Blog

On July 4th we as Americans honor the formation of the union we call The United States of America. Whether enjoying the holiday at the beach; a backyard barbeque; watching a fireworks celebration in the city; working hard in the office or shop; or marching in a local community parade; we all celebrate the birth of our great nation together as one.

Here’s to our beautiful lakes, our majestic mountains and everything that makes American the greatest place to live!

For anyone who’s not American, or new to our country, here’s what Independence Day is all about.

Independence Day is celebrated each year on July 4^th. It’s often known as “the Fourth of July.” It’s the anniversary of the publication of the declaration of independence from Great Britain in 1776.

In 1775, the people of New England began fighting the British for their independence. On July 2, 1776, the Congress secretly voted for the country’s independence from Great Britain. Two days later, on July 4, 1776, the final wording of the Declaration of Independence was approved, and the document was published.

The first public reading of the Declaration of Independence occurred on July 8, 1776. Congressional delegates began signing it on August 2, 1776. Fifty-six congressional delegates signed the document. The delegates signed by states from North to South, beginning with Josiah Bartlett of New Hampshire, and ending with George Walton of Georgia.

Some delegates refused to sign the Declaration, including John Dickinson of Pennsylvania, and James Duane, Robert Livingston, and John Jay of New York.

Some opposed the document but signed it anyway to present the appearance of a unanimous Congress. This included Carter Braxton of Virginia, Robert Morris of Pennsylvania, George Reed of Delaware, and Edward Rutledge of South Carolina. Five delegates were absent including Generals George Washington, John Sullivan, James Clinton, and Christopher Gadsden, as well as Virginia Governor Patrick Henry.

John Adams sent a description of how Independence Day would be celebrated in a letter to his wife Abigail on July 3, 1776. He described “pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations” throughout the country.

An interesting note: Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, both signers of the Declaration of Independence and presidents of the United States, died on July 4, 1826, exactly 50 years after the adoption of the Declaration.

For our Help Desk employees, Independence Day is a workday. We plan to celebrate the 4^th just like the rest of our countrymen (and women!). But we do this by being here if you have any technical issues.

Our Help Desk is your front-line support for submitting incidents and service requests.

We say that we operate 24/7/365 and we mean it – Independence Day, Memorial Day, Christmas, New Year’s Day, Easter – no matter the holiday or day of the week.

You’ll have direct access to the IT professionals who help you onsite and provide the advice, guidance, and rapid restoration of services you need to keep your business running. 

When you call, one of our agents will log your request into our IT service management system and either resolve it for your then or escalate it to the next level of support.

You have the option of reporting an incident or service request by email or by contacting us by phone. When you do, this will generate a “ticket” in our IT service management system.

Once the ticket is created, you’ll automatically receive an email receipt confirmation with your ticket or reference number. This confirmation tells you that your request has been logged at our Help Desk and that it’s been assigned to a tech specialist who knows your business and is experienced in your particular IT issue.

Here’s what we ask that you provide when submitting a request to our Help Desk:

• Your name, business name, phone number, and email address.
• A detailed description of the problem or concern.
• Whether the issue you’re experiencing affects only one user, many users, your entire office or multiple offices.
• The impact your issue has on your business, including whether any critical applications have been affected.
• Anything you or your staff have done to try to resolve the issue before contacting us.

Prioritizing Tickets

It also helps if you prioritize your need. Here’s an example of what we mean:

• Non-Urgent: Your problem is minimal and doesn’t impact your ability to work. It’s something that you could wait to be addressed within the next week. (For example, you’d like us to provide a new piece of computer equipment for you.)
• Normal: The IT issue has some impact on your day-to-day operations. However, you could wait for two days for it to be addressed. (For example, you’d like us to help you find a better way to use an application or replace it with a different one.)
• Urgent: The issue you face has a significant impact on one user’s ability to work. You need help sometime during the workday.
• Emergency: This issue has a significant team-wide impact on your staff’s ability to work. Multiple employees are affected. You need help as soon as possible, no matter if it’s after hours, over the weekend, or on a holiday (like the 4^th of July). This is for things like outages and downtime.

Please do your best not to prioritize something as “Urgent” or “Emergency” when it’s not. This helps us get to those really urgent requests much faster.

We want you to know that you and your staff can enjoy Independence Day with the peace of mind that our Help Desk is always here for you. Happy 4^th of July everyone!

Help! How Do We Migrate To Office 365?

YOUR MICROSOFT OFFICE 365 MIGRATION CHECKLIST

First, let’s talk about why you should use Microsoft Office 365.

It’s simple…

If you do, you’ll have a full-featured, cloud-based office productivity tool that can help you work more easily, productively, and collaboratively.

This allows you to please your customers and grab more market share. There’s no better solution for small and mid-sized businesses today than Microsoft Office 365.

Why?

Because instead of simply packaging the popular applications you use (like Excel, Word, PowerPoint and more) Microsoft has taken the extra step to integrate these tools, along with others. This provides your organization with the capabilities a larger-sized business enjoys.

But there’s something you should know.

Migrating to cloud computing is a multi-phased project. There are many things to consider when making a conversion to Microsoft Office 365, or any cloud-based system.

We’ve developed this Microsoft Office 365 MIGRATION CHECKLIST to help ensure the process is seamless for your business and transparent to your customers.

Of course, we think we should do this for you.

Why?

Because it’s complicated and a lot of things can go wrong unless you know exactly what you’re doing.

But, if you’re ready to try this on your own, here’s what you need to do.

INVENTORY EVERYTHING IN YOUR IT ENVIRONMENT

Start by making a detailed inventory of everything in your IT environment. This way you can make the best decisions and estimates about what it will take to migrate everything. You’ll also be able to better determine how long this might take and develop a migration timeline that you can share with your staff.

Your inventory may include things like:

• Site Collections (a group of websites that have the same owner and share administrative settings)
• List and Libraries (a special list/library for documents)
• Pages (all files that have a dependency to another file using a URL)
• Blocked File Types
• Branding
• Workflows (pre-programmed mini-applications that streamline and automate a wide variety of business processes)
• Content Types
• Site Columns (reusable column definitions or templates that you can assign to multiple lists across multiple SharePoint sites)
• Permissions
• User Alerts
• Retention Policies (A retention policy is the only feature that can both retain and delete content across Office 365.)
• Records
• Users and Groups
• Large Lists or Libraries
• Any other UI customizations (JavaScript, altered menus, etc.)
• Customized IT Solutions

What About Our Customized Solutions?  

You could run into trouble here.

Create an inventory of all your customizations. Identify what you want to migrate. This is a good time to identify what you don’t need any longer and remove it.

Make sure you have a good overview of what you have in your sites (WSP, Sandbox, etc.) And note if one depends on another.

Map things out, so you’re sure to deploy everything in the right order when it’s migrated to your destination.

Are you running any Farm Solutions? These run codes that can affect the whole farm and can’t be migrated to Office 365. Get rid of them.

Do you have any Sandbox Solutions? As with Farm Solutions, it’s recommended that you don’t include these.

Converting any Web Parts you developed for Add-Ins could be problematic.

If you’ve built Timer Jobs, there is no real solution when you migrate to the Cloud. You must find a new way to do this.

Event Receivers: You’ll need to rewrite and host them differently to get the same results.

Determine how you can deploy your declarative artifacts. You might be able to do this with an Azure Web App or PowerShell.

Stay away from customized fields. Display Templates or Office 365 column formatting might provide an option for displaying content the way you want so you don’t need to create new fields.

Item IDs in Lists and Libraries could change during the migration.

REMOVE & REORGANIZE YOUR OLD IT ENVIRONMENT ITEMS

Microsoft SharePoint helps you custom-build what you need for your unique operations. Now’s a good time to locate and reorganize what you want to keep or delete what you don’t.

• Locate and get rid of any “Orphaned Users.”
• Locate and get rid of vacant SharePoint Groups.
• Move users with specific permissions back into Groups.
• Get rid of any Custom Content Types, Site Columns, and Workflows you no longer use.
• Locate any sites that you haven’t used or modified and determine if you still need them.
• Ask all users to check-in documents they’ve checked-out, including those that have never been checked in. (Ensure you migrate the most recent versions.)
• Find any Large Site Collections and break them up into multiple Site Collections.
• Locate Large Sites and promote them into Site Collections.
• Delete any duplicate content.
• Clean-up items that have too many custom permissions.
• Get rid of versions in your history you no longer want.
• Re-order Lists and Libraries that contain too many columns.
• Rethink and re-order very Large Lists.
• Ask all users to finish up any pending workflow tasks.

III. PREPARE YOUR NEW DESTINATION

This is the time to prepare a clean slate for your new destination. A well thought out Information Architecture can make all the difference between a successful migration and one you’re not happy with. Take your time doing this as it might be the last chance you have to do this for quite a while.

• Map out the information architecture of your new destination.
• Backup all of your data.
• Test your backup restoration to make sure it works.
• Check out all databases for any corrupt data. (Delete any that you find.)
• Run a number of migration tests beforehand. (Take note of any unsupported elements.)
• Determine the overall time required to migrate all sites. (Slow migration speed can significantly impact project duration, causing delays that can disrupt your business operations.)
• Set SharePoint to import user profiles from any specific sources.
• Map a plan for the metadata on your content.
• Look at your customizations. (If required, convert them to work in the new destination.)
• Locate any deprecated native templates or features and make a plan to replace them.

IT’S NOW TIME TO COMMUNICATE EVERYTHING TO YOUR STAFF.

Change is always difficult for everyone and this includes your users. For your Office 365 Migration to be a success, you need to let them know what to expect.

• Communicate with all users before starting the migration and let them know this is a process but that you’ll keep them informed.
• Circulate the proposed timeline to ensure it won’t interfere with their business-critical efforts.
• Let them know about the IT downtime that will occur and for how long.
• Relay any possible changes in the environments (URLs, Bookmarks, Document References, Excel Macros, etc.).
• Determine where to go to get an updated status or any assistance you might need during the migration.
• Create sandbox sites for previewing.

BEGIN THE MIGRATION

At this point, the process of migrating to Office 365 shouldn’t be too difficult if you’ve followed all the steps above. Just be prepared to deal with any unforeseen complications that might not have been revealed during the testing phase.

Workflows:

• Stop running any workflows you’ll be migrating.

Migration Scenarios:

• Use a third-party tool to migrate and granularly restructure as you transition.
• Perform multi-phased, incremental migration for large sites.

AFTER MIGRATING

It’s time to take a “test drive” to make sure everything is working properly in your new environment.

• Test your Destination Environment.
• Make sure everything migrated successfully.
• Test all your workflows and check user permissions.
• Make a complete backup of your new environment.
• Remove all access to the old SharePoint environment.

ON A WEEKLY BASIS: MONITOR YOUR OFFICE 365 ENVIRONMENT

You’re not done. It’s very important that you continue to monitor the security, usage, and other elements in your new Office 365 environment to make sure it’s running at peak performance without any glitches.

• Ensure all your users are getting what they need from Office 365. Find out if they require any assistance or run into problems.
• Always monitor data security and check for any data breaches.
• Locate any broken permissions.
• Ensure all users are using the right permissions.
• Ensure user credentials remain private.
• Control sharing of monitor permissions.

As you can see, when you move your organization to Microsoft Office 365, it’s important to plan exactly what steps you want to take, when to perform them, and who’s involved. Keep the lines of communication open, and this checklist will help you as you plan and prepare for a migration to Office 365.

Time is money, but most of us value both. Microsoft knows how important these two things are. They have developed some programs that will help you work faster with your computer or preferred device. This article will review some helpful features from Microsoft that will help you get your work done faster and more efficiently. These technologies include Cortana, Outlook, and finally the Microsoft Edge browser.

Microsoft Cortana

Microsoft Cortana is like a digital assistant who does everything asked of her. Before you start working with Cortana make sure to link it into your work account. Then navigate to the bottom left search bar. There, you can type anything, such as a random question. Let’s say you type something like: “What do I need?” Cortana will automatically generate a pool of different things she can do for you.

Simply put, you can set a reminder on your PC for a doctor’s appointment and Cortana will alert you on your phone. This is so helpful, especially if you are away from the office. It collects information from all your devices, such as your phone contact list. Cortana can send email reminders and give you alerts based on your location. Did you know that you can even attach a photo to your reminder? Yes, with Cortana you can do that!

Cortana simply ensures that you keep up with your busy schedule. Like all smart voice assistants, Cortana has the ability to find information ranging from flight schedules, traffic conditions, and even weather changes in your area. She can immediately give you updates on all these things and more.

With time, as you interact and use Cortana, she gets to know you personally and improves the kind of assistance that she provides. These customized services make this virtual assistant especially helpful. She helps keep track of your favorite things like music, hobbies, and sports. She can learn about your favorite hang-outs or places you like to eat. She can give you suggestions and inform you of any updates in relation to these things. Do you have a favorite celebrity that you enjoy following? Cortana can give you timely updates on what your favorite celebrities are doing.

The Cortana virtual assistant is constantly advancing in knowledge. The developers add new features all the time, plus she learns as you use her. This new type of technology is advancing at a rapid pace. It includes the convenience of being available for all of your devices. Information is synchronized across phones, computers, and tablets both at home and at work. Every time you use any of your devices, the information gets updated. Cortana remembers. This definitely saves you time and it offers a new kind of convenience that people are beginning to enjoy and expect.

Microsoft Outlook

Here is a tip to help you reduce the number of emails that are related to conversations in your inbox. You just go into Outlook into the messages in your inbox. At the top left of your menu, you will see something called “clean up.” When you click on this icon, it will give you different options like:

• Clean up conversation
• Clean up folder
• Clean up folders and subfolders

This allows you to delete individual conversations or entire conversations. This feature goes through your conversations, streamlining everything, leaving only the most recent conversation. Your inbox gets a quick but thorough clean-up.

Microsoft Edge

Microsoft Edge is the most secure, dependable web browser on the market today. It has a whole host of features within itself, but here are a few that stand out.

Imagine a busy day at work and you have been conducting research and your desktop has a number of Tabs open. Maybe you’re not ready to close any of them! Microsoft Edge allows you to use a tab manager which pushes aside the tabs for you to use later.

When you want to reopen those tabs, you simply go to the left of the screen, open up the Tab Manager, and select the tab that you want to reopen.

Ink within Microsoft Edge

The ability to ink within Microsoft Edge is now at your fingertips. All you need is a stylus. Go to the Microsoft Edge and circle what you need, annotate it, capture it, and send it to the recipient of your choice.

Wrap up

Microsoft is constantly searching for new ways to improve the efficiency of their products just to make your life easier and more enjoyable. That is why Microsoft Windows 10 is a modern day hack on your computer that will make work stress-free. It helps you get everything done more efficiently so you can still achieve the best results in a shorter time frame. Being organized is part of working smarter and so is mastering these simple tools. Knowledge is power, and with what you have learned here, you can save time and improve your work life.

This article is basically an overview of what Microsoft Office 365 is. Virtually, there is nothing new especially to those who are already using Microsoft Office products; only a few enhancements to better your user experience. To start off, we will have a historical evolution of Office to give you a clear understanding of where we are coming from, and then explore Office in the Cloud and finally various Office 365 user scenarios.

Evolution of Office

Most of the Applications on Office are basically the same ones from ten years ago, only with a few improvements to increase efficiency.

In the past, when one needed a software upgrade, you bought it in a box and then had it manually installed on your device. What Office 365 has done is make it easier for you to access the upgrades to all the Office Applications you usually use.

This is to help you collaborate and communicate so you can get more work completed faster. Office 365 contains the normal Office Applications that most people are accustomed to such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, and Outlook. Office 365 has added a few helpful Apps to make your work easier such as Yammer, OneDrive, Skype, and OneNote.

• OneDrive for Business

This is an App where you store your business documents to save, view, and edit. You can also co-author or co-create content with colleagues.

• Skype

This App enables instant messaging, video, and voice calling and it is good at indicating whether you are at your desk, in a meeting, on a call, and even when you are away from your desk.

• Yammer

This is like a social network for an enterprise. You can follow groups, teams, comment, share ideas, provide feedback, and also store content.

• OneNote

This App is not new at all, but it is very useful for taking notes. It allows you to paste images, links, and store very different kinds of contents. It works like a digital notebook.

Office 365 Delivered Services

These are basically the services that Microsoft delivers to different organizations in order to enable them to use the technology reviewed above. They include helpful programs like PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook, and OneNote. Microsoft recently purchased Skype and has integrated this program into their suite of products. It can be used for communications and holding virtual meetings on your desktop.

SharePoint is used for sharing documents and is integrated with OneDrive and Exchange which provides email functionality.

Delivered Services by Office 365 also offer the Office 365 programs for any device, whether powered by iOS, Android, or Windows. This means that you can access your stored data in Office 365 on any device or platform.

Office in the Cloud

Traditionally, an organization runs their Apps in a central data center owned and managed by them. On the other hand, Cloud is where a service provider like Microsoft can provide computer powered storage like a hard drive to other organizations to help them manage their data. A hybrid is using both the traditional and cloud methods to manage data. Advantages of using Cloud include flexibility, accessibility, reliability, manageability, and of course security.

Office Online

This is a service that enables you to access your Apps online and also your data.

Office 365 Scenarios

• Do it from anywhere

Office 365 gives you access to any device to enable you to work from anywhere. This is because files and settings are synced across devices. You can easily create, edit, and share documents and even access them on a mobile device. One Note is also your digital notebook and you can take notes anywhere anytime and all your devices will be updated with the new information.

• OneDrive for Business

OneDrive for Business works with SharePoint to store, sync, and share your work files. You can co-create and co-author documents with colleagues. You don’t have to be together or even working from the same location. You can keep refining and make changes from anywhere.

• SharePoint

SharePoint allows you to better manage your content. You can also collaborate on documents with your colleagues.

• Skype for Business

The features of Skype allow you to connect with anyone via instant messaging (IM), video calls, and online meetings. Skype has the ability to turn the instant messenger into a phone or video call. You can record sessions to use later or share with others.

• Yammer

This is the social network guru for your office. It allows discussions, ideas, and input without necessarily holding a meeting.

More information can be found on:

support.office.com

www.microsoft.com/en-ca/site/work-wonders

Wrap Up

The best way to learn is to explore. Get Microsoft Office 365 and start using the awesome features. It is user-friendly and totally worth your investment. Microsoft saves you time and makes work very easy.

Exploring strategies for understanding and responding to online gaming addiction

It’s no secret that professionals across the healthcare and technology industries have been scratching their heads about online gaming for years. More and more, professionals – particularly in the healthcare sector – have developed a growing concern about just how impactful online gaming can be – especially for the smartphone generation.

For modern youth who spend an increasing amount of time plugged into laptops and smartphones, professionals worry that the allure of online gaming can result in a downright addiction—an addiction that results in irrational cravings and an uncontrollable need to keep playing.

There’s no doubt that just like with any other addiction, this type of compulsive online game use can have serious detrimental consequences in the real lives of over-users. A strong compulsion for internet games can have negative impacts on youth relationships, schooling, and employment, in addition to their physical and mental health. That’s why, healthcare professionals across the globe are emphasizing the need to recognize over-gaming for what it is – a behavioral addiction.

Concerns Take Effect: World Health Organization Declares Gaming Disorder as Classified Disease

Recently, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that ‘gaming disorder’ will be officially recognized under their International Classification of Diseases. This is an incredibly significant move by the WHO and the formal classification will greatly improve awareness and understanding of the disorder. Further, with a formal classification, impacted youth and families will have more options for treatment, help, and funding.

The official WHO classification defines online gaming addiction as such:

“…impaired control over gaming, increasing priority given to gaming over other activities to the extent that gaming takes precedence over other interests and daily activities, and continuation of escalation of gaming despite the occurrence of negative consequences.”

Thanks to this informed decision by the WHO, families looking for more serious and dynamic treatment options will have global support behind them. This means the opening up of spots for gaming addicts at inpatient clinics and long-term rehabilitation facilities.

Keeping a Watchful Eye: Is Your Child Showing Signs of Gaming Addiction?

Understandably, the WHO announcement has many parents giving a second thought about their own children’s online habits. Young kids play video games – this is not a new phenomenon and games are not inherently dangerous to kids. However, there are key warning signs to be on the lookout for if you’re concerned your child’s gaming borders on over-use or addiction.

Check out these top 4 warning signs to ensure your child’s game use isn’t out of control:

1.     Preoccupation & Compulsion

Does your child spend all their time playing a specific game or set of games? Do they have a hard time talking about anything else when they are offline? If your child seems to have a compulsive need to log on and play or if they can’t seem to think or talk about anything else, gaming addiction could be present.

2.     Over Spending Time & Money

Are you constantly catching your child red-eyed and up way past a normal bedtime, playing an online game? Does your child have a habit of overspending their money or yours on video-game related purchases? If all your child’s time and money are being directed toward their game use, they could be suffering from gaming addiction.

3.     Erratic Emotions

Does your child get irrationally emotional when they are unable to access or play their game? Do they get very defensive when you question them about their game use? Does your child have strong emotional reactions when they aren’t doing well in their game? If you notice that your child’s emotions are hard to regulate and seem to spike and drop based on gaming outcomes, it may be time to get professional help.

4.     Neglecting Other Areas of Life

Has your child recently seen their grades drop? Does your child often ask to stay home sick from school just to spend the day playing games? Does your child neglect their part-time job, friendships, or extra-curricular activities in order to game? If so, your child is likely struggling with a serious addiction to gaming.

A Playbook for Parents: How to Curb the Risk of Gaming Addiction in Your Kids

All of this information is understandably worrisome for parents – especially as the younger generations become more and more reliant on technology for occupation and entertainment. That’s why, no matter how frightening gaming addiction seems, there are always concrete strategies for parents and kids to rely on, in hopes of stopping addiction in its tracks.

Check out these strategies for managing gaming addiction:

1.    Recognize the Cravings

First things first, there has to be an acknowledgment of a problem. Understanding that your child has compulsive cravings for a game will help remind both you and them that this is a disorder. Recognize when the cravings to play happen and try to get to the root cause.

2.    Get Active, Get Outside, Reconnect with Friends

Encourage your child to physically move their body. Exercise or team sports are a great way to get positive endorphins pumping. Encourage your child to spend time with friends, go outside, and become more active. This can be a great first step in breaking the cycle of addictive behavior.

3.     Be Aware of Viral Games

For today’s social media generation, a new game can go viral in no time at all. This is a huge trigger for kids who have a tendency to get addicted quickly. With all their friends talking about how awesome a new game is, kids will want to see what all the hype is about. Knowing what to look for is half the battle, so make sure to keep an eye on new games that are sweeping kids up in a viral tornado.

4.    Be Firm

No one likes giving tough love – especially when we know our kids are struggling. But unfortunately, tough love will be required in the fight against gaming addiction. There will be times when your child is begging you to play for just one more hour. They may get nasty and try to disobey your rules. Do your best to remain firm.

5.    Enlist Tech Help  

In the struggle to face gaming addiction head-on, it may be helpful to install some kind of parental controls, making it harder for your kids to spend unattended time online. There are various tools available to block sites and monitor your children’s internet use so you can make sure their habits aren’t out of control.

No matter what approach you take, staying in-tune with your kids’ gaming habits and internet use is a noble task for all parents. The world our children are growing up in is increasingly digital and they’re faced with countless games and apps to avert their attention and get them hooked. Parents need not snatch away the smart-phone every time, but they do need to stay on high alert to make sure tech use doesn’t escalate into compulsion and addiction.

If you’re worried about your child’s online gaming or internet use and aren’t sure how to get better control of the issue, why not reach out to a local team of IT experts. IT professionals are well-versed in a variety of solutions that will help you better monitor and manage your kid’s online activities.

 

You don’t have to ban the internet completely, but you shouldn’t ignore the issue either. Consult a local team of tech specialists to help find a happy medium that will keep your kids healthy, safe, and connected. 

The Top 5 Cybersecurity Risks Your Company Hasn’t Considered

Exploring the leading cybersecurity threats facing business professionals today

There’s no getting around the prevalence of cybercrime today; it’s happening more and more, all across the globe. Even worse? The identity thieves and malicious attackers lurking behind the scenes are getting better at exploiting weaknesses to get their hands on confidential business data.

Understandably, business owners are often scrambling to ensure they’re doing enough to keep security tight. Maybe they invest in some “total solution” software or perhaps they overload a tech savvy employee with IT security work. Some business owners simply decide to roll the dice and hope for the best. Whether it’s doing too much or too little, business professionals often get caught up in a less-than-ideal approach to cybersecurity.

So, with all the horror stories in the headlines about companies and government agencies getting breached, what’s a business owner to do? The key is to remain focused and strategic so you can put together a level-headed plan. This involves taking a closer look at some of those gargantuan cyber threats we often forget about.

Narrowing Down the Doom: 5 Concrete Risks You Can Focus on Fixing Today

In order to develop a realistic and strategic approach to cybersecurity, you have to cut out all the noise. Put the headlines and your own fears to the side and try to stay focused on the things you and your staff can control. Think long and hard about the various ways cyberattacks could occur in your organization and then consider how you can work to close the gaps in each section.

Check out these Top 5 Security Risks that your organization must be carefully managing:

 1. Your own team

No one likes to admit that internal risks exist, but the reality is that employees are the weakest link in the cybersecurity chain. Sometimes these internal threats are malicious, but most often it’s a matter of ignorance and carelessness. In fact, human error is the catalyst for the vast majority of cyber-attacks on businesses.

The reality is, an uninformed and unprepared team can have drastic consequences for your organization’s cybersecurity. You may have employees who are more likely to click a malicious link or download a bad file from a phishing scam. Perhaps your team receives fraudulent business email compromise (BEC) scams that seem legitimate. No matter the error, your workforce – when uninformed – can put your organization at serious risk.

How to tackle an uneducated team:

The best way to counteract employees who aren’t in the know is to teach them! Yes, this will require some investment of time and resources but in the long run, your organization will be stronger and more secure.

Find ways to get your team on board and help empower them to be cybersecurity superheroes. Help them determine how to identify threats and create an environment for open and honest communication about suspicious activity of any kind. With an informed and vigilant team, your cybersecurity woes will be reduced significantly.

Password malpractice

Passwords are supposed to keep your organizational and employee data safe and secure. But when’s the last time your team changed their passwords? Is there a culture of password-sharing or posting in your office that threatens security? For that matter, have you and your team ever had an open conversation about choosing strong passwords? These are questions you must ask yourself in order to get on top of password malpractice.

How to manage password malpractice:

Like with any other part of your business, best practice for password management is to have standard operating procedures in place to ensure your team knows what is expected.

Make it a rule that passwords must be kept private and changed on a 30 or 60-day basis. Mark calendars with password change dates and makes it a group activity. Make it a rule that passwords must be unique and not repeats of old passwords or other accounts. Ensure there is a chain of command for access and control – superiors should never be sharing login credentials with employees – no matter how convenient. Finally, consider setting up two-factor authentication at all endpoints to add an extra layer of verification security.

2. Patch procrastination

In an increasingly digital workforce, hardware and software updates seem to pop-up daily. However, it is becoming blatantly clear that updated software and hardware are a critical part of maintaining strong cyber security. Why? Because updates very often include patches designed specifically to fix security holes or glitches. Who can forget the massive WannaCry scam from 2017? Even though a patch had been released in March, it had not been installed on countless machines who were then infected by the virus in May.

Even with the high profile WannaCry case, it is still common practice for many business professionals to avoid or put off software updates. Sometimes there is fear of change or increased technical issues once an update is installed – and this can happen. However, for the most part, updates are designed correctly and will work wonders by patching unseen security flaws. This can make a huge difference in keeping your network secure.

How to stop patch procrastination:

Again, schedule your updates and mark them on calendars as much as possible. Taking the time to make a physical note will help emphasize the importance of staying on top of patchwork.

Most importantly, when your machine gives you a reminder to install an update – install it! Get out of the habit of clicking “Remind Me Later” – your network will thank you. It’s not just about security either. Staying on top of updates and patches will help your systems run at optimal capacity at all times. Make updates to your new habit and explain this priority to other administrators.

3. Other organizations

This is perhaps the biggest risk that business professionals often forget. It’s not just your own cybersecurity practices you should be worried about – it’s the other companies you work with. Vendors, business partners, consultants – basically any organization that your company deals with can impact the safety of your business data.

Even if you have the strongest internal cybersecurity plan in place, if a third-party vendor has less than perfect cyber security practices, attacks could find a way to access your network. The recent Petya attack is a good example of this. The bottom line is that any company that you transmit data to and from is a potential vulnerability for your own network. The last thing you want is to invest time and money to keep your network secure, only to have it breached thanks to another organization’s lax policies.

How to counteract the poor cybersecurity practices of others:

First, its critical to make your own standards clear to the partners you’re working with. While you can’t force them to get smarter about their own security, letting them know that you take cybersecurity seriously right off the bat is a great way to be transparent and encourage their vigilance.

Second, there are technical tools available to help mitigate the risks involved with external vendors. Network segmentation or divided servers can help ensure vendors only access the necessary parts of your network and nothing else. This can be a great safeguard that will help mitigate the risk of vendor weak spots.

4. Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) chaos

Alright, it’s no secret that pretty much everyone has a computer in their pocket or purse these days. Between smartphones, tablets and laptops, taking your favorite machine on-the-go is now easier than ever. Understandably, this has translated to the workplace with the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) craze. BYOD can be a convenient, cost-effective, and morale-boosting practice for small businesses.

However, there is a downside to letting endless personal devices through the doors and onto your business network. In fact, the security risks involved can be pretty serious. Simply put, personal devices likely do not have the same security standards and protocols that corporate devices do. This can leave your organization wide open and much more susceptible to hacks and data breaches.

How to balance BYOD benefits and risks:

Said it once and we’ll say it again: get policies and procedures on paper if your organization allows staff to bring in their own devices. Make sure your employees know the risks involved and come up with some detailed policies that will keep your network as secure as possible.

Make sure personal devices are only able to access the corporate networks through a virtual private network (VPN). Additionally, ensure that all employees have two-factor authentication set up on their accounts to maintain adequate verification. Just like all the other areas, proactive education is crucial. An informed team will make all the difference.

5. Putting Your Plan in Action: Consult the Pros if Necessary

Now that some of the basic groundwork has been laid, it’s time to ditch the hopelessness and procrastination and get your plan in action. There’s no denying that business professionals are constantly on-the-go, but making cybersecurity a top priority is a critical way to ensure your IT infrastructure is protected.

But hey, it can be a tough process to start. If you’re feeling lost or unsure, don’t hesitate to reach out to a local IT partner. A team of experts can help you begin thinking technically and strategically. It’s not just about calling someone in to fix the problem. The right IT partner will help empower you and your team so you’re thinking more like an IT expert.

Cyber Hacks on DNA-Testing Companies Raise Fears about Genetic Data Privacy  

DNA-testing companies the latest to be targeted by cybercriminals

Stories of businesses getting hacked by cybercriminals are pretty much par for the course nowadays. Increasingly, companies who collect and store large amounts of user data are prime targets for malicious and greedy hackers. From social networking sites to ride-share companies, large stores of user data are one of the hottest commodities on the cybercrime market.

MyHeritage hack: Over 90 million users affected

One of the most recently reported attacks saw the email addresses and passwords of roughly 92 million users hacked. MyHeritage – an international company based out of Israel – is a DNA testing provider that offers customers the unique experience of determining the specific makeup of their ethnic ancestry and lineage. The MyHeritage hack stands out among others for the very obvious fact that the company doesn’t simply collect basic user info like emails and passwords – it collects and stores mass amounts of genetic DNA from subscribers.

Now, it must be noted that the MyHeritage attack only saw the theft of user emails and passwords. According to the company, none of the genetic data and DNA information provided by customers was compromised. Nonetheless, the attack serves as a critical reminder that nearly any kind of data stored on servers is at risk of being hacked.

The hack – which occurred in October of 2017 – was only identified and reported to the company by a security researcher seven months later in early June of this year. With about 92 million users affected, MyHeritage has been in damage control mode ever since. While representatives for the company claim there is no evidence to suggest the attack was malicious, they’ve admitted they can’t know for sure.

No genetic data affected, but can it be protected? 

It’s important to remember that none of the genetic data collected by MyHeritage was hacked. In fact, most genetic data is stored separately and organized anonymously using a numbered barcode system. However, as cybercriminals continue to become more sophisticated and as user data becomes more valuable, companies will be required to work harder to keep even seemingly secure data safe. Especially when the data being collected includes genetic profiles of users.

MyHeritage has been taking steps to tighten cybersecurity protocols and increase user-controls and account security settings. A forced password change for the nearly 100 million affected users arrived by email. Additionally, the company has facilitated two-step verification controls to ensure user logins are better managed. However, some experts argue that this could have been set-up proactively to mitigate hack risks ahead of time.

Rob Verger, the Assistant Tech Editor at Popular Science Magazine raised a valid point in a recent interview. “If they can’t protect user data,” Verger said, “what makes them able to protect the genetic data?”

Going digital: Balancing benefits with risk in the modern marketplace

There’s a balancing act to be done when considering cases like these. There’s no denying that the electronic storage of data has been an asset – especially to the health and sciences industry. Doctors across the nation are making moves to paperless Electronic Medical Record (EMR) systems that make the patient experience more efficient and organized. Genetic testing companies have been revolutionary in their ability to efficiently and privately connect customers with priceless genetic information.

So how do you know when to draw the line? How can individual consumers reap the benefits of these technologies without leaving themselves open to invasions of privacy? According to Verger, the best strategy when giving out personal data is caution and a second thought.

“People should be careful about the types of information they give these services,” Verger said. “If your biggest nightmare is having your email address all the way to your ethnic history being hacked, then you shouldn’t subscribe to these companies or provide data.”

At the end of the day, what matters most is how the users were affected and how MyHeritage responded. When it comes down to it, users have a right to be wary. Not only about the attack, but also about the incredibly long time it took for the hack to be identified and disclosed to users.

Identification by a security researcher, seven months after the fact is hardly what anyone would call a vigilant cybersecurity effort. While MyHeritage is doing their best to rectify the situation and beef up security efforts, the doubt caused by the hack is understandably unsettling for affected users and potential consumers everywhere.

Walking the tightrope in an increasingly digital world

It’s no secret that today’s cyber-climate is more populated, dynamic, and personalized than ever before. The efficiency and customization that the online market offers are unparalleled. However, there is an underside to all this innovation that must be remembered. Service providers and their advertising teams are constantly looking for the most dynamic and personalized ways to advertise to their target markets in these online spaces.

This means collecting as much data on their consumers as possible and at whatever cost. Consumer’s digital fingerprints are increasingly valuable to companies across the digital market. If a company wants to get a consumer’s attention on the information highway, they know they need to personalize the experience as much as possible. This means that all the bits of data entered into your browser become fingerprints to help identify and sell to you.

In this competitive climate, genetic testing companies face an increased risk simply because of the personal nature of the data they collect. Having the genetic makeup of over 90 million consumers is an advertising goldmine, not to mention other potentially dangerous motivations of more malicious hackers. The bottom line? Users need to think twice and be vigilant about the data they choose to share.

“It’s a double-edged sword – EMR and genetic testing can help medicine,” Verger reiterates. “However, nothing out there is perfect,” Verger claims. “Things kept on servers can possibly be hacked or compromised and we need to remember that.”

Trying to find the right balance of technology risks and benefits? Wondering how to keep your organization current without succumbing to increased risk? Reach out to a team of seasoned IT security professionals.  

A strategic IT partner will help improve your IT while managing and mitigating risk at the same time. You can have the best of both worlds – you just need a strategic partner, willing to walk the tightrope with caution and creativity.