Archive for category: Managed IT Support (MSP)

As the shelter-in-place (SIP) rages on within California, the Bay Area and its workers are forced to continue working remotely. At times, it feels like our world has drastically changed. Despite how mixed up everything may seem, it appears to be business as usual for robocalls, scammers, and hackers.

Known to the cybersecurity landscape as a “lateral movement” or “lateral attack,” the breach and move attack method has become a favorite for hackers today. These attacks will typically target business supply chains, in hopes of gaining access to their desired end target. One of the more famous lateral attacks was in 2013 when the department store Target was breached by hackers. The hackers were able to infiltrate Target’s HVAC System Software. From there they were able to travel within the network and steal credit card data from unknowing customers. Read more

As the network evolves with a company, over time (configuration changes are made, new devices are added, some are completely forgotten) older devices become unstable and unsupported. This is a natural consequence due to competing priorities, staff turnover, and daily distractions. This ‘aging’ of the network can contribute to an unstable network and excessive time required to resolve issues if not properly maintained.

Left unchecked, the network can become convoluted due to server sprawl and ad hoc changes. This is a common situation for many companies and creates unnecessary IT support overhead, and inflates operating costs.

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Can You Spot a Scam When You See One? – Learn How to Recognize Suspicious Texts and Emails!

As we are all getting used to the new normal, people continuing to work from home or staff returning to work, there continues to be a lot of change and unrest. Users are frustrated, concerned, overwhelmed, hurried and uncomfortable. As such they may forget to follow due diligence recommendations. Additionally, our hackers just keep getting more creative and continue to hunt for opportunities.

Keeping your business and information safe is critically important to us. Whether these attacks are directed at the business or the home, your users are exposed. Therefore, we continue to identify new threats and help you stay in front of the latest business scams and hacking attempts.

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As many counties ease lockdown restrictions, businesses around the Bay Area will slowly begin to reopen their doors. As some look forward to getting back into the office, other will continue to feel wary. One thing is for certain – the workplace is going to look very different for many of us.

How can you best prepare your team for the ‘new normal’? What should you take into consideration to ensure a successful return to the workplace, especially when it comes to employees, office space, and technology? While it is not an exhaustive list, our Returning to the Office: A Checklist for Your Businesses covers the items to consider as your office begins to reopen. Read more

Insider threats cost companies millions. According to the Ponemon Institute’s recently released study ”2020 Cost of Internal Threats.”  In the last two years we have seen a 31% increase in threats emerging from inside an organization. Costs range from $756K to $871K per incident, depending on the type of breach.

There are three types of Insider Threats:

• Careless, Negligent Employee or Contractor– These are well-intentioned employees or other users who accidentally harm the enterprise. These incidents happen all the time, but  a lot of people don’t think about this threat. Employees constantly make mistakes that put company data at risk — whether that’s because they’re careless, taking shortcuts, or simply uneducated in security. These mistakes add to the challenges faced by IT Teams daily. Ransomware, for example, is often put on a computer because of an employee’s careless browsing or download habits. Phishing attacks are another great example.

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