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Do you know about NIST and what their guidelines can do to benefit your business?  If not, it’s time to get educated.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) promotes U.S. innovation and industrial competitiveness by advancing measurement science, standards, and related technology through research and development.  They support greater development and application of practical, innovative and secure technologies to enhance our country’s ability to compete more effectively on the world stage.   

What does this have to do with your business? — If you adopt NIST standards, your business will be more competitive and secure.

The next time your IT team advises you to comply with NIST, listen. While you may think that overarching IT authority will limit your company’s effectiveness, the exact opposite is true. Governance and innovation are not mutually exclusive concepts when it comes to your business.

Risk, Compliance and Regulation

NIST provides standards and metrics for maintaining organizational effectiveness and information security.  By adopting these policies along you’ll reduce confusion and provide your IT and business teams more time to focus on process optimization and growing your business.

However, even the most innovative, NIST-compliant organizations can’t innovate and compete if they use aging technology systems. To operate productively and lead the force in innovation requires a peak-performing, secure IT infrastructure, along with the adoption of NIST compliance controls.

Creating a framework for governance can be difficult as complexities evolve and IT assets are being introduced at an expanding rate. When risk isn’t adequately controlled and governance rules aren’t followed, you open yourself up to of both foreign and domestic hackers who have the resources to find holes in your security practices. This is why you need the assistance of an IT Managed Services Provider who is versed in NIST best practices.

NIST recognizes the critical need for cybersecurity standards and best practices for organizations like yours.  Following NIST’s cybersecurity standards can enhance your ability to address current and future computer and information security challenges. 

Big Data and Security

The heavy reliance on data translates into more opportunities for hijacking information as it moves between locations—And the additional endpoints in today’s businesses add risk factors that are difficult, if not impossible, to control. The vast quantity of data points from online sales transactions, social media and mobile activities make organizations like yours a primary target for cybercriminals interested in learning more about your expansive network of individuals.

Governance provides a way to secure data and provide customers and employees with a higher level of comfort knowing that their personal information is being protected.

Federal Information Processing Standards

NIST has created a set of guidelines called Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) that are the gold standard of managing data for U.S. federal agencies. Since these standards are endorsed by the U.S. government, any contractors and companies in their employment must actively be engaged in maintaining these specifications and best practices.

These stringent security measures ensure that anyone doing business with the U.S. government is in full compliance with all other standards including HIPAA, FISMA (Federal Information Security Modernization Act) and Sarbanes Oxley (SOX).

NIST Compliance Examples

While this is not a full overview of what brings an organization into NIST compliance, below are a few of the steps you can take to comply with standards for FISMA:

• Security controls must be continuously monitored.
• Baseline controls must be documented in a written plan, with risk assessments to refine the standards.
• Security professionals must document any data protected under FISMA.
• Any information systems used for processing must be authorized, with full security controls applied.
• Ongoing performance monitoring is crucial to maintaining full compliance.

Becoming NIST compliant may be challenging for smaller IT teams, but there are myriad benefits if you do this. Even if you aren’t actively conducting business with the U.S. government, these regulations may help stop aggressive cyberattacks and protect your customers from being the victim of a data breach.

Alternatively, NIST compliance does not ensure that your organization will be safe from cybercriminals, internal attacks or simple negligence — but it can help. Monitoring of NIST and other standards by a competent Managed Services Provider is one way you can provide a higher level of security than can be provided by internal IT teams.  

Innovation and competitiveness can only flourish when your IT systems are fully supported, structured and secure. When your IT teams aren’t spending their time chasing outliers or managing non-compliance issues, they can better support the growth of your business.

Let {company} help your organization in {city} find the ideal measure of governance to support your competitiveness, innovation and security. Contact our IT Process and Security Professionals at {phone} or via email {email} to learn more about how you can accelerate your company’s growth potential.

You may have heard of the dark web, but do you really know what is going on in this special part of the Internet that you need software to access?

What if somebody told you that there was a huge portion of the Internet that few people have ever been to? That right now, there is a place online that you can’t get through via your Firefox or Google Chrome web browser that houses 7500 terabytes of information? A place that has between 400 and 550 times more public information than the “regular” Internet, spread out across more than 200,000 different sites?

This may sound like fiction, but it is very much a reality. The above statistics are referencing something called the dark web and if you’ve never taken the time to learn about it, now would be an excellent time to start.

What is the Dark Web?

Technically, the dark web is just a blanket term used to describe either A) a part of the web that requires special software to access, or B) any website that hasn’t been indexed by Google. As the vast majority of all online interactions essentially begin with a search engine, a site that doesn’t appear – even when you search for it by name – on an engine like Google essentially doesn’t exist at all.

But these sites do exist and they’re a lot seedier than you were likely even imagining.

To the first point, certain areas of the dark web are only accessible via specialized applications. Tor, Freenet and I2P are some of the most prominent example. Tor is a name you’ve likely heard before in reports on the dark web on your local news, as it is the most popular of these applications in large part because it is also the easiest to use.

The Implications of the Dark Web

The major appeal of the dark web comes by way of anonymity – applications like Tor promise total secrecy and complete anonymity as they don’t connect a “user” and a “server” through traditional means. Instead, they use what are commonly referred to as Tor relays – specially configured computers that act as nodes. As a message moves from one node to another, it is encrypted in such a way that only the machine that sent it and the machine it is being sent to can decode it.

Pass a message across enough of these nodes and it becomes incredibly difficult – if not downright impossible – to decrypt.

Because of this greater degree of anonymity and secrecy, the dark web is incredibly popular among people with malicious intentions. But it isn’t just cyber attackers who are making use of these resources – everyday criminals, pedophiles and even certain terrorist groups regularly communicate via these means.

Just one frightening example of the “worst” that the dark web has to offer comes by way of its “Assassination Market.” This is exactly what you think it is – a place where users can pay money with the specific intention of having someone assassinated.

The dark web is home to many of these markets, in fact, where illegal goods like drugs and firearms are sold. In an effort to remain as anonymous as possible even in the middle of a transaction, Bitcoin has quickly become the favored currency among its users.

Where the dark web suddenly becomes relevant to small and medium-sized business owners, in particular, has to do with its intersection with cyber crime.According to one study conducted by the Norwich University, the total amount of revenue generated by criminal activities on the dark web exceeds $100 million per year. People are regularly using it to develop, share and test new cyber attacks before they have a proper “launch” against targets all over the world.

When you consider the fact that the cost of a single data breach now costs businesses an average of $3.62 million as of 2017 (breaking down to about $141 per compromised record), you can begin to get an idea of why the dark web has become incredibly popular among people who wish to do you harm.

Also making things incredibly difficult is the progress (or lack thereof) that law enforcement agencies are having in penetrating the dark web’s murky waters. Thanks to the aforementioned way that the dark web operates, it’s very difficult to simply “bust” someone planning a massive cyber attack. Even Bitcoin makes tracking illegal funds much easier said than done. Also complicating matters is the fact that a significant number of the sites listed on the main index of dark websites are scams – meaning that they only look like they’re fronts for illegal activity.

Still, the good news is that while the dark web certainly makes the job of agencies around the world more difficult – stopping these people is certainly not impossible. In recent years many agencies have had a large amount of success in both bringing down some of these illegal websites and arresting the users behind them. Ross Ulbricht, for example, was the person who created perhaps the most well known drug market in the history of the web – Silk Road. Though a feature film has been planned about his life, he’ll have to watch it from behind bars as he is currently incarcerated.

If you think that the dark web doesn’t have the potential to affect your employees, your customers and ultimately your business, you’ll definitely want to think again. Part of staying protected in terms of cybersecurity and the digital age involves staying aware. Knowing as much as possible about what people are up to in the so-called “dark” or “deep” web puts you in a better position to fend off new cyber attacks before they have a chance to do some real damage.

If you’re in {city} and would like to find out more information about this or any other essential IT topic, or if you just have any specific questions that you’d like to discuss in a little more detail, please don’t delay – contact {company} today by phone at {phone} or by sending us an email to {email}.

Phishing attacks are deadlier than ever. Here’s how to train your employees to watch out for them. 

Phishing schemes send duplicitous emails to businesses in an attempt to infect computers with malware. They’re successful when an employee clicks a suspect link/attachment, or gets tricked into giving up financial information.

When it comes to data security, phishing threats get less attention than more “active” malware attacks—And that’s too bad, because today’s phishing schemes are deadlier than ever.

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Gone is the broken grammar from Nigerian princes. It’s been replaced with professional, detailed messages containing legitimate-looking logos and intelligent language.

They’re so good that even tech experts get fooled.

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A successful phishing attack could cost your company anywhere from thousands to millions of dollars. Protect your business—Here are eight tactics to put in place.     

Encourage Suspicion.

Studies reveal that employees fall for phishing scams because they’re trained to always be “nice.”   As a result, they comply with email requests from “clients” without any question. Experts advise taking a suspicious approach to all emails. If an email message “feels wrong, listen to your gut.” Train your employees to follow their instincts when it comes to suspect emails.

Scrutinize URLs and Addresses.

You should always carefully examine all email addresses and URLs. With phishing emails, they tend to be a bit “off.” The URL won’t match the directions given in the message, or it won’t be the real web address, rather a similar one. The same is true of email addresses, and company logos, watermarks, and signoffs. If you simply glance at this information, you may be fooled.  If you take closer look, you’ll realize it’s a counterfeit. Train employees what to look for if they come across an unexpected email, and to always pay attention to the details.

Think About the Message and Logo.

Phishing scams can be very subtle. Advanced phishing attempts may take over email clients to send messages from what appear to be very reputable sources. This is why it’s essential to stop and think before taking action—especially when money or sensitive information is involved.

Train your employees to examine the message. Is it unusual? Is it unexpected given what they know about the project or client? If they get a message that says, “Wire $5,000 right away for patent rights or we will lose this market,” this should raise warning bells—Why didn’t this person make a call or explain this in person? Any emails that focus on a disaster or emergency like this should be immediately suspected.

If You Don’t Know the Person, Stay Away from the Email.

Don’t recognize who the email is from? Then don’t do anything. This policy protects employees from phishing emails that get through your spam filters. If the email is from an address they don’t recognize, they should ignore the message. If necessary, they should forward it to the appropriate account manager and ask if it’s legitimate. It’s always worth taking a little extra time to confirm messages, rather than falling for a phishing scheme.

Call for Confirmation.

It’s amazing how many people don’t do this, even with extraordinary requests. Successful phishing emails depend on you not calling the sender and asking what’s going on. Calling the sender can destroy the most careful phishing attempts. (At the highest level, phishing may include fake phone numbers or rerouting, but this is quite rare.)

To get around this, phishers may include a message that says, “I will be out of the office today, but this request requires your immediate attention. Please don’t try to contact me, just download/click link/send money/ or (do some other stupid thing).”  If you see a message like this, the first thing you and your employees should do is pick up the phone and call, especially when important data is involved.

Stay on Top of the Latest Phishing Schemes in Your Industry.

Phishing schemes vary between industries (based on how much money can be conned out of particular businesses). Research the phishing schemes trending in your industry, and what warning signs to look for. A variety of services offer intelligence reports for this very purpose.  You can also visit security zines and forums that focus on your industry. These are typically updated with the latest cyberattacks.

Block Access.

Eventually, companies reach a size where trusting employees to avoid phishing attacks becomes very difficult. It’s important to use strong firewalls and updated security filters to block access to any dangerous or illegitimate sites (the same goes for downloads, etc.). This is essential to mitigate damage once phishing emails are opened. Phishing scams can’t hurt your business if they can’t upload malware.

Adopt Email Authentication Standards.

Email authentication standards are improving all the time. They provide an excellent way for companies to stop spoofing attempts both to and from your organization. Basically, it authenticates senders and makes sure that an email really did come from that sender.  This tactic also makes it more difficult to spoof emails from your company. The current standard is DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Report and Conformance). So, if your business is a target of phishing scams, look into adopting this standard for added protection.

An issue worth noting is that DMARC is relatively new and underused.   It may not be compatible with all software and services. So, this is the time for a serious consultation with your IT experts to discuss implementing authentication. The process is highly effective, and worth your time.

Need help protecting your business in {city} from phishing attacks? {company} is ready to help. We specialize in data services and security, and can find the right approach for your business. Contact us at {email} or call us at {phone} for a no-obligation, complimentary consult.

The Apple iOS Notes application is a great tool with so many practical features.  However, many don’t know about these hidden tools to extend the Notes experience.  Check them out here.    

The Apple’s Notes application is built into all versions of iOS. Ever since the release of the original iPhone in 2007, it’s been the perfect way to handle word processing on-the-go.

Notes will get a significant overhaul when iOS 11 is released in the fall of 2017. If beta versions are any indication, you’ll be impressed with the new capabilities Notes provides.   Here are just a few of them:

Notes Stationary

With Notes, iOS 11 you’ll be able to change the default stationary—select yours from a range of lined and gridded paper styles.  Change the default style for all your notes, or on a note-by-note basis. Just tap the “New Note” button and select the “Share” arrow. Or from your computer keyboard hit “CMD” + “N”. Once you select the “Lines & Grids” option, you see all the styles to choose from.

Superior Organization

The iOS 11 version of the Notes app has some great options for organizing. Until now, Notes appeared on one screen. You could create folders, but extensive organization wasn’t a possibility—Until now, that is.

In iOS 11, all you have to do is swipe the title of a note with your finger to open up a new list of organizational options. In addition to moving and deleting notes, you can password-protect a note. This is perfect for people in enterprise environments who share devices like iPads.

Pinning

You can also pin a note to the top of your list, so it’s always within reach. To do this, simply swipe right on the name of the note, and release. The note will be pinned in place so it can’t be moved even if you organize by date created, or alphabetize by title, etc.

Moving and Deleting Notes

Previous versions of Notes allowed you to quickly delete a note or move it into a folder with a few swipes of your finger. This basic functionality remains in the iOS 11 version—However, it’s gotten a significant makeover.

Now, when you swipe on a note and select “Move,” you won’t see a list of all the folders you created. Instead, you’ll see icons that represent things like attachments and images.  This lets you quickly view your options so you can move your note. All you have to do is tap on the folder and the selected note will move there instantly. This won’t take more than a few seconds.

However, when you attempt to delete or move a password-protected note, you’ll now be prompted to enter the password (or use Touch ID depending on the settings on your device). You won’t be able to do anything unless you provide the proper credentials, which, again, helps to keep your confidential information private.

If at any point you make a mistake when it comes to moving and organizing your notes, all you have to do is physically shake your iPhone or iPad for a second or two to undo it. You don’t need to go through the menu system.

More New Features

The new iOS 11 Notes app comes with advanced features that add value for enterprise users in particular. If you own an iPad Pro and an Apple Pencil, you can now sketch anywhere in any note, at any time. Certain text tools that were only in the macOS version of Notes, will now be available in iOS 11.

Use the camera on your device to scan paper notes and save them in Notes until you move them to the folder of your choice. Previously, this feature was only available in third-party apps, most of which will now be unnecessary.

These are just a few of the new, hidden features in Notes iOS 11.  If you’d like to learn more for your business in {city} contact {company} at {phone} or {email}.