutely harm others. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">This doesn't mean that all those who are veering towards
that proverbial ice field can’t change course. Hopefully this entry in The
Werks stirred within even those with the hardest of heads to take a different
tack. If your business is important to you.. and as a business owner, I know it
is.. it’s not too late. If you are ready to steer away from the iceberg, get on
our calendar to discuss your options by <a href="http://go.scheduleyou.in/AUHG8uSM?cid=is:~Contact.Id~">clicking here</a>.</span><o:p></o:p></p></div><p><br /></p>Mike Giovaninnihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12328279662836448463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408887256560375389.post-10091521969738167632023-07-18T16:54:00.003-04:002023-07-18T16:54:35.578-04:00Cybersecurity Awareness Training Pitfalls to Avoid <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJG6k0H8AzS7aXd_pbdol9eRyQgeuM8mjPYmcg33VqNCU9P8HBaHdWXVksGW0ExNuBEGpgXb2GmFu36cyysoocP2lOu4xbwIQoGDZ--SB73EX0-I6ElUWl8v1P8KQko25gbumMgOLXz-fqyRfvh0LKfs4vLXXFL_Bezi6PGCnSvPtSboj7-hh2hpq1uSZd/s2356/110546722_m_normal_none.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1781" data-original-width="2356" height="407" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJG6k0H8AzS7aXd_pbdol9eRyQgeuM8mjPYmcg33VqNCU9P8HBaHdWXVksGW0ExNuBEGpgXb2GmFu36cyysoocP2lOu4xbwIQoGDZ--SB73EX0-I6ElUWl8v1P8KQko25gbumMgOLXz-fqyRfvh0LKfs4vLXXFL_Bezi6PGCnSvPtSboj7-hh2hpq1uSZd/w538-h407/110546722_m_normal_none.png" width="538" /></a></div><span style="font-size: 16pt;"><div><span style="font-size: 16pt;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: Lato;">The One Lesson Business
Owners Miss When Training Employees That Can Cost Them Thousands</span></span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">Training employees on anything can be an expensive process.
You incur the cost of investing in necessary materials plus the time it takes
away from your employees doing revenue-generating activities. But what’s worse
when it comes to cyber security training is the expense you’ll incur if that
training fails.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;"><b>Recent studies show that human error plays a role in a
shocking 90% of data breach cases!</b> Smart business owners are taking a
proactive approach and training their employees on cyber security do’s and
don’ts. While we applaud their efforts and encourage all owners to take this
step, research suggests their efforts aren’t paying off. Despite their willingness
to train employees, the number of data breaches continues to increase.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">What gives? We’ll be first to say it – cyber security
training can be boring. And what happens during boring presentations? People aren’t
engaged, so they tune out and miss the critical information needed to keep your
company secure. After the presentation, they sign off, saying they have learned
the lessons, but have they really or are they a ticking time bomb in your
organization?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">The latter is likely true. If you want the information to
stick, you must take some additional steps – and the most important is putting
them to the test!</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">According to <i>Education World</i>, interactive activities
are six times more effective when learning and remembering material than simply
listening to a lesson. You can incorporate this tactic by putting employees to
the test to find out whether or not they can apply what they learned.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: Lato;">One of the best ways to do this is to use phishing
simulations. Here’s how the process works:</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Lato;">A third party creates a realistic but fake
phishing e-mail that shows identifiable signs discussed in the training. An
example could be creating an e-mail that is similar to the CEO’s requesting
private information, an outside company sending a bad link, etc. You can
customize it to look like something relevant that your employees could
potentially see and fall for.</span></span></li><li><span style="font-family: Lato;"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">The employees are then put to the test. You
choose which employees will receive what links and what dates the e-mails will be
sent. </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Will they be able to identify the threats or will they fall for the scams?</span></span></li><li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Lato;">The results are collected and shared with you to
develop more comprehensive training programs and help you identify which
employees are your biggest risks so you can provide specific coaching.</span></span></li></ol><p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: Lato;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">Another great way to use phishing simulations is to send out
the tests before the training. When employees see that people in the company
are making mistakes, they are more likely to pay attention to the lesson.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">It’s not enough to just teach the information! It must be
learned and implemented every day to be effective and keep your organization
secure.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">If you’re looking for effective cyber security awareness
training for your employees, our team has a comprehensive program that will
engage, teach and test your employees so you can have peace of mind knowing
they are working to keep your company safe. <a href="http://go.scheduleyou.in/E37hXQb?cid=is:~Contact.Id~">Click here</a> to
get in touch with our team and get started on your cyber security training
session today.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p></p>Mike Giovaninnihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12328279662836448463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408887256560375389.post-2879102782893194982023-07-11T17:20:00.000-04:002023-07-11T17:20:24.353-04:00What You Need To Know About The FTC Safeguards Rule<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCz0Wj8K8dqh4_W-VrN43Wvislb0v5xB0bd-jYMqY3Au__l1fQCBBjtzSJyw49u2oHnpuCIc2MybdcoWLXuMufJrD3yBIZSyZe02yRGqahnr06ZNBlyh0SAiroH6q02G4wcB5mJ5oJ1PUKcL-8oEbF3KusaeEUgmU6vMb9PVB0Kd0OtQKg40rZt7i6fs5c/s2705/133060900_m_normal_none.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1550" data-original-width="2705" height="338" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCz0Wj8K8dqh4_W-VrN43Wvislb0v5xB0bd-jYMqY3Au__l1fQCBBjtzSJyw49u2oHnpuCIc2MybdcoWLXuMufJrD3yBIZSyZe02yRGqahnr06ZNBlyh0SAiroH6q02G4wcB5mJ5oJ1PUKcL-8oEbF3KusaeEUgmU6vMb9PVB0Kd0OtQKg40rZt7i6fs5c/w592-h338/133060900_m_normal_none.png" width="592" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Lato;">The Shocking
Facts About The New FTC Safeguards Rule That Affect Nearly EVERY Small Business
Operating Today<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">As former President Ronald Regan once said, the scariest
words you’ll ever hear are “We’re from the government, and we’re here to help.”
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">In this case, the government is trying to help by forcing
nearly all businesses to implement and maintain a strong cyber security program
to protect the customer information these companies host – definitely not a bad
thing, and all businesses should take this seriously without the government
mandating it.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">Sadly, the majority of small businesses don’t take cyber security
seriously enough and believe they are doing enough to prevent a cyber-attack
when they aren’t, which is why the government is having to step in and create
laws (the GLBA Act) to enforce better security protocols. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Lato;">What Is
The New FTC Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act Safeguards Rule And Who Does It Apply To?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">Back in April of 2022, the FTC issued a new publication
entitled “<a href="https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/ftc-safeguards-rule-what-your-business-needs-know">FTC
Safeguards Rule: What Your Business Needs to Know</a>.” This was published as a
“compliance guide” to ensure that all companies that fall under the Safeguards
Rule maintain safeguards to protect the security of customer information.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">While you might think your business is “too small” to need
to comply or doesn’t hold any data “that a hacker would want,” you’ll be
shocked to discover you are likely to be wrong on both fronts.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">Hacking groups use automated bots to randomly carry out
their attacks – and small businesses are their #1 target due to the gross
negligence and inadequate protections they have. You are low-hanging fruit.
That’s why it’s not only the obvious organizations, such as CPAs, financial
institutions and credit unions, that need to comply. Here’s a short list of
just a <b>few</b> of the organizations that fall under this new law. You should
know that this is <b><u>NOT</u></b> a complete list:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Lato;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Printers that print checks or other financial
documents. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Lato;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Automotive dealers who provide financing for car
purchases.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Lato;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Any organization that accepts credit or loans
for the goods and services they sell, whether or not the credit is granted.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Lato;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Companies that do tax preparation or credit
counseling of any kind.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Lato;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Real estate settlements, services or appraisals.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Lato;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Career counselors that provide services to people
employed by or recently displaced from a financial organization. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">As you can see, the companies that must comply are growing
rapidly. Bottom line, if you handle any kind of financial data or personally
identifiable information, you need to make sure you are complying with these
new standards.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Lato;">What You
Need To Do Now<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">The rule requires you to implement a “reasonable”
information security program. But what does that mean? For starters, you need
to designate a qualified individual to implement and supervise your IT security
program – and you cannot outsource this. Yes, you can and should get a
professional IT firm like us to guide you on the implementation, but the buck
still stops with you.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">The person you designate doesn’t have to have a background
in IT or cyber security – but they will be the person responsible for ensuring
your company is taking reasonable precautions to comply with the new security
standards.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">Second, the Safeguards Rule requires you to conduct a risk
assessment to initiate an effective security program. From there, you would
work with your IT company (us!) to roll out a plan to secure and protect the
data you have by putting in place access controls, encryption, data backups,
2FA and a number of other protections.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">Cyber security is not something you do once – it’s an
ongoing effort of protection as new threats evolve. If you want to see where
your organization stands on cyber security, <a href="http://go.scheduleyou.in/uKbxWZ">click here to sign up for a quick, easy
and completely free Cyber Security Risk Assessment</a>. That is the first step toward
complying and will give you the information you need to know about your own
security stance.</span><o:p></o:p></p><br /><p></p>Mike Giovaninnihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12328279662836448463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408887256560375389.post-56881656231462251222023-07-11T16:30:00.000-04:002023-07-11T16:30:09.446-04:00Beware of Posers!<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Lato; font-size: large;">Holy False Promises, Batman! </span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Lato; font-size: large;">It looks like could be too good to be true! </span></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigVaEJZ-a55y7i6uR7Y-wB7eoo14zWKeMp8QzZsJNN9WEBYIIoAipbvM7yIlWG3lVixks3s1PbOlmEOXkiV-Miq9QJQz7VIsKruy5PnP9ofHj4AhsJGyU49mZo73ATpgcwNgubQp7xQwOHs0OrP9Cuj9KCrDiSw522KeEWVqIQEC41wrmqknB7Xp-YVioi/s2887/109197256_m_normal_none.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1453" data-original-width="2887" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigVaEJZ-a55y7i6uR7Y-wB7eoo14zWKeMp8QzZsJNN9WEBYIIoAipbvM7yIlWG3lVixks3s1PbOlmEOXkiV-Miq9QJQz7VIsKruy5PnP9ofHj4AhsJGyU49mZo73ATpgcwNgubQp7xQwOHs0OrP9Cuj9KCrDiSw522KeEWVqIQEC41wrmqknB7Xp-YVioi/w558-h280/109197256_m_normal_none.png" width="558" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">Another day, another scam! A new wave of social media scams
has emerged, targeting unsuspecting Facebook and Instagram users. Whether you
use your page for personal or business use, this new con could affect you. In
this article, you'll discover what this scam is, how to detect if hackers are
targeting you, and how to avoid falling for it and potentially leaking your
private information.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">If you're a social media user, you may have noticed that in
recent years, both platforms are quick to hand out page violations. An
inappropriate comment or post can land you in "Facebook jail" or with
a 30-day suspension for repeated offenses. Facebook’s goal appears noble – keep
these platforms a positive, kind place for all users.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">To help identify these comments, the platforms have
developed a sophisticated bot that can read the posts and detect
"flagged" phrases that the platform has deemed inappropriate.
Typically, they remove the inappropriate content and notify the user that the
post was flagged and warn if they continue posting similar content a ban can
occur.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">However, this robotic peacekeeper is not perfect. It has a
reputation for flagging ordinary content because of key trigger words and
banning unoffending accounts. This situation is frustrating for users who don't
want to lose access to their social media platforms for an offense they didn't
commit or are worried that years' worth of memories they've accumulated on
their account could disappear if their account is wrongfully deleted.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">Cybercriminals saw their opportunity and went for it.
Hackers pose as support agents from Facebook or Instagram, contacting users via
direct message on the platforms saying there has been a policy violation and
they'll help the user resolve it by filling out a simple form that gives them
the information they need to make this digital slap on the wrist go away. The
alarming twist? Once users submit their information, it falls directly into
these skilled hackers' hands, who can use it for who knows what.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">If you want to protect yourself from this scam, you must
first be able to recognize it. If you receive a message like the one below –
don't panic. Cybercriminals want you to be worried, so you slip up and make a
mistake. Remember, a Facebook agent will never directly contact you unless you
go through the support chat first. The platforms have in-app notifications
about banned or flagged content that you will see first, and they will follow
up via email.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">The image below features an actual screenshot of this scam
in action and points out other factors to notice when determining the
legitimacy of a violation.</span></p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHpfKEhEx7Xnmb3M6wMnCT6dROU_vdHwsY3PwoXADmE941tR_WOggqPckjicvfhjSRt6KqHsYbGmGRr4K7hdZpeEcAs3k7giMSnpguQFz6MWDB59Clemq2_sBOpra1GIvA4BdqMsg3rxCNFZ3t1oZG2l_c_cibwe_sk30LTU8VpS2WJtPb1_dF8nj74136/s624/Spoof1.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Lato;"><img border="0" data-original-height="351" data-original-width="624" height="323" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHpfKEhEx7Xnmb3M6wMnCT6dROU_vdHwsY3PwoXADmE941tR_WOggqPckjicvfhjSRt6KqHsYbGmGRr4K7hdZpeEcAs3k7giMSnpguQFz6MWDB59Clemq2_sBOpra1GIvA4BdqMsg3rxCNFZ3t1oZG2l_c_cibwe_sk30LTU8VpS2WJtPb1_dF8nj74136/w574-h323/Spoof1.png" width="574" /></span></a></div><o:p><span style="font-family: Lato;"> </span></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">We didn't request the form to see what information it
collects (and neither should you), but we can guess. Facebook has developed
strict verification processes for confirming identities to reduce the number of
imposters on Facebook and determine the rightful ownership of accounts in
hacking situations. The platform will request proof of identity with a photo of
your ID or sometimes even business documents proving ownership. Cybercriminals
will likely request this information but may take it further by asking to
confirm your password, social security number, and more.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">This deceptive tactic highlights the ever-evolving nature of
cybercrime. Just as we've seen with the rise of AI-powered tools used in voice
cloning scams, these hackers are becoming increasingly creative and
sophisticated in their efforts to manipulate social media users. They are
watching what's happening and adapting their tactics accordingly. The stakes
are high, and so is the potential damage to individuals and businesses.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">To safeguard yourself and your business from such threats,
it's crucial to remain vigilant and informed. Here are a few practical tips to
help you stay protected:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: Lato; text-indent: -0.25in;">Always verify the authenticity of messages
received from social media platforms. Support does not contact you via message
unless you request chat support, and they will never ask you to provide
sensitive information through direct messages.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: Lato; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Lato; text-indent: -0.25in;">Be cautious of unsolicited messages requesting
you to click a link or fill out a form. Instead of clicking the link, visit the
platform's help center or contact support directly to inquire about the issue.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: Lato; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Lato; text-indent: -0.25in;">Strengthen your account security by enabling
two-factor authentication, regularly updating your passwords, and using unique,
complex combinations of characters.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: Lato; text-indent: -0.25in;">Provide regular security awareness training to
your employees. Share articles like this one that shed light on emerging scams
and engage in ongoing education to ensure your team remains alert and prepared.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: Lato; text-indent: -0.25in;">Collaborate with your IT service provider to
implement robust cybersecurity measures and disaster recovery protocols.
Investing in comprehensive protection is essential in minimizing the risk of
falling victim to these sophisticated attacks.</span></li></ul><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">Remember, prevention is critical. Don't wait until it's too
late to act. If you're concerned about the security measures your IT service
provider has in place, </span><a href="http://go.scheduleyou.in/uKbxWZ" style="font-family: Lato;">click here</a><span data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-color: #d8d4cf; color: #e8e6e3; font-family: Lato;"> </span><span style="font-family: Lato;">to request a FREE IT Security
Risk Assessment. This assessment will give you a clear understanding of your
current security stance and whether you're well-equipped to handle a
cyber-attack.</span></p><br />Mike Giovaninnihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12328279662836448463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408887256560375389.post-78070138773012725762023-07-07T14:55:00.000-04:002023-07-07T14:55:07.337-04:00Feel the need to be Big Brother when dealing with your remote workforce?<p><b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"></span></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRgdnHuapKS8XqgZMXKUqMuqDyayGHvB3bvKzEvn_I2HTBqISNNbdkCz0FaIQEwoGuuj3cvIiV-8vDgi4GnWbcCVqfEovMYx4ilwL99hvdsFsXpy8A_WmEdbuanm9rAKYfC2ANZGZ4GPNATlakxzpuDbdr8LHC9f9a6mYqKjh3xgBmMBTUHz8h-brtLyMs/s2508/201991794_m_normal_none.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1672" data-original-width="2508" height="339" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRgdnHuapKS8XqgZMXKUqMuqDyayGHvB3bvKzEvn_I2HTBqISNNbdkCz0FaIQEwoGuuj3cvIiV-8vDgi4GnWbcCVqfEovMYx4ilwL99hvdsFsXpy8A_WmEdbuanm9rAKYfC2ANZGZ4GPNATlakxzpuDbdr8LHC9f9a6mYqKjh3xgBmMBTUHz8h-brtLyMs/w509-h339/201991794_m_normal_none.png" width="509" /></a></b></div><b><br /><span style="font-family: Lato;"><br /></span></b><p></p><p><b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Lato;">Is It
Illegal To Track Your Employees’ Activities When They’re Working From Home?</span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">Along with the surge of people working from home or in
hybrid situations over the last few years, there has also been an increase in
employers looking for ways to monitor their employees’ work activities to
ensure they actually ARE working when remote. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">This is no surprise given the new “quiet quitting” trend
that has now evolved into “Bare Minimum Mondays” and “Try Less Tuesdays.”
Sadly, some employees are taking advantage of working remotely as a way of
working less.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">Of course, not all remote employees are slackers – but how
can an employer know the difference? That’s where tools like <a href="https://www.teramind.co/">Teramind</a> and <a href="https://www.activtrak.com/">ActivTrak</a> come into play. These are
software tools that can be installed on employees’ workstations and laptops to
monitor their activity, both while in the office and remote.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">Not only will these tools provide insights into productivity
and where employees are spending their time, an employer can also see when
someone checks in to work and leaves for the day. These apps can also help in
ensuring employees aren’t surfing inappropriate websites during work hours
using company resources.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">While many people are against productivity monitoring, it’s
perfectly legal in the US, provided this is for work-related activities on
workplace devices. Monitoring laws do vary by state, so you should always check
with an HR attorney on any employee-related monitoring. While there is no
requirement to gain consent on a federal level, some states require that you
establish consent before monitoring.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">It’s also legal to monitor company-owned devices outside of
work hours, including Internet traffic, search terms, websites visited, GPS
geolocation and content viewed, to name a few things. If you issue your
employees’ phones, you are legally allowed to monitor them as well. It’s even
legal to monitor your employees’ own personal devices if you have a BYOD (bring
your own device) to work policy, provided those devices are used for work
purposes. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">If you are thinking of rolling out employee-monitoring
software, here are a few recommendations.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Lato;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]--><b>Let your employees know you WILL be
monitoring them, and how, before rolling out any monitoring activities.</b> Make sure this is documented in your work from home/telecommuting policy and ensure that any and all changes have been clearly communicated with all impacted parties. Being totally transparent about what you are monitoring and why is important to
establishing and maintaining trust with your employees. Most people would be
very upset to discover you were monitoring them without their knowledge. While
it’s legally your right (in most states) to monitor without letting them know,
we feel it’s best to be open about this, so they understand what’s being tracked.<br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Lato;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]--><b>Put in writing what is and isn’t allowed
during work hours and on company-owned assets.</b> If you don’t want employees
visiting what you deem as inappropriate websites and mixing personal activities
with work activities on company-owned devices, let them know that. If they work
from home, set guidelines such as start and end times for work and how long and
how frequently they can take breaks, detailing when they need to be available
(at work). No one likes getting a speeding
ticket when there’s no speed limit signs posted. Be absolutely clear on your
expectations and put them in writing so there’s no risk of “You never told me
that…” happening.<br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Lato;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]--><b>Get legal advice before implementing any kind
of monitoring software, cameras, or activities.</b> Laws can change – and with
privacy of data becoming more critical (and a legal hot potato), we suggest you
work with an HR attorney to make sure you’re not violating anyone’s rights.
Recently, the fast-food restaurant White Castle was hit with a lawsuit that
could cost them up to $17 billion for using fingerprint login software for
their employees to access certain systems. The lawsuit claims they violated
Illinois’s biometric identification laws by asking employees to use their
fingerprint as a secure way of logging in to their systems without first gaining
consent.<br />
<br />
So, while it’s legal to monitor employees, you still need to be mindful of
employment laws and data and privacy protection of the employees you monitor. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Lato;">Need help implementing a more secure and
productive remote workplace? <a href="http://go.scheduleyou.in/E37hXQb?cid=is:~Contact.Id~"><span data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="" data-darkreader-inline-bgimage="" style="--darkreader-inline-bgcolor: #999900; --darkreader-inline-bgimage: initial; background: yellow;">Click here</span></a> to
schedule a quick call to discuss your options and to get ideas on how we can
help you and your entire team be productive and safe, no matter where or how
you choose to work. </span></span>Mike Giovaninnihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12328279662836448463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408887256560375389.post-52045167007180488222023-06-21T17:30:00.000-04:002023-06-21T17:30:13.639-04:00<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUrXO0f7yu2Rs1KZmCMjhV_td8JsXF9EAaDQjdJjDHzoUxkd611ECpmmxP0hCWtGsK79sNq8MWfP6B9Qb_D6jeYuZWxM3Qk-wt2rrBC41rFZYJ2SlTLiQOTxGf8n52IIth3txBiJPqRPr2VMCx8yvpqUPB-5Lrfo7doKviWO6V9PFUwxZvSUsCIge0vIt_/s2639/145365288_m_normal_none.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1589" data-original-width="2639" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUrXO0f7yu2Rs1KZmCMjhV_td8JsXF9EAaDQjdJjDHzoUxkd611ECpmmxP0hCWtGsK79sNq8MWfP6B9Qb_D6jeYuZWxM3Qk-wt2rrBC41rFZYJ2SlTLiQOTxGf8n52IIth3txBiJPqRPr2VMCx8yvpqUPB-5Lrfo7doKviWO6V9PFUwxZvSUsCIge0vIt_/w531-h320/145365288_m_normal_none.png" width="531" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato; font-size: large;">Cybercriminals Pose As
Facebook And Instagram Support: </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Lato;">How To Protect Your Private Information From
Being Stolen On Social Media<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">Another day, another scam! A new wave of social media scams
has emerged, targeting unsuspecting Facebook and Instagram users. Whether you
use your page for personal or business use, this new con could affect you. In
this article, you'll discover what this scam is, how to detect if hackers are
targeting you, and how to avoid falling for it and potentially leaking your
private information.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">If you're a social media user, you may have noticed that in
recent years, both platforms are quick to hand out page violations. An
inappropriate comment or post can land you in "Facebook jail" or with
a 30-day suspension for repeated offenses. Facebook’s goal appears noble – keep
these platforms a positive, kind place for all users.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">To help identify these comments, the platforms have
developed a sophisticated bot that can read the posts and detect
"flagged" phrases that the platform has deemed inappropriate.
Typically, they remove the inappropriate content and notify the user that the
post was flagged and warn if they continue posting similar content a ban can
occur.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">However, this robotic peacekeeper is not perfect. It has a
reputation for flagging ordinary content because of key trigger words and
banning unoffending accounts. This situation is frustrating for users who don't
want to lose access to their social media platforms for an offense they didn't
commit or are worried that years' worth of memories they've accumulated on
their account could disappear if their account is wrongfully deleted.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">Cybercriminals saw their opportunity and went for it.
Hackers pose as support agents from Facebook or Instagram, contacting users via
direct message on the platforms saying there has been a policy violation and
they'll help the user resolve it by filling out a simple form that gives them
the information they need to make this digital slap on the wrist go away. The
alarming twist? Once users submit their information, it falls directly into
these skilled hackers' hands, who can use it for who knows what.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">If you want to protect yourself from this scam, you must
first be able to recognize it. If you receive a message like the one below –
don't panic. Cybercriminals want you to be worried, so you slip up and make a
mistake. Remember, a Facebook agent will never directly contact you unless you
go through the support chat first. The platforms have in-app notifications
about banned or flagged content that you will see first, and they will follow
up via email.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">The image below features an actual screenshot of this scam
in action and points out other factors to notice when determining the
legitimacy of a violation.<br /><br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk4Noiz_HaSdluWtLpGzVUA_I_m2xzIoD9xm6vyET9wLaG54g76pbW-gFZXqU8xP3_35i4p_xCvHyS_WEK2LSABo8VY-_IIoZnUtxGkG7t_Yd5ObLwEyvLMwqrIBvIOP6NIkTr4VcAxhIVjrHFtnCVO36VF-fELdhNEuwonSzx6JUFq4xCGwGQfSDUQb6k/s624/Spoof1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Lato;"><img border="0" data-original-height="351" data-original-width="624" height="305" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk4Noiz_HaSdluWtLpGzVUA_I_m2xzIoD9xm6vyET9wLaG54g76pbW-gFZXqU8xP3_35i4p_xCvHyS_WEK2LSABo8VY-_IIoZnUtxGkG7t_Yd5ObLwEyvLMwqrIBvIOP6NIkTr4VcAxhIVjrHFtnCVO36VF-fELdhNEuwonSzx6JUFq4xCGwGQfSDUQb6k/w542-h305/Spoof1.png" width="542" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: Lato;"><br /><o:p></o:p></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">We didn't request the form to see what information it
collects (and neither should you), but we can guess. Facebook has developed
strict verification processes for confirming identities to reduce the number of
imposters on Facebook and determine the rightful ownership of accounts in
hacking situations. The platform will request proof of identity with a photo of
your ID or sometimes even business documents proving ownership. Cybercriminals
will likely request this information but may take it further by asking to
confirm your password, social security number, and more.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">This deceptive tactic highlights the ever-evolving nature of
cybercrime. Just as we've seen with the rise of AI-powered tools used in voice
cloning scams, these hackers are becoming increasingly creative and
sophisticated in their efforts to manipulate social media users. They are
watching what's happening and adapting their tactics accordingly. The stakes
are high, and so is the potential damage to individuals and businesses.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">To safeguard yourself and your business from such threats,
it's crucial to remain vigilant and informed. Here are a few practical tips to
help you stay protected:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: Lato; text-indent: -0.25in;">Always verify the authenticity of messages
received from social media platforms. Support does not contact you via message
unless you request chat support, and they will never ask you to provide
sensitive information through direct messages.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: Lato; text-indent: -0.25in;">Be cautious of unsolicited messages requesting
you to click a link or fill out a form. Instead of clicking the link, visit the
platform's help center or contact support directly to inquire about the issue.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: Lato; text-indent: -0.25in;">Strengthen your account security by enabling
two-factor authentication, regularly updating your passwords, and using unique,
complex combinations of characters.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: Lato; text-indent: -0.25in;">Provide regular security awareness training to
your employees. Share articles like this one that shed light on emerging scams
and engage in ongoing education to ensure your team remains alert and prepared.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: Lato; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Lato; text-indent: -0.25in;">Collaborate with your IT service provider to
implement robust cybersecurity measures and disaster recovery protocols.
Investing in comprehensive protection is essential in minimizing the risk of
falling victim to these sophisticated attacks.</span></li></ul><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="font-family: Lato;"> </span></o:p><span style="font-family: Lato;">Remember, prevention is critical. Don't wait until it's too
late to act. If you're concerned about the security measures your IT service
provider has in place, </span><a href="http://go.scheduleyou.in/uKbxWZ" style="font-family: Lato;">click here</a><span data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-color: #e8e6e3; color: black; font-family: Lato;"> </span><span style="font-family: Lato;">to request a FREE IT Security
Risk Assessment. This assessment will give you a clear understanding of your
current security stance and whether you're well-equipped to handle a
cyber-attack.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>Mike Giovaninnihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12328279662836448463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408887256560375389.post-76798416981550478532023-06-12T16:00:00.000-04:002023-06-12T16:00:02.978-04:00Cybercriminals Are Deploying Powerful AI-Powered Tools To Hack You<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8jCSCrxOomKZ8rqCNBVZ5EhMjMiI3_A9UzQR86dzBaryvjRLIjKtpRBMnNWUIhV4VNR1PtD5ysvxuMydq86NDFUZa-0kytpWgEY-s-X_uhUzOrJO1CONuyMEGAHpKpMwteOqaRMkDhlRCzjL235_ieCHR0cmQmYvHJ8I3gts2cs22zrGfSOEkX6fVLg/s600/shadowy_hacker600x300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="600" height="315" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8jCSCrxOomKZ8rqCNBVZ5EhMjMiI3_A9UzQR86dzBaryvjRLIjKtpRBMnNWUIhV4VNR1PtD5ysvxuMydq86NDFUZa-0kytpWgEY-s-X_uhUzOrJO1CONuyMEGAHpKpMwteOqaRMkDhlRCzjL235_ieCHR0cmQmYvHJ8I3gts2cs22zrGfSOEkX6fVLg/w629-h315/shadowy_hacker600x300.jpg" width="629" /></a></div><br /> <span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;">Are
You Prepared For What’s Coming?</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">An Arizona family was recently in the news warning others
about how they were the target of a ransom call in which scammers used AI (artificial
intelligence) to clone their daughter’s voice to convince the parents they had
kidnapped their daughter, with the apparent goal of extorting money. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">DeLynne Bock, the mother of Payton Bock and target of the
con, said she feels she can easily spot a fake scam call, but this was on a
whole other level.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">According to the news story, the scammers called their home,
where DeLynne’s husband answered the call. A man on the other end of the line
was screaming and using foul language, saying his daughter had caused an accident,
hitting his car, and couldn’t find her insurance. From there, he started making
threats, saying he had her tied up in the back of his truck. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;"><b>What made the call so convincing was the deep fake of her
daughter’s voice on the other end of the line – pleading for help, crying.</b> Unable
to reach her daughter by phone, DeLynne called the police while her husband kept
the man on the phone. “I called the police, and they’re saying, ‘This is
possibly a scam situation.’ I said, ‘There is no way this is a scam. This is my
daughter’s voice,’” DeLynne said. “This wasn’t just some person pretending. As a
mother, you know your daughter’s voice, and this was my daughter.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">Apparently, this wasn’t the first time this happened which
is how the police were able to suggest it could be a scam. <b>This is just the
latest iteration of how hackers are using AI to produce deep fakes to extort
money. </b>AI and ChatGPT have been in the news recently for a reason – AI is
an extremely powerful tool that, if put in the wrong hands, can do a lot of
harm. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">It’s not a stretch to imagine the use of AI to fake a CEO’s
voice, signature or writing style in an e-mail, text, call or instant messaging
to trick an employee into sending money or doing things that would severely
harm the organization, such as providing a login or access to the company’s
network, data or critical applications. Or similarly use this same type of approach
to scam clients or patients into giving up confidential information or
payments. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">A report released by security experts at Home Security
Heroes showed that <b>51% of common passwords could be cracked in less than one
minute using an AI</b>. Both the length and complexity of the passwords
factored into the speed of successfully cracking the password, but even a complex
password with seven characters using both uppercase and lowercase letters,
numbers and symbols took just minutes to crack.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">This means it’s hypercritical for all business owners to no
longer rely on strong passwords and simple antivirus to protect their
organization. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">Today, all businesses should have some type of security
awareness training for their employees. For example, simply sharing this
article and others we publish like them with them can go a long way toward making
sure they’re always on high alert for scams; but sharing the occasional article
is not enough. You should have some type of ongoing reminders and formal
training so that it’s always top of mind. Employees AREN’T “too smart” to fall
for these scams. If someone can trick a mother into believing her daughter has
been kidnapped by duping her daughter’s voice, they can trick an employee into
clicking on a link, giving them access or transferring funds – and it’s
happening right now to a lot of businesses.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">Second, you need to work with your IT company to ensure they
have implemented robust cyber security tools and protections, as well as
disaster recovery protocols so if you are ransomed, you can be sure to recover
your data. This is not an area to be cheap about. Most people stubbornly
believe it won’t happen to them, or that it will be a minor inconvenience, not
the costly, business-crippling and devastating disaster that a cyber or
ransomware attack can have. An ounce of prevention goes a long, long way toward
minimizing your risk. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">I would also recommend protecting your online presence by
using the following strategies:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: 38.25pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Lato;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Consider getting cybersecurity awareness
training for yourself and your workforce<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 38.25pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Lato;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Enable Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) on all
accounts that support it<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 38.25pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Lato;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Use a password manager to keep track of all of
your accounts (bonus if it also does a continuous dark web search for
compromised accounts)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 38.25pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Lato;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Equip all of your mobile devices and laptops
with a personal VPN or SASE (Secure Access System Edge) client to isolate your internet
bound traffic from prying eyes.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p>
<span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Lato;">If you want to make sure your IT services
provider is protecting you properly, <a href="http://go.scheduleyou.in/uKbxWZ">click
here</a> to request a FREE IT Security Risk Assessment. This assessment is not
time-consuming, invasive or difficult to do, but will give you the unvarnished
truth about your current security and whether or not you will be properly and
brilliantly prepared for a cyber-attack.</span></span></p>Mike Giovaninnihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12328279662836448463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408887256560375389.post-34495686973993755592023-06-06T12:00:00.001-04:002023-06-06T12:00:51.140-04:00Facebook Owes You Money!<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioGIN0HF1vP-FwG7u9cnL1xng2jJ5ykJCZpg5j4GcGenAjmmf_FiH5EsvIwDwBCpVexTXLO0LnL0JJlKqeOEbDvkmfZn28kojM5JslmDalqFjIvbdYi-u1DDJyPhGY3fS5ree3DxQAVVT4CHjvx6laMi5bRjtyFZ7eAiDnwmTFWmoH7IVZVhupdZ2GMA/s275/fblawsuit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="183" data-original-width="275" height="370" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioGIN0HF1vP-FwG7u9cnL1xng2jJ5ykJCZpg5j4GcGenAjmmf_FiH5EsvIwDwBCpVexTXLO0LnL0JJlKqeOEbDvkmfZn28kojM5JslmDalqFjIvbdYi-u1DDJyPhGY3fS5ree3DxQAVVT4CHjvx6laMi5bRjtyFZ7eAiDnwmTFWmoH7IVZVhupdZ2GMA/w557-h370/fblawsuit.jpg" width="557" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lato; font-size: 18pt;">Facebook
Owes You Money!</span></div><span style="font-family: Lato;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">How To Apply For Your
Share Of Facebook’s Recent $725 Million Privacy Lawsuit</span></div></span><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lato;">Here’s a shocker: Facebook is being forced to pay a whopping
$725 million in a settlement following numerous lawsuits claiming they violated
users’ privacy. This is in addition to another class action lawsuit for $650
million for storing and collecting the biometric data of nearly 1.3 million
Illinois residents without their knowledge or consent. Think it’s a scammers
hoax? Not this time, Mr. Zuckerberg. <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.verifythis.com%2Farticle%2Fnews%2Fverify%2Fsocial-media%2Ffacebook-meta-user-data-privacy-settlement-claim-notification-real-legit%2F536-a43433de-9ed3-41b9-91d4-5e9dfe397621&psig=AOvVaw3MH9iKK7_I88pPi6SkPUAF&ust=1686152970415000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CBIQjhxqFwoTCLir_dT_rv8CFQAAAAAdAAAAABAD">It’s
legit</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lato;">The lawsuits allege that Facebook shared data from users and
their friends with third parties without the users’ knowledge or consent and
then failed to monitor or direct how these third parties accessed the data or
what they did with it.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lato;">The plaintiffs’ lawyers estimate about 250 to 280 million
people may be eligible for payments as part of this suit.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lato;">The money being paid to each person depends on how long they’ve
had a Facebook account and how many people actually file claims. Users will get
“points” for every month they’ve had an account between May 24, 2007, and December
22, 2022. The money will be split (after lawyers’ fees are paid, of course)
based on those numbers, so don’t expect a financial windfall that will allow
you to move to Beverly Hills. The only people getting rich here are the
lawyers.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lato;">If you had a Facebook account during the dates above, you’re
automatically part of the settlement, but you must submit a claim by August 25
of this year <a href="https://www.facebookuserprivacysettlement.com/#submit-claim">using this
website</a>. If you do nothing, you get nothing and you’ll give up the right to
sue or be part of another lawsuit against Facebook related to these claims.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lato;">However, if you’re feeling ambitious (and have deep pockets
to pay the legal fees), you can choose to opt out of this lawsuit and attempt
to sue Facebook separately, under your own initiative. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lato;">We should all be happy that big tech companies accessing,
selling and sharing our data without our knowledge or consent are being held
accountable; but it’s not enough to depend on lawyers or our government to
protect our identity and personal information. Companies like Meta make far too
much money from our data to turn away from selling it and using it. For
example, Meta made over <a href="https://links.newsletters.komando.com/u/click?_t=a82899456f054d88b14868a211fcef2c&_m=61ddadea9fa84bbface971d585c15eaa&_e=TXWbhySD1aaSvav90cDV3ajLgGvk8pdI_M7CylKmICT92-MeAPBxcoN9q_E16z3qPbZoS6WW7_BWsr5RQoaMIJgjCwDm81gIdbz0XBR72wvnGnUAW8BE736RZJtQUTshSXQIVZ69CObAO16MIOuhUiEvbWgV2-lwjMEaPy-wsNhr0cfuSYLncPKkmj1CimI2rZ4X7qtUpzpBSQ8IY7g1FEnIg4EzguCZHkdezKOoCdUBTOIR0u2bt7I78Owcthl0OPbK2eL2CYhcr8K5fb5iJ5xgzNVyiA_duVmdnYy-KbY%3D" target="_blank"><span data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-color: #e8e6e3; color: windowtext; text-decoration-line: none;">$116 billion</span></a> last year from a FREE app. That money is coming
from selling access and data. This lawsuit, while sizeable, only represents
just 0.62% of the company’s total revenue – a rounding error.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lato;">The entire dark web and the rise of hacking demonstrate how
much money there is to be made from gaining access to personally identifiable information,
so you need to be careful you don’t end up a victim of your data being stolen,
shared and sold. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lato;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Lato;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXZPp8Qk9rRipaK3X7QOV4cDEP_Rng655FGbpOgOuT6b3G0T0ToAxHatqsZI1TN5O5itHKwoTIkhBb-6oohSl8dbLU_H6owMzTm6zjvGNwoebiKYa5yD3M7mD0uXt1a83nYYqr7Tz_29lT9vWDx3D29ZIkf0_c-8rI_3sEhlQ-NLoqSB3X60nchMP4yA/s3548/FBKeys.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2353" data-original-width="3548" height="166" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXZPp8Qk9rRipaK3X7QOV4cDEP_Rng655FGbpOgOuT6b3G0T0ToAxHatqsZI1TN5O5itHKwoTIkhBb-6oohSl8dbLU_H6owMzTm6zjvGNwoebiKYa5yD3M7mD0uXt1a83nYYqr7Tz_29lT9vWDx3D29ZIkf0_c-8rI_3sEhlQ-NLoqSB3X60nchMP4yA/w251-h166/FBKeys.jpg" width="251" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: Lato;">One of the ways to prevent your information from being
shared is by going into the privacy settings on Facebook and finding “Your
Facebook information.” From there, click “Off-Facebook activity” and “Recent activity”
to clear your history.<o:p></o:p></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lato;">You can also click “Manage future activity” and choose
“Disconnect future activity” to disable this feature. Of course, if you like
the ads you get from Facebook this will (should?) make all of that go away. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lato;">Another suggestion is to check the privacy settings on your
phone to ensure apps installed aren’t getting free access to your camera and
microphone unless specifically given permission by you to perform those
functions. Many apps will install with that access feature turned on and
require you to opt out. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lato;">Of course, as a business owner, YOU have to also think about
how you are storing and using your clients’ data. As this lawsuit proves, the
government is taking data privacy and protection seriously, which is why you’re
seeing more regulatory compliance for data security and privacy hitting all
industry sectors.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lato; font-size: 11pt;">If you want to make sure you’re not accidentally
exposing your clients’ data and violating data protection laws, </span><a href="http://go.scheduleyou.in/E37hXQb?cid=is:~Contact.Id~" style="font-family: Lato; font-size: 11pt;">schedule a quick
call with us</a><span style="font-family: Lato; font-size: 11pt;"> to discuss your concerns and see if there are ways we can help
you avoid exposing your clients’ and employees’ data by accident. </span></div></span></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: right;"><br /></div><br /> <p></p>Mike Giovaninnihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12328279662836448463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408887256560375389.post-7408513020300580352023-05-10T10:12:00.001-04:002023-05-11T15:21:15.572-04:00Microsoft Teams Productivity Tips Every Growing Business Needs To Know<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRwu0w5SSI2aOI9syIsBt9LNP0tqX2RRrgSc7d-J4tIqE7xRU-a-hyIC3sM5uy4ZzhVpFSRUGZuZofoTfV2M-Zw2lDGQItT38vFxHg85tO8e33P3FXmFjVMppew9nvEOn4aEuGqwI38bVIQiWBDcSIbHUrzhffitj4hRDxwk2C7pGWa2cj76cQ0VMFLA/s300/Teams.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="300" height="309" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRwu0w5SSI2aOI9syIsBt9LNP0tqX2RRrgSc7d-J4tIqE7xRU-a-hyIC3sM5uy4ZzhVpFSRUGZuZofoTfV2M-Zw2lDGQItT38vFxHg85tO8e33P3FXmFjVMppew9nvEOn4aEuGqwI38bVIQiWBDcSIbHUrzhffitj4hRDxwk2C7pGWa2cj76cQ0VMFLA/w550-h309/Teams.jpg" width="550" /></a></div><br /><span data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-color: #e8e6e3; color: black; font-size: 13pt;"><span style="font-family: Lato;">Every
business needs the right tools to get the job done and to keep your team on track.
But juggling multiple apps and software can be a nightmare when trying to keep
information streamlined and easily accessible. That’s where Microsoft Teams comes
into play, especially for small businesses.</span></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-color: #e8e6e3; color: black; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Lato;">Now I
know – I hear the rumbling – some of you are Teams users, others are Zoom
users, and others are deeply embedded in Google Meets. And, truth be told, Teams had a rather rocky
start. Today, it has become a very
capable collaborative meeting and messaging platform that has more features
than most casual Teams meeting attendees realize.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;"><span data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-color: #e8e6e3; color: black; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;">In
this article, we’ll explore 10 essential </span><a href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-teams/essentials?activetab=pivot:overviewtab"><span data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-color: #e8e6e3; color: black; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;">Microsoft
Teams</span></a><span data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-color: #e8e6e3; color: black; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"> features
so everyone in your company has everything they need at their fingertips. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<h2 style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Lato;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a name="_n18cu2ljwl6y"></a></span><span data-darkreader-inline-color="" lang="EN" style="--darkreader-inline-color: #e8e6e3; color: black; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;">The 10 Must-Know Microsoft Teams Uses
For Small Businesses</span><span style="font-size: 13pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></h2>
<h3><span style="font-family: Lato;"><a name="_xrbwsncv0l3z"></a><b><span data-darkreader-inline-color="" lang="EN" style="--darkreader-inline-color: #e8e6e3; color: black; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 115%;">1) Share And Co-Edit Files<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></h3>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-color: #e8e6e3; color: black; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Lato;">The
demand for co-working capabilities has risen in recent years. And while modern
working conventions have dictated the need for more collaborative software,
there are real statistics to back up the benefits of co-editing. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;"><span data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-color: #e8e6e3; color: black; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;">According
to a </span><a href="https://financesonline.com/online-collaboration-statistics-analysis-of-trends-data-and-market-share/"><span data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-color: #e8e6e3; color: black; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;">study from
Deloitte</span></a><span data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-color: #e8e6e3; color: black; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;">, “When
workers collaborate, 73% do better work, 60% are more innovative, 56% feel more
satisfied, and 15% work faster.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-color: #e8e6e3; color: black; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Lato;">Microsoft
Teams understands this and has continued to develop its ability to share and
co-edit files. With 10 GB of cloud storage per user, it’s easier than ever to
work on documents with others no matter where you are. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-color: #e8e6e3; color: black; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Lato;">You
can also quickly share document files by attaching them to a chat within
Microsoft Teams so there’s no need for extra emails to share information.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<h3><span style="font-family: Lato;"><a name="_hns48ynkb065"></a><b><span data-darkreader-inline-color="" lang="EN" style="--darkreader-inline-color: #e8e6e3; color: black; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 115%;">2) Filter Messages <o:p></o:p></span></b></span></h3>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-color: #e8e6e3; color: black; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Lato;">Along
with our previous point, running an efficient business often means having
messaging software that can keep up. However, it can be overwhelming when you
have a sea of messages and no way to mark or find what you’re looking for. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-color: #e8e6e3; color: black; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Lato;">Not
anymore. With Microsoft Teams, you’re able to filter messages and find exactly
what you need. This replaces the need to use an additional messaging service,
such as Slack, and keeps everything within one comprehensive platform. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-color: #e8e6e3; color: black; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Lato;">This also
eliminates the headache of switching back and forth between platforms and
having to have multiple windows open all the time to get work done. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<h3 style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Lato;"><a name="_g6f3zk5jiu3m"></a><b><span data-darkreader-inline-color="" lang="EN" style="--darkreader-inline-color: #e8e6e3; color: black; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 115%;">3) Host Meetings</span></b><span data-darkreader-inline-color="" lang="EN" style="--darkreader-inline-color: #e8e6e3; color: black; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 115%;"> <br />
</span><span data-darkreader-inline-color="" lang="EN" style="--darkreader-inline-color: #e8e6e3; color: black; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 115%;">Hosting
meetings is another huge capability of Microsoft Teams. The software allows you
to schedule virtual meetings with hundreds of participants at a time. That
means you have everything you and your team need, no matter the size of your
business.<o:p></o:p></span></span></h3>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-color: #e8e6e3; color: black; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Lato;"><br />
Recent updates have also expanded the ability for co-hosting breakout rooms as
well. More features mean more ways for your team to connect!<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<h3><span style="font-family: Lato;"><a name="_gabu5whru1mz"></a><b><span data-darkreader-inline-color="" lang="EN" style="--darkreader-inline-color: #e8e6e3; color: black; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 115%;">4) Live Translated Captions <o:p></o:p></span></b></span></h3>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-color: #e8e6e3; color: black; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Lato;">The 2023
updates for Microsoft Teams have increased accessibility as well. For example,
there’s a new setting you can toggle on and off that will allow for live
translated captions to appear during meetings. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-color: #e8e6e3; color: black; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Lato;">The
system will save your settings for every meeting, or you can simply toggle it
off when you no longer need it. The choice is ultimately yours.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-color: #e8e6e3; color: black; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Lato;">You
can also get the meeting transcripts when done to quickly review just the one
part you were looking for!<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<h3><span style="font-family: Lato;"><a name="_qo0jfrvk2aii"></a><a name="_ezk465p754ps"></a><b><span data-darkreader-inline-color="" lang="EN" style="--darkreader-inline-color: #e8e6e3; color: black; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 115%;">5) Chat Features <o:p></o:p></span></b></span></h3>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-color: #e8e6e3; color: black; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Lato;">One
of the best features of the Microsoft Teams experience is the chat. With
unlimited chats and the ability to filter through them, as we mentioned
earlier, your team can have important conversations while also getting work
done in the same place.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-color: #e8e6e3; color: black; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Lato;">New
this year, the platform now allows you to delete chats on your end while
leaving them open on the other person’s when you no longer need the
information. In addition, you can easily add people to existing conversations,
and AI technology can suggest who you might want to talk to next.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-color: #e8e6e3; color: black; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Lato;">These
features make it easier than ever to collaborate with others and keep everyone
on the same page.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<h3 style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Lato;"><a name="_i6z6rs81t9uf"></a><b><span data-darkreader-inline-color="" lang="EN" style="--darkreader-inline-color: #e8e6e3; color: black; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 115%;">6) Picture-In-Picture
Functionality <o:p></o:p></span></b></span></h3>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-color: #e8e6e3; color: black; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Lato;">Not
every meeting needs your full attention. Teams has picture-in-picture
functionality that allows you to have a meeting playing while you are doing
other things. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-color: #e8e6e3; color: black; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Lato;">That
means you don’t have to put down other work while you’re on less important
calls and can multitask. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<h3><span style="font-family: Lato;"><a name="_4on4qygj3zav"></a><b><span data-darkreader-inline-color="" lang="EN" style="--darkreader-inline-color: #e8e6e3; color: black; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 115%;">7) Do Not Disturb<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></h3>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-color: #e8e6e3; color: black; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Lato;">In
addition to picture-in-picture display options, there are other ways you can
value your time with Microsoft Teams settings. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-color: #e8e6e3; color: black; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Lato;">This
platform allows you to toggle on “do not disturb” when you need to step away
from your desk, are taking a vacation, or going home/logging off at the end of
the day. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-color: #e8e6e3; color: black; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Lato;">There
are plenty of things that can wait until tomorrow, and you deserve to set
healthy boundaries when it comes to getting work done and taking time for
yourself and your family. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<h3><span style="font-family: Lato;"><a name="_jl1kztdivvrb"></a><b><span data-darkreader-inline-color="" lang="EN" style="--darkreader-inline-color: #e8e6e3; color: black; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 115%;">8) Data Encryption<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></h3>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-color: #e8e6e3; color: black; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Lato;">When
you’re using an all-in-one comprehensive platform, a lot of information is
exchanged. Between attaching important documents to chat threads to day-to-day
communications, you need to know that all your information and your clients’ information
is safe. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-color: #e8e6e3; color: black; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Lato;">Microsoft
Teams has you covered. With data encryption, you don’t have to worry about
private information leaking on the internet. That means peace of mind for you
and everything you work with.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<h3><span style="font-family: Lato;"><a name="_pl0cueez9acu"></a><b><span data-darkreader-inline-color="" lang="EN" style="--darkreader-inline-color: #e8e6e3; color: black; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 115%;">9) Multi-Question Polls<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></h3>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-color: #e8e6e3; color: black; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Lato;">The
last feature we’ll mention that’s new in 2023 is the ability to have
multi-question polls within a meeting. This gives you more flexibility to ask
the questions you need and gives you an easy place to collect that data.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-color: #e8e6e3; color: black; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Lato;">It’s
never been easier to run a meeting and gather information.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-color: #e8e6e3; color: black; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Lato;">10) Save MONEY (Thousands a month!)<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-color: #e8e6e3; color: black; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Lato;">Most
businesses already have Microsoft Teams included in their current software
package and can save a lot of money by eliminating redundant services.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-color: #e8e6e3; color: black; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Lato;">Paying
for dozens (or hundreds) of employee licenses for Slack, Zoom, Monday, Basecamp
and more may be a thing of the past using the features already included in
Microsoft Teams.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-color: #e8e6e3; color: black; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Lato;">Many
companies we look at are needlessly spending tens of thousands or more on these
other services and that money goes straight to the bottom line. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<h2 style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Lato;"><a name="_4trrtxmvrhbx"></a><b><span data-darkreader-inline-color="" lang="EN" style="--darkreader-inline-color: #e8e6e3; color: black; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 115%;">Microsoft Teams For The Win<br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></h2>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-color: #e8e6e3; color: black; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Lato;">Whether
you’re looking for a solution to messaging, collaborative working, video calls,
document sharing, or accessibility features within your organization, Microsoft
Teams can help your small business accomplish exactly what you need. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-color: #e8e6e3; color: black; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Lato;">With
these 10 features — and many more — you will be better equipped to work
together as a team and won’t have to waste time cobbling together multiple apps
along the way. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<span data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-color: #e8e6e3; color: black; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Lato;">NetWerks Strategic Services specializes in
working with small businesses to make them more productive and profitable,
while keeping their data and business protected. To see what we can do for you,
click <a href="http://go.scheduleyou.in/E37hXQb?cid=is:~Contact.Id~">here</a> to
schedule a quick discovery call.</span></span>Mike Giovaninnihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12328279662836448463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408887256560375389.post-60635674624483354422023-05-02T14:00:00.001-04:002023-05-02T14:00:06.465-04:00The Biggest Risk...<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigTbVPY8LLrKtvzT1_XH9wuJKQ9XMoUIt8MLY8zS5Itv6BFVNJkjfTS3eZuli-OFzewGyxz0U07_GU8BhNIm_F5pRoJKQW1WSAftbjwZpaMIcDP9LIOcdA9kG_8cNApOVICZl2h0zr0ptilabMQzfUY9ThNQ07wBfRyD1UWPalVlF-bRn2gnllSIgZFQ/s1024/RiskManagement.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1024" height="417" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigTbVPY8LLrKtvzT1_XH9wuJKQ9XMoUIt8MLY8zS5Itv6BFVNJkjfTS3eZuli-OFzewGyxz0U07_GU8BhNIm_F5pRoJKQW1WSAftbjwZpaMIcDP9LIOcdA9kG_8cNApOVICZl2h0zr0ptilabMQzfUY9ThNQ07wBfRyD1UWPalVlF-bRn2gnllSIgZFQ/w417-h417/RiskManagement.png" width="417" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Lato;">The
Biggest Risk Is <i>Not</i> The One You Don’t Take, But The One You Don’t <i>See</i><o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">“The biggest risk is the one you don’t take” is a mantra
you’ll hear motivational speakers deliver in their presentations to make the
argument that you should throw all caution to the wind and <i>go for it</i>
(whatever “it” is). <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">And while that may be a good piece of advice to get someone
to take action on an idea (and get the speaker applause at the end of their presentation),
truly smart, experienced entrepreneurs and business executives NEVER throw
“caution to the wind” and take <i>wild</i> risks. They take <i>calculated</i>
risks, weighing consequences and putting buffers, hedges, and checks in place
to reduce the risk and potential losses. They look for the risk because they know
unchecked optimism is not only foolish, but dangerous, and Murphy is always
standing by with a big wrench in hand, ready to throw it into your best-laid
plans.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">If you follow Warren Buffett’s two rules of investing,
you’ll see this same caution: Rule #1 – Never lose money. Rule #2 – Never forget
Rule #1.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">A good question to ask yourself is where are YOU putting
your business and your money at undue risk? While you cannot prepare for and
prevent EVERY risk in your business, one area where we see a lot of businesses
taking huge, unmitigated risks is with their data and cyber security.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">Despite the overwhelming evidence that the risk and the
financial consequences of cyber-attacks are enormous, we still hear, “Nobody is
going to hack us…we don’t have anything they want,” or “We can’t get hacked
because _____,” with the blank being things like “we use cloud applications” or
“we have a good firewall,” “our people are too smart to click on bad links in
e-mails,” or other similar “reasons” for their false sense of security. They <i>explain</i>
it away.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">Candidly, it’s our belief that this is not founded in confidence
and logical thought but based in a willful neglect and a desire to avoid
spending the funds necessary to truly secure their data, their business, their
finances. And while I completely understand that nobody wants to spend a lot of
money on IT, <b>the risk doesn’t cease to exist just because you choose to
ignore it</b>. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">One of the smartest investors in the world, Howard Marks,
CEO of Oaktree Financial, said, paraphrased, the less risk you perceive, the
more risk there is. For example, if I don’t think there’s any chance I can die
in a car wreck on my way to the store, I’ll fail to put on my seat belt, text
while I drive and be a lot less cautious about paying attention to the road
than if I thought there was a very high chance I could be in a fatal crash. The
lower the risk perceived, the higher the risk actually is, because we lower our
guard and don’t protect against it. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">That’s exactly why small businesses are the #1 target for
hackers. They’re EASY prey. Sure, they don’t get the bragging rights of bringing
down a company like Dole or hacking into Microsoft Azure, but hacking millions
of small businesses for a few thousand dollars each in ransomware pays. You
just don’t hear about these attacks because they don’t make the evening news,
just like you don’t hear about the 6 MILLION car wrecks that happen every year.
Only the big ones – or the ones that seriously impact rush hour traffic – get
noticed. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">If you are not all that certain that you are truly and fully
protected against such hacks, <a href="http://go.scheduleyou.in/pNI2MKjc">click
here</a> to schedule a brief discovery call with us. We can conduct a quick and
easy cyber security risk assessment and tell you for sure if your current IT
company is protecting you, and what level of risk you’re at for a cyber-attack.
It’s free and comes with no expectations or cost. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">Remember, not all successes are measured in gains secured.
Sometimes success is defined as losses avoided. If you were given the chance to
go back in time and unwind 2 or 3 financial, business or life decisions you’ve
made, knowing what you know now, I’m sure everyone would take that opportunity.
Most likely, you’d go back and warn yourself about dumb mistakes you made and
put protections in place to avoid losses you incurred. Sadly, there’s no genie
in a bottle to make that happen, so an ounce of prevention against cyber-attack
IS, without a doubt, worth a pound of cure. Call us today at (413) 786-9675 for your FREE Cyber
Security Risk Assessment.</span><o:p></o:p></p><br /><p></p>Mike Giovaninnihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12328279662836448463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408887256560375389.post-43053258850263384062023-04-26T19:37:00.003-04:002023-04-26T19:41:38.562-04:00Take the Shadow out of IT<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKRw1D_g1Zk7jrsVxwxWHRjtVb3i7ynanckaP5AS-FYcT6d3uGjuCXB2trYPAQIF-DgoMxVRWe0SfS-BDtOmtUaUQ6Q7MonYSsyBD-qu-hodTx_YGAgMLqg2RzmeJW4MN3Mk9hEE9bNMtxjeT73LCGZIhUEJFqpCxot60YnBoUeJpaconH0CHfhXEb5Q/s2422/dreamstimemedium_147340303.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1237" data-original-width="2422" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKRw1D_g1Zk7jrsVxwxWHRjtVb3i7ynanckaP5AS-FYcT6d3uGjuCXB2trYPAQIF-DgoMxVRWe0SfS-BDtOmtUaUQ6Q7MonYSsyBD-qu-hodTx_YGAgMLqg2RzmeJW4MN3Mk9hEE9bNMtxjeT73LCGZIhUEJFqpCxot60YnBoUeJpaconH0CHfhXEb5Q/w541-h275/dreamstimemedium_147340303.jpg" width="541" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="font-family: Lato;">When we talk about "Shadow IT" it is all about the end user who circumvents your security policies by downloading and installing utility apps, browser extensions, and surfing the web for crafty ways to get around your DNS filtering platforms. Generally, they don't understand the risk into which they put not only you the business owner, but also themselves and their co-workers. With cybercrime on the rise, it is imperative that businesses work towards reducing risk of compromise, especially the introduction of ransomware into their networks. To help put that knowledge in play, this blog will hopefully shed light on this growing threat.</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Lato;">5 Seemingly
Innocent Download Habits Your Employees Must STOP Now To Avoid A Ransomware Attack<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">Once upon a time, you could install antivirus software and
go about your merry way online and in your inbox, opening, clicking and
downloading files without a care.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">Today, antivirus alone cannot and will not protect you,
especially if you INVITE the hack by downloading a file that is infected with a
piece of code designed to circumvent your security protocols. Whether it’s a
personal computer, phone or a laptop you use for business, here are 5 things
you need to STOP doing now to ensure you don’t get hacked.</span></p><blockquote data-darkreader-inline-border-bottom="" data-darkreader-inline-border-left="" data-darkreader-inline-border-right="" data-darkreader-inline-border-top="" style="--darkreader-inline-border-bottom: initial; --darkreader-inline-border-left: initial; --darkreader-inline-border-right: initial; --darkreader-inline-border-top: initial; border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p class="MsoNormal"></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Lato;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><b>STOP downloading apps from unknown sources.</b>
There are thousands of free apps available online that are very tempting to
download. Hackers are masters at curiosity and “clickbait” designed to nail you
in a moment of weakness. To prevent rogue apps and programs from installing, configure
your devices to disallow the installation of programs from unauthorized
sources. On your phone, ONLY download apps from your device’s respective app
store that are tested and forced to meet the store’s security and privacy
requirements.</span></p><p></p></blockquote><blockquote data-darkreader-inline-border-bottom="" data-darkreader-inline-border-left="" data-darkreader-inline-border-right="" data-darkreader-inline-border-top="" style="--darkreader-inline-border-bottom: initial; --darkreader-inline-border-left: initial; --darkreader-inline-border-right: initial; --darkreader-inline-border-top: initial; border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p class="MsoNormal"></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Lato;"><i><span> </span><span> </span>Business owners</i>: while I’m sure all of your employees are trusting
souls, it IS possible (and recommended) to have business machines locked down,
preventing your employees from downloading any applications (or files) that
could harm you and compromise your security.</span></p><p></p></blockquote><p class="MsoNormal"></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Lato;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p></p><blockquote data-darkreader-inline-border-bottom="" data-darkreader-inline-border-left="" data-darkreader-inline-border-right="" data-darkreader-inline-border-top="" style="--darkreader-inline-border-bottom: initial; --darkreader-inline-border-left: initial; --darkreader-inline-border-right: initial; --darkreader-inline-border-top: initial; border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p class="MsoNormal"></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Lato;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b>STOP surfing the web unprotected,
particularly when accessing downloads.</b> This is particularly true if you are
on public WiFi. Starbucks is not going to guarantee your Internet connection is
safe, nor is any other business, restaurant or location offering free Internet
access. Talk to your IT company (that’s US!) about installing more than just
antivirus, but endpoint protection solutions, like a VPN, that will “hide” you
from cybercriminals and filter out nefarious websites and attacks so you CAN
use public WiFi without the fear of inviting a hack.</span></p><p></p></blockquote><p class="MsoNormal"></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Lato;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p></p><blockquote data-darkreader-inline-border-bottom="" data-darkreader-inline-border-left="" data-darkreader-inline-border-right="" data-darkreader-inline-border-top="" style="--darkreader-inline-border-bottom: initial; --darkreader-inline-border-left: initial; --darkreader-inline-border-right: initial; --darkreader-inline-border-top: initial; border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p class="MsoNormal"></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Lato;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><b>STOP opening and downloading files e-mailed
to you without extreme caution.</b> Phishing attacks via e-mail are still the
#1 way hackers gain access to a network. It’s very common for an attacker to
hack into someone’s e-mail and get their list of friends, colleagues, coworkers
and their boss to send e-mails that appear legitimate on “their” behalf, even
using their actual e-mail – these are are highly sophisticated phishing
attacks. So, before you open or download ANY file e-mailed to you, make sure it
was one you were expecting. It’s far safer to use IT-managed file sharing like
OnDrive, SharePoint or Citrix ShareFile to send attachements. But bottom line,
if ANY file “feels” wrong or suspicious about a file download, including a
weird extension or suspicious file name, CALL the person who sent it to verify.
If it’s important, they can send it again. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p><p></p></blockquote><p class="MsoNormal"></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Lato;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p></p><blockquote data-darkreader-inline-border-bottom="" data-darkreader-inline-border-left="" data-darkreader-inline-border-right="" data-darkreader-inline-border-top="" style="--darkreader-inline-border-bottom: initial; --darkreader-inline-border-left: initial; --darkreader-inline-border-right: initial; --darkreader-inline-border-top: initial; border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p class="MsoNormal"></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Lato;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4.<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><b>STOP downloading “bloatware.”</b> It’s common
for legitimate, reputable apps to sneak in other applications or toolbars you
don’t need. They sell this as a sponsorship to make more money every time one
of their users downloads an app. The best way to spot these is to look for
checkboxes when installing that automatically opt you into services by default.
So, before you hit “Next” and keep rolling to get your app installed, take a
second to really read and review what you’re agreeing to when installing that
new app.</span></p><p></p></blockquote><p class="MsoNormal"></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Lato;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p></p><blockquote data-darkreader-inline-border-bottom="" data-darkreader-inline-border-left="" data-darkreader-inline-border-right="" data-darkreader-inline-border-top="" style="--darkreader-inline-border-bottom: initial; --darkreader-inline-border-left: initial; --darkreader-inline-border-right: initial; --darkreader-inline-border-top: initial; border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p class="MsoNormal"></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Lato;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">5.<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><b>STOP downloading music, software, games,
movies and the like from websites like BitTorrent, RARBG, 1337x and similar
peer-to-peer file-sharing sites. </b>It’s very common for file-sharing networks
to be breeding grounds for hackers who post files infected with malicious
software for people to download. Some of the ads on these sites are malicious
as well. Don’t feel “safe” just because you have antivirus – because you’re
not. </span></p><p></p></blockquote><p class="MsoNormal"></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Lato;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Lato;">Business owners: after showing this to your team for both their
work and personal devices, <a href="https://getnetwerks.timezest.com/michael-giovaninni/phone-call-new-15-minutes">click
here</a><span data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-color: #ff1a1a; color: red;"> </span>to schedule a quick 10-minute call to
find out how we can implement security systems that will give you stronger
protections against hackers and against employees who accidentally click on or
download a malicious file. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="font-family: Lato;"> </span></o:p></p><br /><p></p>Mike Giovaninnihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12328279662836448463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408887256560375389.post-63769161319866318602023-02-21T14:11:00.001-05:002023-02-21T14:11:52.807-05:00End user passwordless utopiaWith all the different technologies available in Azure and Azure Active Directory (Azure AD), it's easy to miss the bigger picture and how they all play into the end-user experience. Some promote convenience; others, security. All lessen the authentication burden on users and increase security posture. Read this technical blog for a walkthrough.
<p><a href="https://stuf.in/bau5mw" target="_blank">Read More...</a></p>
Mike Giovaninnihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12328279662836448463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408887256560375389.post-67621622089386775462023-02-21T12:11:00.001-05:002023-02-21T12:11:27.757-05:00Complimentary assessment of your security postureToday's cybersecurity environment is more volatile and dangerous than ever, with sophisticated attackers targeting an ever-expanding attack surface. Do you have what it takes to fend off potentially devastating attacks? Schedule a free assessment of your security posture to find out.
<p><a href="https://stuf.in/bau35t" target="_blank">View: Complimentary assessment of your security posture</a></p>
Mike Giovaninnihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12328279662836448463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408887256560375389.post-8804416149537525262023-02-21T10:08:00.001-05:002023-02-21T10:08:49.766-05:00Cybersecurity Concerns for 2023With the new year, there is a lot to be excited and concerned about in the area of cybersecurity and data privacy. This article identifies some key issues that should be top of mind in this area and thoughts on how they may affect the retail sector this year.
<p><a href="https://stuf.in/bau0cr" target="_blank">Read More...</a></p>
Mike Giovaninnihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12328279662836448463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408887256560375389.post-91478871846282178892023-02-21T08:10:00.001-05:002023-02-21T08:10:58.472-05:00Microsoft Entra Verified IDTogether with the open standards community, customers and partners, Microsoft is helping create a decentralized identity system designed for security, privacy and inclusivity. Read the datasheet for additional information on the features and benefits of Microsoft Entra Verified ID.,
<p><a href="https://stuf.in/batxpd" target="_blank">View: Microsoft Entra Verified ID</a></p>
Mike Giovaninnihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12328279662836448463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408887256560375389.post-19103681237329175982023-02-20T17:11:00.001-05:002023-02-20T17:11:14.388-05:00Layoffs come for cybersecurity, tooEven companies in more insulated fields, such as cyber vendors Sophos, Okta and Secureworks, are bound to feel the pain as enterprises cut spending.
<p><a href="https://stuf.in/batsgr" target="_blank">Read More...</a></p>
Mike Giovaninnihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12328279662836448463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408887256560375389.post-62348848430335282702023-02-20T14:15:00.001-05:002023-02-20T14:15:29.999-05:00Which #cyberthreats are you most concerned about and do you feel like you have the necessary tools to mitigate risk? We'd love your feedback!<div>Which #cyberthreats are you most concerned about and do you feel like you have the necessary tools to mitigate risk? We'd love your feedback!</div>
Mike Giovaninnihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12328279662836448463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408887256560375389.post-70588704459900664292023-02-20T12:14:00.001-05:002023-02-20T12:14:25.281-05:00Microsoft named a Leader in 2022 Gartner Magic QuadrantMicrosoft Azure Active Directory (Azure AD), part of Microsoft Entra, earned Microsoft a Leader rank for the 6th year in a row in the 2022 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Access Management. The recognition is testament to Microsoft's focus on delivering innovative solutions that enable customers to do more with less.
<p><a href="https://stuf.in/batjgz" target="_blank">Read More...</a></p>
Mike Giovaninnihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12328279662836448463noreply@blogger.com0