k_Street Consulting, LLC Blog

k_Street Consulting, LLC has been serving the Washington area since 2009, providing IT Support such as technical helpdesk support, computer support, and consulting to small and medium-sized businesses.

Pig Butchering is a Serious, Growing Problem

Pig Butchering is a Serious, Growing Problem

Over the past few years, huge scamming operations have operated in Southeast Asia, and now they are spreading. These scams—known as pig butchering scams—cause serious harm, as in an estimated $75 billion worldwide in 2023.

With these sorts of operations spreading, let’s go over what pig butchering is. 

0 Comments
Continue reading

These IT Services Help You Compete with the Big Guys

These IT Services Help You Compete with the Big Guys

Small businesses today are in a prime position to thrive, thanks to a surge in innovative technologies that are affordable and work to boost efficiency. In the past, access to cutting-edge technology was often reserved for large corporations, but today small businesses can now gain quick access to these technologies and can have a real positive effect on the way they go about doing business. Let’s take a look at some of the best technologies small businesses can use to try and compete with the big boys.

Tags:
0 Comments
Continue reading

Two-Factor Authentication is a Must Have

Two-Factor Authentication is a Must Have

Two-factor authentication (2FA) has become a critical security measure in the digital age, providing an additional layer of protection against unauthorized access. As cyber threats grow more sophisticated, relying solely on passwords is no longer enough. 

0 Comments
Continue reading

4 Stupid-Simple Ways to Be More Careful with Your Network Security

4 Stupid-Simple Ways to Be More Careful with Your Network Security

Technology is central to most businesses, which means that security is, by proxy, central to them as well. With cyberattacks on the rise, it’s more important than ever for you and your employees to be on the same page regarding cybersecurity. Today, we are looking at four ways you can ensure sound cybersecurity practices that even the most belligerent employees can follow… with the right support in place.

0 Comments
Continue reading

Password Managers are an Office Worker’s Best Friend

Password Managers are an Office Worker’s Best Friend

Protecting your business’ accounts is something we will advocate for on repeat. You’ll hear us tell you about complex and unique passwords and multi-factor authentication until you’re sick of hearing it. But one tool that our clients sometimes forget is the password manager—an equally useful tool that can help your business keep passwords safe and secure.

0 Comments
Continue reading

Keep an Eye Out for the Hallmarks of Malware

Keep an Eye Out for the Hallmarks of Malware

Malware is everywhere on the Internet and you don’t want it. From spyware and adware to ransomware there is never anything good that comes from this malicious code. Today, we will outline a few ways you can tell that your computer, workstation, or mobile device has some form of malware on it.

0 Comments
Continue reading

Three Security Innovations Designed to Keep Business Networks Secure

Three Security Innovations Designed to Keep Business Networks Secure

Organizational cybersecurity is more important than ever, with an increasing number of threats requiring constant vigilance. To stay ahead of these dangers, cybersecurity experts and network administrators are continuously developing new solutions. This month, we’ll highlight three key innovations that are helping businesses navigate the evolving cybersecurity landscape.

0 Comments
Continue reading

The Passphrase is Better than the Password

The Passphrase is Better than the Password

Network security is a major issue for any business that relies on password-protected systems—and who doesn’t? With so much at stake, it’s important that every user uses passwords that are not only complex and secure but also easy to remember. This month, we will discuss how the passphrase is the answer to keeping your password-protected accounts secure. 

0 Comments
Continue reading

Efficient and Secure File Sharing a Must for Today’s Businesses

Efficient and Secure File Sharing a Must for Today’s Businesses

Today’s business needs to be able to share files and data securely and efficiently. This process may seem straightforward, but there are a lot of options that the business owner or manager needs to understand. In today’s blog, we look at some steps that will help you create a strong and secure file-sharing system.

0 Comments
Continue reading

Make a Complex Password with This Catchy Trick

Make a Complex Password with This Catchy Trick

You should always use strong passwords for each and every account. Cybercriminals don’t need to put much effort into cracking a password these days—it only takes a little software and standard computer hardware to crack millions of passwords in just a second or two.

The more complex and random a password is, the more secure it is.

But coming up with (and memorizing) complex passwords is really difficult. This trick should make it a whole lot easier.

0 Comments
Continue reading

Phishing: What It Is, and How to Avoid It

Phishing: What It Is, and How to Avoid It

Potential data breaches are increasingly problematic for organizations, and the most common way that data is stolen is through phishing attacks. Phishing attacks are currently one of the most pervasive threats on the Internet, and you need to understand them to thwart their effectiveness against your users. Let’s explore what exactly a phishing attack consists of and some best practices you can use to defend your network against them.

0 Comments
Continue reading

Please, Please, PLEASE Don’t Include Sensitive Info in Your Emails

Please, Please, PLEASE Don’t Include Sensitive Info in Your Emails

Email is a great communication tool. However, certain things are just unsafe to communicate via email.

Let’s go through a list of such things. Better safe than sorry, after all.

0 Comments
Continue reading

The Starter Guide for Business Compliance

The Starter Guide for Business Compliance

A business’ compliance with the regulations it operates under is a huge issue that many inside your organization won’t understand but has to draw some attention. Let’s look at some of the variables that go into compliance to outline just how important it is.

0 Comments
Continue reading

Let’s Remind Ourselves How Meta’s Security Has Failed

Let’s Remind Ourselves How Meta’s Security Has Failed

Facebook remains one of the most visited places on the Internet. Meta (the parent company to Facebook) also features WhatsApp and Instagram on their roster and has faced numerous security and privacy failings over the years. In this week’s blog, we’ll take a brief look at some of the most noteworthy.

0 Comments
Continue reading

Microsoft Defender: An Example of Why Consumer-Grade Security is Not Enough

Microsoft Defender: An Example of Why Consumer-Grade Security is Not Enough

Windows Defender is Microsoft’s own antivirus solution, and it comes bundled with Windows, so it’s confusing to think that a business would need to pay for it, right? Well, there are actually two separate products called Defender, with a big difference between them.

0 Comments
Continue reading

CDK Cybersecurity Incidents Cause Massive Chaos in the Car Industry

CDK Cybersecurity Incidents Cause Massive Chaos in the Car Industry

A popular automotive dealership software platform has recently become the target of a cyberattack, resulting in the solution going down for several days. Any business that has a solution it relies on can sympathize with the situation. After all, if you lose access to your critical business apps for several days, would your operations be able to recover?

0 Comments
Continue reading

Your Email is Insecure - Businesses Need Email Encryption

Your Email is Insecure - Businesses Need Email Encryption

All businesses use email to communicate, but too many organizations haven’t jumped on the encrypted email bandwagon yet. Encryption is incredibly helpful to keep networks and infrastructure secure, and it can do the same for your email solution. In fact, it is likely required to ensure the secure transfer of critical and sensitive information.

0 Comments
Continue reading

Encryption is One of the Most Valuable Tools Against Hackers

Encryption is One of the Most Valuable Tools Against Hackers

Encryption is a powerful weapon against hackers that can prevent them from stealing your data and leveraging it against you. Encryption, in its most basic textbook definition, converts your readable data into an indecipherable jumble that can only be reassembled through the use of an encryption key. Small businesses absolutely must utilize encryption to protect customer information, financial records, and other important or sensitive business data. This ensures that it is as protected as possible against those that might do you harm.

0 Comments
Continue reading

This Cybersecurity Professional is Out to Scam the Scammers

This Cybersecurity Professional is Out to Scam the Scammers

Scammers look to take advantage of someone else for their own gain, but there are some scammers out there who are trying to scam the scammers to teach them a lesson. One such individual is “Kitboga,” a content creator who calls themselves a “scam baiter.”

0 Comments
Continue reading

IT Security Concerns and How to Confront Them

IT Security Concerns and How to Confront Them

Cyberthreats are increasingly sophisticated, and businesses have to do what they can to address these issues. Since cyberattacks can have a massively negative impact on your business, it stands to reason that you need a platform in place to enhance your employees’ awareness of Internet-based threats. This month we look at the top three IT security concerns businesses face and what should be done to confront them.

0 Comments
Continue reading

What You Need to Know About Your Personally Identifiable Information

What You Need to Know About Your Personally Identifiable Information

Hackers are always on the lookout for personally identifiable information, or PII, as it’s an immensely lucrative resource. You’ll need to protect it if you want your business to continue operating safely and efficiently. Let’s go over what PII entails and what kinds of data you might find under this term.

0 Comments
Continue reading

Secure Your Digital Life with Just One Password

Secure Your Digital Life with Just One Password

Safeguarding your online accounts is an important part of maintaining network security. With the increasing number of cyber threats, relying on strong, unique passwords is no longer optional—it's a necessity. Remembering complex passwords for numerous accounts can be challenging, however. This is where password managers come in handy, offering a secure and convenient solution to managing your credentials.

0 Comments
Continue reading

How You Can Protect Yourself from the Aftershocks of Microsoft’s Security Issues

How You Can Protect Yourself from the Aftershocks of Microsoft’s Security Issues

Microsoft's cybersecurity vulnerabilities have been making headlines recently. These lapses in security are causing concern for customers worldwide. The impact of these vulnerabilities is far-reaching. It affects network security and increases the risk of data breaches, causing somewhat of a ripple effect.

0 Comments
Continue reading

What You Need to Do If You Think You’ve Been Breached

What You Need to Do If You Think You’ve Been Breached

Today, cybersecurity is everyone's business. It's not just the IT department's job anymore. When a hack happens, it can feel like a personal violation. It's scary, confusing, and you might not know what to do next.

0 Comments
Continue reading

How to Reduce the Risks of Phishing Attacks

How to Reduce the Risks of Phishing Attacks

Phishing is a pervasive threat nowadays, with businesses of any size or industry serving as prime targets. Understanding phishing and implementing effective prevention strategies is crucial for your entire team.

Let's explore how to reduce the effectiveness of phishing schemes against your business—in other words, how to prevent phishing from having an impact.

0 Comments
Continue reading

Your Business Can’t Afford to Forego Security Auditing

Your Business Can’t Afford to Forego Security Auditing

While the word “audit” can easily be a scary thought for businesses, there are certain cases where an audit serves an organization’s direct benefit. Take, for instance, the ones that occur internally to identify and correct security issues and vulnerabilities. These audits are not only a positive endeavor for businesses; they’re extremely important to carry out.

Let’s talk about why this is and review a few standard practices you should prioritize as you go about this process.

0 Comments
Continue reading

Rise Up Against Ransomware

Rise Up Against Ransomware

Like many of the past few years, this year has witnessed a significant surge in high-profile ransomware attacks. If you haven't already strategized how to safeguard your business from these threats, now is the time to act. Fortunately, you can take several proactive measures to mitigate the impact of ransomware attacks, and it all starts with preparation.

0 Comments
Continue reading

Use Technology to Boost Customer Confidence

Use Technology to Boost Customer Confidence

When it comes to running a successful business, customer confidence is everything. It can make or break your business’ reputation. If you’re too reckless with your customers, why would anyone else be willing to sign on with you? Thankfully, there are plenty of ways you can build customer confidence, and technology plays a pivotal role in many of them. Today, we want to explore how you can build customer confidence through the use of business technology solutions.

0 Comments
Continue reading

Three Types of Software Moving Business Forward

Three Types of Software Moving Business Forward

Software plays a major role in business, regardless of what type of business you run. Whether you use a CRM, a point-of-sale system, or your software profile is a little more complicated, you need to understand a few things about modern software in order to get the most out of it. Let’s take a look at three things you need to know about modern software. 

0 Comments
Continue reading

These Modern Technology Documentaries Bring Interesting Ideas to a Broader Audience

These Modern Technology Documentaries Bring Interesting Ideas to a Broader Audience

One of the best things about the move towards streaming in media is that since people love watching real-life stories, studios have committed to creating documentary content that provides interesting perspectives. Many people don’t have a comprehensive understanding of technology, especially as it relates to real-world situations, so dramatized documentaries can be a good source of information. Today, we’re going to go through three riveting technology documentaries that are available on streaming services.

0 Comments
Continue reading

Your Users Are Likely Your Biggest Security Threat, But You Can Fix That

Your Users Are Likely Your Biggest Security Threat, But You Can Fix That

Believe it or not, if you were to rank your business’ greatest threats, risk factors, and vulnerabilities, your users would most likely belong somewhere toward the top. Human error is a big challenge to your security simply because cybercriminals understand that your employees are, in fact, human and will, in fact, make mistakes.

Let’s explore how cyberattacks exploit this tendency and how you can better protect your business from the ramifications.

0 Comments
Continue reading

Understanding How to Secure Your Password-Protected Accounts

Understanding How to Secure Your Password-Protected Accounts

One of the first lines of defense against unauthorized access is the creation of a robust password. By now you understand that not all passwords are created equal, however. Here are five indispensable tips to keep your accounts secure.

0 Comments
Continue reading

Make Sure You Share These Cybersecurity Tips with Everyone You Know

Make Sure You Share These Cybersecurity Tips with Everyone You Know

Cybersecurity is crucial for everyone to focus on, both in the professional environment and in their personal lives. That’s why I wanted to put together a list of cybersecurity practices you should encourage your team to follow when they aren’t in the office or working remotely, when their time is theirs. 

0 Comments
Continue reading

Don’t Share Sensitive Data in Emails

Don’t Share Sensitive Data in Emails

All it takes is one oversight to potentially undo any benefits your cybersecurity protections and other best practices may deliver. For instance, even if you have things like multifactor authentication in place, a phishing scam or even some malware varieties could potentially give an attacker access to your email… and all the data your messages contain, just sitting in your inbox.

0 Comments
Continue reading

How Scammers Try and Steal Your Business’ Data

How Scammers Try and Steal Your Business’ Data

Picture this scenario: while going about your daily routine, an email lands in your inbox, purportedly from a cybersecurity company. The alarming claim is that you've become the target of a hacking attack. Despite lacking IT expertise and being unfamiliar with your security agency's protocols, you trust the message and promptly respond. Little do you know, the email is a cleverly disguised cyberthreat, and you find yourself ensnared in their trap.

0 Comments
Continue reading

Four Strategies to Help Build Robust Cybersecurity

Four Strategies to Help Build Robust Cybersecurity

Your business' IT security effectiveness relies heavily on how well your technology works. With this in mind, educating your staff on their responsibility to safeguard your business’ digital assets is important. Let’s explore the key priorities businesses need to consider to establish a robust security training platform that works to protect those assets.

0 Comments
Continue reading

Invest in Your Business’ Future with Security Best Practices

Invest in Your Business’ Future with Security Best Practices

Nowadays, it is crucial that you make security a top priority. With the right approach, it not only saves you massive headaches, but also a considerable amount of capital—particularly if you leverage the appropriate solutions for SMBs. As a managed service provider, we can ensure that you implement the appropriate IT solutions to maximize the return on your security investment.

0 Comments
Continue reading

Tip of the Week: Build Better Passwords

Tip of the Week: Build Better Passwords

The password is the number one data protection strategy used in computing. It’s strange, however, how many times a weak password is the cause of data breaches and other situations that can hurt a business. In today’s blog, we go through some of the best password creation tips that will allow you to better secure your individual and business data. 

0 Comments
Continue reading

Actions to Take When Your Phone Goes Missing

Actions to Take When Your Phone Goes Missing

If you are like many of the rest of us, the thought of losing your phone is a situation that brings on anger and fear. If your phone has been stolen, there are several steps you have to take to mitigate potential risks and increase the chances of recovering your device. Here's a general guide.

0 Comments
Continue reading

As Good as Your Reputation May Be, One Security Incident Can Bring It All Down

As Good as Your Reputation May Be, One Security Incident Can Bring It All Down

Small and medium-sized businesses largely rely on their standing amongst their audience, which means their reputations are critically important to preserve. Unsurprisingly, one of the fastest ways to damage—if not eliminate—their reputation amongst the public is to suffer a cybersecurity event. Let’s examine some statistics, and consider what you need to do to keep your business from becoming one.

0 Comments
Continue reading

6 of the Most Noteworthy Data Breaches from 2023

6 of the Most Noteworthy Data Breaches from 2023

Technology and digital tools are a hot topic on our blog, but where there is technology, there is also data… and where there is data, there will be hackers trying to steal it. Data breaches are a common thread in all industries, and to prove this, we have put together six of the most notable data breaches from 2023. We hope you can learn a thing or two from them!

0 Comments
Continue reading

Spot Dangerous Phishing Links by Examining the URL

Spot Dangerous Phishing Links by Examining the URL

In this blog, we continuously try to caution individuals against clicking on suspicious links, but distinguishing between a genuine URL and a questionable one has become increasingly challenging. Malicious tactics have evolved, making it imperative for everyone to remain vigilant. These threats are pervasive, coming from various directions. This discussion will focus on a single punctuation mark that can help determine whether a link is genuinely safe or potentially perilous.

0 Comments
Continue reading

Five Ways to Optimize Your Organization’s Password Management

Five Ways to Optimize Your Organization’s Password Management

Digital access relies on passwords as keys, but they are often neglected and left unprotected by users. Unfortunately, not everyone takes the necessary precautions to safeguard their passwords, and the prevalence of online scams surpasses that of physical pickpocketing.

Effective password management is imperative for businesses to uphold the security of online accounts and sensitive data. Here are five strategies to optimize password management:

0 Comments
Continue reading

Four Ways to Boost Your Password Hygiene

Four Ways to Boost Your Password Hygiene

Securing accounts is part of a comprehensive security strategy, and it all begins with practicing proper password hygiene. Are you using strong, complex passwords that are going to keep your accounts safe? While we always recommend using multiple measures to protect accounts, starting with your passwords can be a good way to build up to this. Let’s go over how to use better passwords for all of your online accounts and business needs.

0 Comments
Continue reading

Six Steps to Safer Business Data

Six Steps to Safer Business Data

Ensuring the security of your data is extremely important. If you are a frequent reader of this blog, you know that any unauthorized access to sensitive information can result in severe consequences for your business. The problem is that today’s cybercriminal tactics have become increasingly sophisticated, posing a constant challenge to organizational data security. Today, we look at six things you can do to keep your data secure.

0 Comments
Continue reading

Planning Technology Isn’t Always Easy

Planning Technology Isn’t Always Easy

Planning anything is always a grind, and trying to plan the best strategy when you have only a partial understanding of the subject can lead to a lot of waste. Business technology is one of those subjects. Not only do you need to identify what tech will be cost-effective, you need to get a pretty rapid return on the investment you plan to make. That’s why getting a professional perspective is so important in cases like this. 

0 Comments
Continue reading

With Modern Cybersecurity, Awareness is Everything

With Modern Cybersecurity, Awareness is Everything

Every organization needs to have a certain level of cybersecurity protection in place. That includes firewalls, antivirus, VPNs, encryption, and centrally managed security policies. Even so, many modern cybercriminals know that businesses have these protections in place, and they are working out ways around them.

0 Comments
Continue reading

You Should Avoid Being Scammed, But There’s No Shame In It When It Happens

You Should Avoid Being Scammed, But There’s No Shame In It When It Happens

I recently engaged in a discussion with some of my colleagues about the intersection of cybersecurity and the scams that so many of us deal with every day, like those annoying phone scams. We wound up concluding that it's valuable to examine these phenomena together.

So, let’s do that.

0 Comments
Continue reading

4 Ways We Can Help Your Business with Network Security

4 Ways We Can Help Your Business with Network Security

Security is a hot topic among businesses, especially where technology and data are concerned. If you want to ensure that you are doing all you can to protect the important assets and customer data on your infrastructure, you’ll want to work with a managed service provider who can offer all the services you need to make security a top priority. Here are just a few of them.

0 Comments
Continue reading

State of Maine Hacked, 1.3 Million Citizens’ Information Taken

State of Maine Hacked, 1.3 Million Citizens’ Information Taken

The State of Maine in the United States has been the victim of a cyberattack.

That’s right, the whole state was hacked by a Russian hacking collective. 

The state claims that over 1.3 million people’s personal information was compromised via an already known vulnerability in secure transfer service MOVEit Transfer. Unfortunately for the people of Maine, this vulnerability is known to be used by the Cl0p ransomware gang, based out of Russia.

0 Comments
Continue reading

The VPN Is a Solid Tool for Data Security

The VPN Is a Solid Tool for Data Security

Nowadays, data security, especially on files that are attractive to hackers, has to be a priority. Many businesses have deployed a Virtual Private Network (VPN) to help them improve their data security. If you haven’t, understanding the myriad of benefits that businesses get from deploying a VPN will put in perspective just how useful the VPN can be. 

0 Comments
Continue reading

The Zero-Day Exploit, Explained

The Zero-Day Exploit, Explained

There are malevolent endeavors that happen with the utilization of what are known as "zero-day exploits" that launch attacks on your sensitive data and technological infrastructure. Today, we explain what a zero-day exploit is and why they are such a threat to business. 

0 Comments
Continue reading

Tip of the Week: Basic Means of Securing Your Network

Tip of the Week: Basic Means of Securing Your Network

Your business’ network is critical to your operations, making it all the more important that you have it properly secured. Fortunately, there are a few relatively simple and straightforward ways to help do so. Let’s share some of the network security basics you need to prioritize.

0 Comments
Continue reading

How to Combat Phishing on Every Level

How to Combat Phishing on Every Level

Phishing attacks present a significant problem for the sustained stability of organizations. That is because they are a pervasive threat and come in several different forms. This month, we will outline some of the ways that phishing can affect an organization and a couple of things that you can do to keep them from being a problem.

0 Comments
Continue reading

Security Might Slow You Down, But It’s Still Necessary

Security Might Slow You Down, But It’s Still Necessary

You might think that adding additional security measures can only benefit your business, and this is true in most circumstances, save one: security exhaustion. If you don’t make it easy for your employees to adhere to your security policies, then you could inadvertently be making them perform slower than usual and your solutions could be getting in the way of their work.

0 Comments
Continue reading

Study Shows the Importance of Cybersecurity Awareness and Training

Study Shows the Importance of Cybersecurity Awareness and Training

Cybersecurity Awareness Month is always a great time to examine your own practices to ensure they are in line with the best practices. We thought we would share some of the most impactful security best practices that you and your employees can keep in mind as you go about your workdays.

0 Comments
Continue reading

A Consortium of AI Companies Have Committed to Risk Reduction

A Consortium of AI Companies Have Committed to Risk Reduction

Back in July, the White House secured commitments from Amazon, Anthropic, Google, Inflection, Meta, Microsoft, and OpenAI to help manage the risks that artificial intelligence potentially poses. More recently, eight more companies—Adobe, Cohere, IBM, Nvidia, Palantir, Salesforce, Scale AI, and Stability—also pledged to maintain “the development of safe, secure, and trustworthy AI,” as a White House brief reported.

0 Comments
Continue reading

Seven Reasons Deepfake Technology is a Problem

Seven Reasons Deepfake Technology is a Problem

Let’s talk a little bit about deepfakes. If you aren’t aware of this technology, deepfakes are essentially synthetic media. Typically they come in the form of videos or images that use artificial intelligence (AI) to replace a person’s likeness with another’s. With deepfake technology, people can convince an audience that a person said something they didn’t say. This deliberate digital subterfuge can bring with it a whole lot of problems. This week we will outline a few of them.

0 Comments
Continue reading

Schools are Dangerously Valuable to Cybercriminals

Schools are Dangerously Valuable to Cybercriminals

It’s an unfortunate fact that cybercriminals are motivated to attack places that contain large volumes of sensitive data, but typically lack the budget or in-house skills to sufficiently protect it. It’s even more unfortunate that this description directly applies to many schools and school systems.

Let’s talk about what schools have to offer cybercriminals, and what they need to do as a result.

0 Comments
Continue reading

Get Support When You Need It With Our IT Help Desk

Get Support When You Need It With Our IT Help Desk

As technology continues to advance, businesses inevitably encounter challenges and technical issues. In such scenarios, an IT help desk plays a pivotal role. Let’s delve into the operations of an IT help desk and elucidate why it stands as a valuable asset for any business.

0 Comments
Continue reading

Social Media Phishing Gets Craftier By the Day

Social Media Phishing Gets Craftier By the Day

It’s borderline impossible to conduct any business online without seeing potential threats abound. It also doesn’t help that threats tend to disguise themselves to avoid being detected. Today, we want to share a social media threat that one of our employees discovered while going about their day, and we think even a cautious user could have been fooled by it.

0 Comments
Continue reading

Don’t Skimp on These 3 Cloud Security Best Practices

Don’t Skimp on These 3 Cloud Security Best Practices

The cloud is an amazing tool for just about any business, allowing for countless benefits that span endless possibilities. However, because it involves the Internet and hosting data in an online environment, there are security challenges that naturally come about as a result of utilizing it. Let’s consider some of the security mistakes that businesses can experience while using the cloud.

0 Comments
Continue reading

Compliance with the FTC Safeguards Rule is Vital to Businesses

Compliance with the FTC Safeguards Rule is Vital to Businesses

In today’s interconnected world, an organization dedicated to fraud protection like the United States Federal Trade Commission is vital, especially when you consider how advanced digital technology has become and continues to grow. The FTC works to ensure consumer data stays protected by the businesses to which they entrust it. Let’s look at the Safeguards Rule and what your business should know about it.

0 Comments
Continue reading

Six Tools Every Security-Minded Organization Will Need

Six Tools Every Security-Minded Organization Will Need

For today’s business, there are very few threats that are as pervasive as cyberthreats. For this reason organizations that are willing to invest in their cybersecurity seem to have more control over their data and operations. With cyberthreats constantly evolving and becoming more sophisticated, it is crucial to equip ourselves with the right tools to protect our digital assets. In this week’s blog post, we will explore some of the most important cybersecurity tools that every individual and organization should consider implementing.

0 Comments
Continue reading

The Insane Lengths that Cybercriminals and Con Artists Will Go to Scam You

The Insane Lengths that Cybercriminals and Con Artists Will Go to Scam You

Viruses and malware are bad. Ransomware is crippling. Data breaches in some cases can more or less shut down a business. We talk about these threats all the time, but for most people, they are just scary-sounding buzzwords. Today, we want to talk about the more personalized threats that are much more cunning, and in some ways, much more dangerous.

0 Comments
Continue reading

Common Technology Pain Points Businesses Need to Confront

Common Technology Pain Points Businesses Need to Confront

Business doesn’t always go the way you want it to. There are numerous places that can cause problems and ruin the good thing you have going. This month, we discuss some of the most common problems we see small businesses have to confront regarding their technology. 

0 Comments
Continue reading

Taking Cybersecurity to the Edge

Taking Cybersecurity to the Edge

Does your business rely on the strength of its information systems? If so, you understand just how important cybersecurity is to the health of your organization. In a near-constant attempt to maintain organizational cybersecurity, many organizations have started changing the way that they approach data and network security, by moving their security efforts to the edge of their network. This is called edge security, and there are some very intriguing benefits.

0 Comments
Continue reading

2 Great Ways You Can Protect Your Business’ Data

2 Great Ways You Can Protect Your Business’ Data

If you have never imagined your business in the crosshairs of enemy hackers, you could be in for a rude awakening. Unauthorized access to important business data could be enough to bring your business’ operations grinding to a halt, among other consequences. You need to focus your efforts on security, including protecting your infrastructure and ensuring its redundancy through data backup systems.

0 Comments
Continue reading

Client-End Encryption for Gmail and Calendar is a Major Improvement

Client-End Encryption for Gmail and Calendar is a Major Improvement

Have you ever considered the importance of client-side encryption for your Gmail and your Calendar? If you implement it, you can create meetings and send or receive emails that have been encrypted before they are sent to Google’s servers. Organizations using Google Workspace Enterprise Plus, Education Standard, and Education Plus can expect this client-side encryption tool, but personal users will be left in the dust.

0 Comments
Continue reading

The Phishing Nightmare and What You Need to Do About It

The Phishing Nightmare and What You Need to Do About It

Phishing is the most widespread attack vector for modern day hackers. They are continuously evolving, getting more and more sophisticated, and therefore more dangerous. In this month’s newsletter, we are going to go through what makes a phishing attack and how to give your organization the best chance at keeping them from being a major problem for your business. 

0 Comments
Continue reading

What Really Happens When a Ransomware Attack Strikes?

What Really Happens When a Ransomware Attack Strikes?

Ransomware is perhaps the nastiest threat you can encounter, and the unprepared business could potentially be crippled beyond repair if it suffers from an attack like this. We’re here to demystify the inner machinations of a ransomware attack so you know better how to respond to it.

0 Comments
Continue reading

Using Your Browser’s Password Manager Is Poor Security Protocol

Using Your Browser’s Password Manager Is Poor Security Protocol

Many web browsers, like Google Chrome, have features that allow for convenient password-keeping, but at the cost of considerable cybersecurity risks. We recommend that all businesses utilize a password management tool, but preferably not one that is built into a web browser. Why? We’re glad you asked!

0 Comments
Continue reading

Tip of the Week: How to Protect Your Company from Ransomware

Tip of the Week: How to Protect Your Company from Ransomware

Ransomware takes up a significant amount of our blog, and for good reason. It’s an incredibly scary threat to find yourself on the receiving end of, and modern businesses are, to be quite frank, often unprepared to handle it. We wanted to take today as an opportunity to discuss the negative effects you can expect from a ransomware attack—effects that will make you think twice about the current level of security on your infrastructure.

0 Comments
Continue reading

Do Cybercriminals Have You in Their Sights?

Do Cybercriminals Have You in Their Sights?

We focus a lot of time and effort on securing our clients with our cutting-edge tools and industry best practices. Our adversaries, the hackers, on the other hand, have come to understand that the way they will be successful is to get their contrived messages in front of the least knowledgeable people in your organization. Let’s take a look at how hackers choose their targets to get a better understanding of what their strategy is. 

0 Comments
Continue reading

Are You Oversharing Your Personal Information?

Are You Oversharing Your Personal Information?

Businesses tend to collect and capture consumer data in an effort to provide a better experience or find new customers. Many of these businesses will package this information together and sell it to marketing companies. Consumers often don’t know how to opt out of this kind of activity and, thus, wind up oversharing information. This week, we want to highlight these issues and address how you can keep your personal data from being collected without your consent.

0 Comments
Continue reading

Three Ways You Can Immediately Improve Your Cybersecurity

Three Ways You Can Immediately Improve Your Cybersecurity

Cyberattacks are a major issue for everyone and especially for businesses. In fact, if you don’t have a solid handle on the actions you take, your IT may be more exposed than you think. We thought we would go through a few really simple actions you can take to enhance your security posture.

0 Comments
Continue reading

Getting the Right Phishing Awareness Strategy Can Save Your Business From Major Headaches

Getting the Right Phishing Awareness Strategy Can Save Your Business From Major Headaches

As time goes on, businesses are doing more and more to protect their digital assets from theft and corruption. Whether that is deploying tools, providing training, or getting the support you need to successfully secure your business from the myriad of threats coming your way, you need to be deliberate about the way you go about deploying your security resources. Today, we want to touch on security training and the role it plays in your cybersecurity. 

0 Comments
Continue reading

Insurance Companies are Starting to Require Cybersecurity—What Do I Do?

Insurance Companies are Starting to Require Cybersecurity—What Do I Do?

Cybersecurity is quickly becoming one of the leading risks that businesses of all shapes and sizes face. Cyberattacks are expensive, they risk your continuity, and they could even get you in hot water when it comes to compliance regulations, local and state regulations, and virtually any entity you are associated with.

It might feel like this is an insurance company’s way to nickel and dime business owners, as premiums will continue to rise, especially for businesses that aren’t meeting certain requirements, but the truth is, with so much risk, the entire world needs to adjust for cybersecurity.

0 Comments
Continue reading

Beware of Phishing Scams Left in Voicemails

Beware of Phishing Scams Left in Voicemails

Phishing attacks are one of the most common security threats to your business, not only because they are effective, but because they can be utilized in many different ways. You can become the victim of a phishing attack through email, instant message, phone, or even your voicemail. These “phoicemail” attacks are quite crafty in their approach, and you should be wary of them.

0 Comments
Continue reading

Are You Equipped to Handle Your Compliance Needs, Regarding Cybersecurity?

Are You Equipped to Handle Your Compliance Needs, Regarding Cybersecurity?

Regulations and compliance standards are in place for effectively every industry to uphold, many of which address cybersecurity in some way or another. Let’s talk for a moment about why compliance to these standards is of the utmost importance for your organization.

0 Comments
Continue reading

Are Your Password Practices Falling Short? Let’s Build Them Up

Are Your Password Practices Falling Short? Let’s Build Them Up

When it comes to your business’ cybersecurity, passwords are a pretty critical part of the system. This means that making sure they are secure is just as critical…however, that is not to say that this is easy. We, however, wanted to make sure that creating sufficiently secure passwords for all of your accounts is a far simpler prospect by the time we’re finished here.

0 Comments
Continue reading

Were You Targeted by Ransomware? The FBI Wants to Hear About It

Were You Targeted by Ransomware? The FBI Wants to Hear About It

At the end of January, the Federal Bureau of Investigation went public with an announcement that they had taken down the servers and Dark Web sites utilized by the Hive ransomware gang. This is a major victory, in terms of fighting cybercrime, but a certain statistic from this operation shows a somewhat disconcerting trend.

0 Comments
Continue reading

Are You at Risk of Data Poisoning?

Are You at Risk of Data Poisoning?

Artificial intelligence and machine learning are entering the mainstream technology discourse, and with software developing the ability to learn from datasets, many businesses are using this technology to automate their processes to cut down on costs and better use their current resources. There is a lot of good that comes from this, but only when you look past these benefits can you start to see the drawbacks, including an important one called “data poisoning.”

0 Comments
Continue reading

Why Cyber Insurance is a Smart Investment

Why Cyber Insurance is a Smart Investment

Despite not wanting to think about cybersecurity incidents derailing your operations, it’s important nevertheless to consider them before it’s too late to do anything about them. These days, businesses need to invest considerable capital into protections, including a cyber insurance policy to cover all of their bases.

Let’s discuss some of your options for cybersecurity insurance and what you’ll need to know to make the most informed decisions possible.

0 Comments
Continue reading

How to Avoid Insecure, Ineffective, and Just Plain Bad Passwords

How to Avoid Insecure, Ineffective, and Just Plain Bad Passwords

Password. 123456. Guest. Qwerty. These are just a few examples of passwords that are, in a word, terrible. To help you avoid using passwords like these, let’s go over what a good password is and how to choose one—starting with what you need to avoid.

0 Comments
Continue reading

The Most Fundamental Security Tools Every Business Needs

The Most Fundamental Security Tools Every Business Needs

For quite a while it took an actual disaster to encourage business leaders to allocate any time and money to put towards cybersecurity. Many businesses still don’t, in fact. Those that have, while absolutely prudent in their use of resources to help ward off security problems, may forget that there are still things that need to be done aside from employee training to keep their security up. Let’s go through a few things that every organization should be doing to maintain the security of their information systems. 

0 Comments
Continue reading

Exposing Your Staff to Every Cybersecurity Problem Can Have Problems of Its Own

Exposing Your Staff to Every Cybersecurity Problem Can Have Problems of Its Own

Cybersecurity is one part of your business’ computing that you must prioritize, as the fallout of a data breach could, in many cases, be enough to shutter your business for good. You want to be seen as a company that takes data security seriously, and to this end, you have likely implemented countless security features and measures to protect your organization’s resources and data. However, this all comes at a cost, and it’s not the one you might expect: your employees.

0 Comments
Continue reading

Cybersecurity Needs to Be a Part of Your 2023 IT Strategy

Cybersecurity Needs to Be a Part of Your 2023 IT Strategy

In today's digital world, SMBs need to establish a comprehensive cybersecurity strategy to protect themselves from a range of potential threats. Whether it's a small business with a handful of employees or a large corporation with thousands of workers, every organization is vulnerable to cyberattacks. That’s worth stressing because so many business owners think they are immune simply because of the size of their organization.

0 Comments
Continue reading

Could Your Business Resist a Hacker? Here’s How to Find Out

Could Your Business Resist a Hacker? Here’s How to Find Out

Let’s say that, right now, someone was attempting to break into your network…could they do it? Is there some vulnerability present on your network that has left you open to attack? This is a question you need to know the answer to so that you can resolve it.

One way to get this answer is by bringing on a professional to perform a penetration test on your business IT.

0 Comments
Continue reading

Many Businesses are Adopting Passwordless Authentication—Including Google

Many Businesses are Adopting Passwordless Authentication—Including Google

Passwords used to be the law of the land, but in a world where passwords are more at risk of threats than ever before, people have turned to passwordless solutions. In fact, one of the biggest tech companies out there—Google—recently took steps toward passwordless authentication which we think is pretty darn important.

0 Comments
Continue reading

Unpacking Zero-Trust’s Benefits and If It Is Right For Your Business

Unpacking Zero-Trust’s Benefits and If It Is Right For Your Business

When dealing with business computing, there are many situations where threats could potentially ruin the good thing you’ve got going. Today, a lot of businesses are getting much more serious about their IT security with what is known as a “zero-trust policy”. What exactly is a zero-trust policy? This month we will explain it. 

0 Comments
Continue reading

Cybersecurity Month is Over, Time to Get Sloppy!

Cybersecurity Month is Over, Time to Get Sloppy!

Are you tired of hearing about the importance of secure passwords, two-factor authentication, and security updates?

We get it. All of these techno-nerds (ourselves included) have spent all of October and even the weeks leading up to it talking about the importance of cybersecurity, preaching the importance of things that, let’s face it, just get in the way of you getting work done. Thank goodness Cybersecurity Month is long over, and now we can all get back to being absolutely reckless with our data, right?

0 Comments
Continue reading

Whoops! Microsoft Update Has Been Missing This Critical Security Vulnerability

Whoops! Microsoft Update Has Been Missing This Critical Security Vulnerability

For the most part, Microsoft takes security as seriously as it should, issuing updates and patches to maintain your Windows and Server operating systems. While you can count on receiving these updates for your supported operating systems, what you might not have known is that Microsoft accidentally overlooked a flaw in its own defenses.

0 Comments
Continue reading

Why Security Questions are Terrible for Security

Why Security Questions are Terrible for Security

What is your mother’s maiden name? What street did you grow up on? What is your favorite movie?

How about: What good do you really think these questions are going to do to help keep your accounts any more secure?

0 Comments
Continue reading

Your Business Is Currently At Risk: What You Should Know

Your Business Is Currently At Risk: What You Should Know

Do you know those horror stories you catch every so often where a huge business has their network hacked and millions of their customers and employees have their personal and financial information leaked onto the Dark Web? Your organization isn't likely as big as theirs, but regardless of how much money, people, and diverse revenue streams an organization has, having its network breached and its customers’, or its employees’, information strewn about over the Dark Web is not an ideal scenario. 

0 Comments
Continue reading

Everything You Need to Know About Patch Tuesday

Everything You Need to Know About Patch Tuesday

In the technology news sector, you’ve probably noticed a trend where Patch Tuesday makes headlines at least once a month. This is generally the day when Microsoft issues patches and security updates for its many different technologies, and it’s important for your IT department to know when Patch Tuesday falls each month.

0 Comments
Continue reading

These Are the Ways You Get Malware

These Are the Ways You Get Malware

Malware has been a problem for people that rely on technology for decades. Like the security that is designed to mitigate the effect of malware, the malware itself has grown in potency and frequency and is a major problem for businesses. Today, we will take a look at a few ways you can get malware. 

0 Comments
Continue reading

A Few Useful Insights into Online Payment Fraud

A Few Useful Insights into Online Payment Fraud

Financially-focused cyberthreats are no joke, especially considering how digital payments now make up 41.8% of all payments made worldwide. Let’s consider a few statistics that highlight how important it is to ensure that the payment card data your business collects is sufficiently protected.

0 Comments
Continue reading

Multi-Factor Authentication isn’t Infallible, But It Shouldn’t Be Abandoned

Multi-Factor Authentication isn’t Infallible, But It Shouldn’t Be Abandoned

We haven’t been shy about pushing for multi-factor authentication, AKA MFA, and there’s a reason for that: if implemented correctly, it can help prevent many cyberthreats. Having said that, cybercriminals have managed to find a way to undermine MFA. Let’s consider how they’ve managed to do this.

0 Comments
Continue reading

Who’s Sitting at the Other Keyboard While You’re Being Attacked?

Who’s Sitting at the Other Keyboard While You’re Being Attacked?

It can be too easy to think about hackers and cybercriminals in an almost abstract way, diminishing them to little more than a faceless entity at a keyboard. Naturally, this is far from the truth. Let’s examine the reality of the cybercrime industry, which actually does as much harm to the perpetrators as it does to the people they scam...if not more.

0 Comments
Continue reading

Mobile? Grab this Article!

QR-Code dieser Seite

Blog Archive

2013
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
November