MSPNetworks Blog

People have been examining the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting economic and social shutdown from every angle. Unfortunately, some of those people took it as the opportunity they’ve been waiting for to try and steal data and in some cases money from unprotected and unprepared people and businesses online. Let’s examine how the events surrounding COVID-19 have had an effect on cybercrime.

A Variety of Threats

Today, there are a lot of threats out there that could threaten a business’ data and infrastructure. This has been exacerbated by the fear brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic and most businesses don’t know where to start setting up their defenses. Most of the threats are in line with threats that they normally deal with, but many are seeing an increased frequency of them. By using COVID-19 as a ruse, cybercriminals threaten to take advantage of people's empathy. Some of the threats that business see:

• Phishing attacks 
• Distributed denial of service attacks
• Man-in-the-Middle attacks
• Network based user threats due to negligence or sabotage

Of course, any of these threats can undermine your business’ ability to function properly, let’s look at the latest scams businesses are actually dealing with:

Website Spoofing

People shouldn’t have to deal with these types of things during a public emergency, but scammers have been setting up spoofed websites to take advantage of people’s tendency to think it is less risky shopping online. From fake government websites to websites that claim to make available discount face masks or hand sanitizers (a couple of the new staples from the pandemic) are being set up to steal people’s personal information. Using this information, the more sophisticated hackers can gain access to people’s accounts, leaving individuals, and the businesses they work for, reeling. Here are a couple things you can do to keep from being a victim of false websites:

• Check the URL - A fake site might look just like the real thing, but the URL won’t. With a lot of these scams being run on government and banking websites, you will want to remain diligent to check the URL by running your mouse over any links or buttons on a page or webform. If you can’t see where the information is going, or if the address you find is suspicious, don’t send any of your personal information through the website. 
• Use Ad Blockers - Another great way to skim out fraudulent shady information is to utilize ad blocking software available through your browser’s store.

Email and Text Phishing

Of course, phishing is a big deal all the time as encryption does a good job of keeping traditional hackers out of their networks. Of course, phishing tactics change all the time, and since impersonating someone to gain access to personal information is one of the oldest and successful schemes on the web, it continues to be innovated upon. With over three billion phishing emails sent each day, unless you and your staff know how to spot and mitigate these threats, your organization will fall victim to one eventually. Here are a few strategies you can use to mitigate the risk from phishing emails:

• Confirm the Sender - The only way phishing emails work is when the person receiving the message trusts the information they are being sent. Ensuring that the message you’ve received is from who it says that it is from is one of the first steps in thwarting any phishing attempt.
• Don’t Click on Links and Attachments - Even a well-trained eye can be fooled by some link that looks legitimate but isn’t. It is important that if you aren’t expecting an email, or if you don’t personally know the person or organization that’s sending you messages (and their motives), don’t click on anything. 

Cybercrime will be here a lot longer than COVID-19 will be. It’s important that you take the steps necessary to protect your business (and yourself) from the threats presented by scammers online. For more information on how to stop COVID-19-based cyberthreats, or if you would just like to improve your business’ ability to train your staff on the importance of cybersecurity best practices, reach out to MSPNetworks today at (516) 403-9001.

There are many different varieties of cybercrime that businesses need to be vigilant about. However, most of these varieties can largely be avoided through a few basic practices and behaviors. Here, we’re giving you a few tips to help you prevent attacks from successfully influencing your business, so make sure you share them with your entire team, as well.

1. Reconsider What You Click On

It’s almost automatic for many users to see a link on a website, in their email, and elsewhere. This is something that hackers are very aware of, and often use to their advantage.

Kind of like we just did there (if you clicked on that link).

See how easy it is to fool someone this way? To help avoid this being used to undermine your security, build up the habit of hovering your cursor over a link before clicking on it. This will display the actual destination of a link somewhere on your screen, which you should always check so you will know that it is legitimate. 

2. Use Access Controls

While this may be obvious, you need to make sure that someone who isn’t allowed access to your business’ files or location isn’t able to access them. This means that you need to have all the suggested data security measures and practices in place to protect against the unauthorized access of any of your files, including any hard copies. Keep your physical data locked up, and protect all data with multiple layers of authentication requirements.

3. Keep an Eye Out for Scammers

While we’ve already covered this in part with tip number one, there are other ways to catch attempted cybercrimes that are often used in conjunction with misleading links. Cybercriminals use various methods, referred to as “phishing”, to manipulate their targets into behaving the way the attacker wants. Sometimes it is by using a falsified link, sometimes through scare tactics, and often through a combination of the two. Some phishing attacks are researched extensively to be as effective as possible against a certain target, while others are broader and more generic and meant to catch as many people as possible with minimal work. Make sure your team is informed of these attacks and knows to double-check requests through a different communication method if there is any doubt at all. When in doubt? Pick up the phone and call the sender.

4. Two-Ply Protections

Make sure that you are layering your defenses against cyberthreats. Maintain an updated antivirus solution and utilize a virtual private network when accessing the Internet and activate all onboard protections that your devices offer and use all of the assorted solutions and practices that are available for you to leverage. To discourage cybercrime on a comprehensive scale, you need to take thorough actions and fill in all the small holes that could potentially exist in your security.

MSPNetworks can help with all of this, and more. For answers to any technology questions you may have, or direct assistance in implementing any of this, reach out to us at (516) 403-9001.

Wherever there is money, there are scammers. So it may not be a big surprise that scammers are out en masse trying to get between you and your federally mandated stimulus money.  It’s bad enough that we’ve already seen a couple of phishing scams using the COVID-19 pandemic that are designed to help hackers get into accounts they have no business in, now that these scammers know that people are getting cash, the scams are kicked up a notch.

This is not the first time that the U.S. government has distributed checks to everyone, but with online banking being more prevalent now, scammers have a more complete opportunity to steal money. Let’s go through the ways you can ensure that you get your stimulus money:

1. Avoid anything that has you sign up for stimulus money - Unless you haven’t filed a tax return in the past two years, you will not have to do much to get your stimulus money. If someone wants you to fill out a form to get your stimulus money, you are definitely being scammed.
2. Scammers don’t just act online - Like traditional phishing, you need to be aware everywhere. Whether you get postcards in the mail with a password printed on it or you get messages over social media, you need to know that being asked to take action to gain “access” or to “verify” your payment information is almost assuredly a scam.
3. You can’t get your money faster - Some scammers have concocted a scam that “for a small fee” they can get people their stimulus check faster. With tens of millions of people already receiving their check, it's a sign that your money is on its way if you haven’t received it already. No service can help you get your money faster. 
4. No, you aren’t getting more - What’s better than getting $1,200 tax-free money from your government? Getting more money. Some scammers are actually sending checks for two or three times the amount of the stimulus, the scammer will then apologize for the discrepancy and ask the recipient to reimburse them. The check and their strategy are completely false and should be ignored. 
5. IRS correspondence - It’s true that some people have had to fill out forms on the IRS website in order to get their checks sent to them or deposited in their bank accounts. Of course, scammers have set up forms that look like it. If the form you filled out isn’t on the IRS’ website, you shouldn’t fill it out.

Knowing what you are up against is the best defense against scammers. If you haven’t yet received your CARES Act stimulus money, you need to go to the official IRS website to find out why (or more likely when) you will receive your stimulus check.

What scams have you been seeing lately? Let us know in the comments section below and return to our blog for more great technology-related information.

We spend a lot of time on this blog talking about virus avoidance, but today we thought we would go into things you can do to keep another type of virus--specifically COVID-19--away from you and your technology.

It’s known that bacteria and viruses (including COVID-19 and many others) thrive in environments like a typical office. There are usually many people in a confined space and a lot of places that microorganisms and germs can get picked up.

To back up these claims (that only really need corroboration from workers that get sick from their contemporaries regularly), research suggests that the average office phone features more than 25,000 different types of bacteria, the average keyboard sports 3,000 per square inch, and the mouse has over half that. For reference, the average toilet has less than 300 per square inch. This tells you just how important it is to make efforts to keep your workspace clean. 

Virus Removal

You can’t just dump hand sanitizer on your keyboard and expect it to be clean. Here are some tips designed to help you keep yourself healthy:

Traditional Cleaning

It is important that you keep your office clean. Using soap and water to clean surfaces that are able to be cleaned that way and keeping the floors clean with a broom and mop will keep the office in good shape. 

Obviously, you shouldn’t clean your computing components with the same haphazard cleaning that you would do on your floors. You don’t want to ruin them with careless actions. 

Disinfecting Wipes

The disinfecting wipes can be quite useful to build a healthier office, as long as you are diligent about which wipes to buy. You’ll want to get the ones that tell you about their disinfecting power on the label.  You will want to check the labels to see if your supply says they kill viruses.

By using these disinfectant wipes, you will likely see fewer sick people. Cleaning surfaces like door handles, light switches, phones, chairs,  keyboards, and mice will go a long way toward sanitizing your whole office. Be sure to pay special attention to high-traffic areas in the office, like the staff refrigerator, vending machines, coffee machines, and the microwave, to properly disinfect them as well.

Encourage Hygiene

The thing that is going to keep your staff safe against contamination the most is their own hygiene. You’ll want to make a point to remind everyone in the office that they need to be washing their hands after they use the bathroom. You can also make sure that they have access to hand sanitizer, sanitizing wipes, and other useful products that promote a sterile workplace.  Also, you would be wise to tell sick people to stay home from the office or allow them to work remotely if needed. 

Ultimately, with the COVID-19 pandemic bringing these issues to the forefront, you will likely begin to see people making these steps a priority. Nobody wants to get sick, so everyone has a reason to keep their workspace as clean as possible, but since every office has at least one slob, you will want to make sure to make it a priority for them to keep their desk clean. 

What does your company do to promote staff health? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

There are many reasons that your team may want (or need) to work from home, and there are many reasons to allow them to do so. A 2019 survey by OwlLabs indicated that 71 percent of remote workers are happy with their job (as compared to 55 percent of on-site workers); remote workers responded that they are 13   percent more likely than onsite workers to stay in their current job for five more years than onsite workers will; and when respondents claimed to be working longer than 40 hours per week, onsite workers were doing so out of necessity, while remote workers did so out of desire and enjoyment.

These statistics outline that by allowing employees to work from home, your company will see some very tangible benefits. Like any human resources strategy, however, you’ll need to keep a few considerations firmly in mind to get the most out of it.

Treat It Like Business as Usual

When you are working with your remote employees, it is important that you don’t focus exclusively on your in-house staff. Maintaining communication with every one of your staff is necessary for your operations to continue, so if anything, you need to encourage your in-house workers to regularly check in with your remote employees and involve them in their processes. You should also avoid the temptation to hold off on meetings. Again, don’t act like anything has changed as a result of your employees working from home. If you have regular meetings at a given time, continue them, and simply use the technology available today to include your remote staff members.

Provide the Means to Communicate

Speaking of which, it is also important that your remote team members have the tools that allow them to communicate with their contemporaries. If you haven’t already done so, consider switching your telephony to a VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) solution. This will enable your remote staff members access to your business’ phone system, rather than using their own for professional purposes. Other useful collaboration tools include things like video conferencing, instant messaging, and (of course) business email.

Give Them Access and Tools

Your remote workers aren’t going to be capable of being productive if they don’t have access to the necessary resources and applications required to carry out their assigned tasks. Make sure they have this access, either by enabling remote access into their workstation or by providing them with a laptop that they can take with them. It is recommended that, if you elect to take the remote access option, this access is secured through the use of a virtual private network (or VPN). This tool ensures that whether your files and applications are stored on-site or in the cloud, that access to data is available from anywhere a connection can be established.

Don’t Forget About Security

It is critical for the health of your business that you uphold remote workers to a higher standard for data and network security. Remote work brings increased risk. Using the aforementioned VPN is just one of the many tools that will work to maintain the integrity of your business’ digital assets. Another important security measure is to be sure that your remote users are forced into using password best practices for authentication. 

Some Suggestions:

• Hosted VoIP for using phones from any device and anywhere.
• A VPN for secure connections to the office network.
• Remote access policies to ensure compliance and security. 
• Remote terminal access to keep files and applications centralized.
• Email accessibility for internal and external communication.
• Conferencing and meeting applications to keep your team engaged.
• Messaging applications to facilitate easy coworking.
• G-Suite/Office 365 for document publishing and collaboration.
• Disaster Recovery solution to prevent productivity-loss issues.

Our IT professionals are here to help you extend the reach of your business and do it to ensure that your assets are protected. Reach out to MSPNetworks today to kickstart your remote workforce on a path to productivity. Call (516) 403-9001 to learn more.

It’s not uncommon where a situation arises and you will find yourself working from home. To make this work, it is important that you keep a few additional issues in mind so that you can make the most of it. We have put together a few simple best practices that you should keep in mind as you operate remotely.

Security Considerations

Even though you aren’t in the office, you still need to follow the same security protocols and the processes you would need to follow if you were working in the office. In fact, these processes become even more important, as your home network is likely less secure than the one in the workplace. Here are some tips:

Be Hygienic
We aren’t telling you to brush your teeth or wash behind your ears, we are talking about practicing good security hygiene while you work remotely. Don’t reuse your passwords, use multi-factor (or two-factor) authentication to secure all accounts, and don’t share out information over email if you don’t know for certain who will read it. In other words, all the basics still apply.

Be Mindful
For similar reasons, you also need to be extra careful of online scams or phishing attacks while working remotely. Lost business data is lost business data, regardless of where you were when it was left vulnerable. Make sure you are up-to-speed in terms of identifying and mitigating breach attempts.

Use a VPN
Finally, because you will not be protected by the defenses on the company network, you need to implement a few extras, such as a virtual private network. A VPN uses encryption to conceal the contents of any data you transmit over the Internet, protecting the contents from virtually all attacks.

Business Practices

Again, as you aren’t in the office, your remote work needs to follow the same processes as it would if you were in-house, and you will need to be more deliberate about carrying them out. For instance:

Use Communication and Collaboration
Since you are not working alongside your colleagues and coworkers while you are working from home, you should be extra diligent about remaining in contact with them. Use your email, instant messaging, and phone capabilities to keep the rest of the team apprised as you progress with your tasks.

Follow Processes
As we don’t want anything falling through the cracks as we continue our operations, it is important that each team member sticks to procedures with every task they touch. This will help ensure that all the ‘i’s are dotted and each ‘t’ is crossed, and that things progress productively.

Schedule Strategically
While you should still work the amount of time you would be in the office, you may have a little more freedom and autonomy as far as your schedule is concerned. Don’t be afraid to arrange your tasks around any scheduling conflicts you may have, or shuffle your tasks to better fit your productivity levels throughout the day.

Personal Wellness

Finally, it is crucial that you are able to manage yourself and your time while not in the office environment. Here are a few tips to help you do so, that may be useful to keep in mind.

Set Limits
While the assumption surrounding remote work is that employees are prone to slacking off, it is also likely that you may be tempted to push yourself a little further than you should with your day to try and accomplish as much as possible. While this is an admirable goal, it isn’t effective if you overwork yourself one day and accomplish almost nothing the next as a result. Moderate yourself and stop when it’s time.

Build Patterns
Process is crucial to working effectively from home. This means you need to actively make sure you get into a work routine (even one that resembles the one you follow normally). Get up on time. Make yourself breakfast. Make sure you get dressed (at least most days). Establish a place that becomes your work area. Consistency will help keep you on task and feeling sharp.

Resist Temptation
There are a lot of things at home to help distract you from doing what you need to do. Hobbies, that TV show that you always meant to watch, even household chores can tempt you away from getting down to business. Shut these excuses to procrastinate out, and if you must procrastinate, do so in a beneficial way. Meditating can help you refocus, or even switching to another task briefly can help you refresh your mind.

Remember, your team is here to support you, but they also need that support to be reciprocated. Make sure your remote work is just as productive as your in-house work would be.

The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly disrupted daily life, restricting people to their homes and preventing them from going into the office to work. In response, many companies are hurriedly changing over to a remote-capable workforce and having their employees work from home. This strategy can be highly effective, but if a company and its team isn’t careful, it can also be risky.

Why This Matters Now

Many businesses have had no choice but to shut down as “non-essential” businesses are closed. While the definition of an “essential” business varies from place to place, the Department of Homeland Security and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency have provided some general guidelines describing what kind of services should be seen as essential.

This list includes many businesses who could conceivably operate on a remote basis, if they had the internal capabilities. Unfortunately, this often isn’t the most secure option. Let’s review why working from home can be less secure than working in the office, and what you can do to help minimize these effects.

Security Threats for Remote Workers

As you would expect, there are a lot of factors that can serve as a detriment to remote work’s inherent security. This is exacerbated by the fact that there is currently a global health disaster that cybercriminals can use to their advantage:

• The security implemented into the business’ network is no longer protecting the employees and their devices.
• Employees may have more lax security habits when not in the workplace.
• Cybercriminals can shape their attacks and scams to be more convincing in the current climate.
• Many businesses haven’t prepared for this eventuality, and so are lacking the remote strategies that would keep their employees secure.

Therefore, cybercriminals have the opportunity to use many of their favorite tactics to their advantage. Researchers and cybersecurity professionals have seen an uptick in ransomware attacks, remote access tools, and trojans, thanks to cybercriminals using COVID-19 as bait during their phishing attacks by playing off the stress that the coronavirus is causing in many people. It doesn’t help that many remote workers will check their personal emails alongside their professional ones, adding to the chances of a successful attack via their email. Others will pose as the hiring organization itself to swindle remote employees.

To be fair, attackers are also seeing more success in targeting businesses directly, while security is put on the back burner as they focus on their COVID-19 preparedness.

As we mentioned earlier, businesses are also generally ill-prepared for this kind of event, especially those who operate in industries that aren’t commonly associated with remote operations, and whose systems are often outdated and poorly maintained, and/or proprietary in nature and not conducive to remote capabilities. Industries that face particular regulations and certification requirements have another hurdle to clear.

What Can Be Done?

While it is unfortunately going to be a reactive response at this point instead of a proactive measure, businesses can adopt certain solutions that will assist them in securing their remote workers from attack.

• Cloud Solutions - Utilizing the cloud, rather than requiring users to remote into an at-work solution, can prevent an external access point from being created that leads into your network. Simpler to use than remote access and inherently secure, a cloud solution is ideal for remote working. With the opportunity to host software, store data, or some combination of the two, the cloud can enable many of your employees to work completely independently of your network.
  
  
• Company Issued Eequipment - With a company-issued device, it becomes a lot easier to ensure that your team has the security solutions and updates you need them to have. While this will require some investment into mobile devices that support your needs, this is a measure with lasting influence on your overall security and productivity.
  
  
• Employee Training and Education - Finally, and perhaps most importantly, your employees need to understand that their responsibility for the cybersecurity of the company at large carries over as they are working remotely. Teaching them how crucial security updates are, how to spot phishing attacks, and other preventative measures will make a huge difference.

While the COVID-19 pandemic may be providing businesses with the motivation to put these measures into place now, these measures and other recommended best practices should always be followed. MSPNetworks can help you put them into place whether you’re an essential business or not. Give us a call at (516) 403-9001 to learn more. 

If you’re in business today, there are three words that are critical for you keep in mind: Cybersecurity. Is. Important. As such, every business needs to have taken the time to put together a cybersecurity policy--a set of guidelines that instruct the business how to proceed with the highest level of security possible. We’ve taken the liberty of suggesting a few guidelines for your business to follow as you do so.

Establish Definitions 

When you’re putting together a cybersecurity policy, there cannot be any uncertainty in what you are referring to at a given time. It is important for you to make it clear: if one of your policies references a “cyber incident,” what kind of situations could that apply to specifically?

This makes it imperative that you clearly establish what certain terms you use in your policies refer to, relatively early on. Take the “cyber incident” example: does that refer to an attack by a cybercriminal, or does it refer to an internal mishap or equipment failure. If it does refer to an attack, does it describe a limited scope, or do all attack vectors (phishing, man-in-the-middle attack, et al.) fall under its umbrella?

Remember, the person referencing this document will be a relative layman, so you need to make sure that these definitions make it clear to them what situation they are encountering and how to proceed.

Establish Processes

When you are putting together a cybersecurity policy for your business to follow, the fundamental idea is to make sure everyone is on the same page in the event of some major issue, event, or need. Therefore, you need to make sure you create standards that apply to a variety of circumstances, such as the need for remote work to take place, what qualifies as acceptable use of the Internet, and the modern demand for improved passwords and other forms of authentication. You also need to remember that various regulations and other compliance requirements could come into play, and adjust your standards accordingly.

As you document them, these procedures themselves should include:

• What protections are in place (and what they protect against)
• What backup policies are in place
• What the updating/patching process looks like regarding your protections

... among other key pieces of information that would come in handy if recovery from a cybersecurity issue was ever a concern.

Establish Accountability

Once your processes are devised, refined, and finalized, you need to make sure that they are properly documented and that your staff is trained to follow them… otherwise, the effort you made to put them in place is rendered redundant.

The importance of this particular aspect cannot be emphasized strongly enough. In fact, part of your new policy should address how much harm an employee can do to the business’ well-being and outline how your employees need to conduct themselves as they go about their work. There are many ways that you can--and should--do so.

Education is going to be key, of course, as your established protections will only do so much if one of your employees doesn’t recognize a threat when presented with one. Phishing is incredibly popular for a reason.

Just as important is to keep in mind that accountability can often be shared, especially when a cybersecurity issue has transpired. Sure, an employee may have fallen for a phishing scam, but could that have been because the training they received to avoid them was inadequate or outdated? When was the last time you held a training session? In order for your business to properly secure itself against threats, the whole business must be involved.

MSPNetworks can get involved, too. Our professionals have the experience needed to ensure that your business has the security it needs, with the policies in place to support that security. Find out more by giving us a call at (516) 403-9001.

Most businesses that really lean on their IT go to great lengths and expense to keep those systems secure. Sometimes, however, all those firewalls and antivirus software don’t stop threats that come in from your staff. Today, we are going to go through the three different types of human error that your staff can undertake, and how to deal with each.

Accidental

The most benign of the insider threats, the accidental mistake typically happens when data is in transit. Circumstances often lead to situations that are less than ideal. Typically, these types of mistakes are made when an employee isn’t properly trained. If you have security policies in place, but an employee hasn’t been made privy to them, or at the very least they aren’t given the knowledge on how to stay compliant of them, there is a disconnect that can often lead to problems. 

Negligent

Unfortunately, most insider threats are of this nature. These are threats that are brought on directly from user error because of a lack of diligence. When data is lost in a database, when malware is downloaded on the network, or when mobile hardware is lost, your company is dealing with user negligence. Most negligence is not premeditated, but due to its avoidable nature, it is looked on much less favorably as compared to accidental mistakes. 

Malicious

When an insider acts in a way that is intentionally malicious towards an organization. This can come in several forms. A user that has access to company computing resources can deliberately steal data, inject malware, and bypass security policies enacted by the IT administrator. Then there is the mole, who is a person that is actually an outsider, but is provided access to company computing resources, and uses his/her position to pass information onto competitors, steals it with the intention of selling it off, or using it nefariously later. 

How to Spot Insider Threats

The nature of the beast here makes spotting insider threats difficult, but there are some indicators that can help you identify if you have a bad actor in your midst. 

• Type of activity for users - If a user has access to certain resources, but their job doesn’t typically require them to use those resources, especially ones that are filled with sensitive information, you wouldn’t be misguided to further monitor that employee’s behavior on your computing network. 
• The volume of traffic - If you can’t account for a sudden uptick in network traffic, you may want to investigate. 
• Times of activity - If you see spikes in traffic at strange times, you’ll need to ascertain why.

How to Protect Against Insider Threats

You can take some pretty straightforward steps to combat any insider threats. They include:

• Increase visibility - You will want to put systems in place to keep track of employee actions. You can do this best by correlating information from multiple sources. 
• Enforce policies - Having your policies documented and easily accessible will avoid any misunderstanding of your business’ expectations on how employees interact with its technology resources. 
• Comprehensive training - IT isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. To avoid accidental mistakes and to help reduce negligence, consider putting together strong training initiatives. They will go a long way toward helping staff understand what is expected and what is possible.
• Access control - Of course, if you set up permissions for every part of your business, you can effectively set who can see what, making sabotage and negligence less likely to hurt your business. 

If you would like help identifying how to protect your business’ network and data from threats, even the ones that come from inside your business, call the IT professionals at MSPNetworks today at (516) 403-9001.

The modern business has to deal with a lot of potential security problems. Today’s threat landscape is filled with people looking to prosper off of your misfortune. As a result, doing what you can to maintain the security of your network and data is essential. Today, we will discuss how maintaining your organizational cybersecurity doesn’t have to be costly or time consuming.The best way we’ve found to go about doing this is by highlighting a few key actions that you can take to keep your network secure and your data safe.

Use Strong Passwords

Like many of these quick tips, this one is a good practice regardless of where you are. Good password management is an extremely important part of the security process. To concoct a good password, you need to first make something that people or computer programs won’t guess. You can do that by using both lower- and upper-case letters, numbers, and symbols.

Another good practice is to create a passphrase of unlike words. This serves two purposes. First, it ensures that you can remember the password; and, secondly it is secure enough where no one can crack the password.

Finally, you will want to create a unique password for every online account and save them in an encrypted password manager. Doing so will not only protect your passwords, it sets up a system where you only have to remember one. 

For additional security, you will want to use two-factor authentication. This is a system that adds an additional layer of security to your online accounts. Once you enter a password into a password manager, you then will get an additional box where you will enter a code. This code can be sent through email or it can be generated through an authentication app. 

Only Use Secure Wi-Fi

The Wi-Fi inside your office should be secure, hidden, and encrypted. For those times when working in your office is impossible, the use of a virtual private network (VPN) can keep your uploads and downloads secure. Utilizing public Wi-Fi without a VPN is just asking for problems. 

Some VPNs are better than others. Typically, if your company uses a comprehensive network security suite for your office, it will come with VPN licenses that will be more than enough to protect data transmission when you are working on someone else’s Wi-Fi.

Avoid Unknown Links

Phishing is the number one way that hackers gain access to a network. This is because people click on links and download attachments that they have no business interacting with. Your account has likely been phished many times this year. Most are probably thwarted by your spam blocker, but it only takes one attack to grind productivity to a halt.

If we have one piece of advice, don’t enter personal or company information in an email or instant message unless you are very clear who is on the other end. The threats that line up against your integrated security are substantial ones. Phishing is the number one cause of identity theft and ransomware. Since it runs the entire gamut of negative results, ensuring that you are doing what you can to not be part of the problem is important. 

Cybersecurity can be difficult for a business, but an individual’s role in protecting business and personal networks isn’t. If you would like to learn more about IT security or how to effectively manage risks that come from phishing and other attacks, subscribe to our blog today.

Wi-Fi has swiftly become one of those amenities that we just expect to have, including in the workplace. While it does make work around the office more convenient, it should not be at the cost of your security. To help prevent this, we’re reviewing a few key Wi-Fi security considerations to keep in mind.

Don’t Rely On It For Your Security

Regardless of how secure your network purports to be, it doesn’t hurt to continue subscribing to best practices when it comes to maintaining your security -- in fact, it could very well hurt you not to do so. Wi-Fi in particular isn’t the most secure method to use out of the box, so you should always be sure to support what you use with additional protections and security measures. For example, you should always incorporate encryption to help protect your traffic, something that you need to make sure is done, because your traffic won’t be secure otherwise.

You should also follow general browsing best practices at all times, just as an added precaution. Avoid websites that lack the ‘s’ in https, as that ‘s’ stands for secure.

Protect Your Wi-Fi With Good Passphrases and Practices

At this point, most people are at least aware of what makes a bad password: the usual suspects, including:

• Simple and common words and letter combinations being used
• No variation in character type
• Reusing the same password for different sets of credentials
• Passwords written down on scrap paper or sticky notes

This is just a small sample of all the little habits and shortcuts that users will understandably start to pick up to make sure that they can remember all of the different passwords they need to maintain (not to mention the idea that they should use a different password for each account).

While your employees certainly shouldn’t be shortchanging your security measures, they are only human. One way to compromise with them (without compromising your security) is to use passphrases instead of passwords, creating a very bland sentence and using that as your authentication proof instead - something like “ipourthemilkintothecereal.” Memorable, yes, but certainly not well-known. Naturally, these should be kept confidential, and it will probably help to use a password manager to keep track of them. On top of that, add numbers, symbols, and capitalization.

Consider Your Wi-Fi Network

There are many ways that you can help increase the safety of your wireless network. Here are some quick highlights:

• Change your SSID away from the factory default to a unique but unrevealing alternative, even if you keep your network hidden.
• If a device has Wi-Fi capabilities that you are not actively using, make sure that the device is off to help truncate the amount of access points you have into your wireless network. If a device can be connected to your network via ethernet, consider doing so.
• Keep business use of the network separate from any guest use of the network with a dedicated guest network, protected by a simple passphrase that you update periodically. Turn off the guest network whenever it is not needed for added security.

Want extra help with any of these security considerations? Trust the experts at MSPNetworks! We can help keep your technology safe for you to continue your business operations with it in your corner. Call (516) 403-9001 to learn more.

With email being such a huge part of doing business, phishing has become a favorite tool of many scammers. To fight back, it is key that you know how to recognize a phishing email, so we’re dedicating this week’s tip to doing just that.

What is Phishing?

Phishing goes beyond just your email. The term actually covers any digital attempt that someone makes to trick you into revealing important information about your business or personal accounts. A ‘phisher’ would try to fool you into handing over a particular detail about yourself, like the password you use for your online banking, or your business’ client and personnel files.

Of course, a scammer doesn’t have to use email as their preferred phishing tool. With social media becoming such a big part of business and personal life, phishers will pose as people you know and message you to try and extract information. Others will just pick up the phone and call you as someone else, hoping you won’t question them and hand over the information they want.

These different methods that a scammer might use can even classify the attempt into a more precise type of phishing. Attacks that are highly customized to one particular target are called “spear” phishing attacks, while those that pose as the CEO of a company are called “whaling.”

Regardless of what kind of phishing it is, it ultimately relies on deception to work, more than any other factor.

Spotting Phishing

Fortunately, while some phishing scams are getting to be pretty elaborate, there are a few practices that can help prevent you from being fooled. Here, we’ve put them together to give you a simple guide to avoiding potential phishing attacks.

Warning Signs

There are plenty of warning signs to help you spot a phishing attack. Some are found in the body of the email itself, while others are actually based a little bit in behaviors. For instance:

Is the message filled with spelling and grammar issues? Think about it this way: does it look good for a business to send out official correspondence with these kinds of avoidable errors? Mind you, we aren’t referring to the occasional typo, rather the tone of the message as a whole. It certainly does not, which suggests that the message may not be legitimate.

Is the message written to make you panic about something? Consider how many phishing messages are framed: “Oh no, you have an immediate issue with something so we need you to confirm your access credentials so that this immediate issue can be resolved. Otherwise, there will be huge consequences.” While there are a variety of ways that people can be convinced, these types of messages hit on some major ones: striking quickly to keep people from questioning you, removing power from someone who wouldn’t listen to you, and using very definitive and final terms. Does the message do these things, suddenly alerting you to a terrible issue that only the sender can protect you from? If so, there is a good chance that it is a scam.

Is the message a typical occurrence in general? Finally, think about the average case when a message like this is received. If you were to suddenly get a message on social media from someone who you really don’t talk to, it’d be a little weird, right? The same goes for your business communications… how often would this supposed sender actually reach out for this?

Protecting Your Assets

Fortunately, there are a few simple ways to help reduce how effective these attacks can be.

• Use a spam blocking solution to help reduce the number of phishing messages your employees need to deal with. While many phishers have become more sophisticated, plenty are still keeping it simple enough to be stopped automatically.
  
  
• Make sure your employees are trained to spot and properly handle attempts that may come through. By starting with the end user, you’re taking away a lot of the power that phishing has.

At MSPNetworks, we appreciate the importance of secure workplace practices. If you’d like to learn more about phishing, and how we can help stop it from hurting your business, reach out to us at (516) 403-9001.

A full week into the new year, have you resolved to make any improvements to your business? In light of all the resolutions that may (or may not) have been broken by now, we decided to share a few resolutions you could put into place to improve your business and its processes.

Make S.M.A.R.T.er Goals

I know, I know… it isn’t as though you don’t already have goals for your business to reach, whatever they may be. However, not all goals are set equally - there are ways that you can improve your likelihood of reaching them. One way is to follow the S.M.A.R.T. methodology, which means that all of your goals are made to be:

• Specific
• Measureable
• Attainable
• Relevant
• Timely

To make sense of this, let’s create a S.M.A.R.T. goal here. To do so, we’ll assume you want to see more revenue come in. To make this more specific, let’s specify where that revenue should come from - perhaps recurring services. To make sure your progress is measurable, you want to set a few concrete values, as these are easier to measure and track. For our case, let’s say that you want to increase the number of people signed on to your recurring services by a total of 15 percent within the next month.

Now, ask yourself, is this goal an attainable one, under typical circumstances? While there is nothing wrong with being expeditious, you need to make sure that you aren’t sending yourself on a fool’s errand at the same time. So, let’s pretend that, in this scenario, you see a natural sign-on/conversion rate of about three percent for these services each month, and can increase that to five or six percent if you push them. That means that a goal of 15 percent is pretty much doomed for failure. As a result, we should adjust this goal to signing on 15 percent more in the next three months.

Furthermore, your goal needs to be relevant to your business’ ongoing success. Does the service you are pushing increase your profits, or does it make your other tasks simpler to accomplish? You should focus, first and foremost, on goals that benefit the business and/or its processes. Finally, and hearkening back to the selection of three months over one month, you need all of your initiatives to have a timely end. Otherwise, you won’t be as motivated to strive for success - you’ll probably get there someday, after all - and really, what kind of goal is that?

Motivate Your Team by Improving Your Culture

Not all business growth can necessarily be measured in mathematical terms. However, this other growth can have an impact on the benchmarks that you might first think to measure - such as generated revenue, employee retention, or productivity - as well as provide clearly visible benefits to your business. Basically, by making the workplace a place where people are happy to work, you can make progress toward these goals as a natural side effect,

To accomplish this, have your employees chime in and share what might make them feel more energized and enthused to come to work - and then try to act on it. By working to motivate everyone, you help lift up the culture of the entire workplace - as well as create an environment that attracts many prospects to join your team.

Strengthen Your Business Relationships

While many business owners might dream of becoming the next huge, global business, there are certain disadvantages to becoming one. For instance, when managing a colossal business like that - despite what many advertisements may say - the tendency is to make everything as impersonal as possible, mostly out of practical necessity. The thing is, many clients are looking for a personalized experience, the relationship that a smaller provider can provide. Building relationships like these can be the difference between you getting their business, and the conglomerates getting it. 

Are there any resolutions that you’ve made for your business this year? Share them in the comments, and don’t forget that we’re here to help with any of your technology needs to give you the best chance of accomplishing them! For more information, give us a call at (516) 403-9001.

These days most consumers lean heavily on their payment cards. Whether they use credit cards, debit cards, or gift cards, consumers today are much more apt to use their card then they are to use cash. Why is this? Convenience mostly, but also there is a belief that using a payment card is more secure than walking around with a wad of cash in your pocket. Today, we will get to the bottom of the matter.

Are Cards Actually Safer Than Cash?

Credit card companies have long claimed that the credit card is safer than cash, but are they? A few years back, they were unquestionably safer, but with card-issuing banks changing their terms of service to alter non-liability clauses, and with the uptick in global wire fraud, it complicates the scenario somewhat. Sure, if you are on a street and have $5,000 on a credit card and $5,000 in cash in your pocket, the $5,000 on the card is undeniably more secure.

Speaking of changing the language, most credit cards protect borrowers when they have their identities stolen and fraudulent charges pop up on their statements, but not all do. Debit cards typically come with even less assurance because the money is yours directly, and doesn’t belong to a FDIC-covered bank. If you received your credit card from a credit union, you will want to make certain that your card is NCUSIF covered, because their money is not protected by FDIC.

What is Used to Protect Card Users?

All retailers that do business with payment cards have to comply with the Payment Card Index Digital Security Standard (PCI DSS). This mandate requires any organization that accepts card payments to actively protect cardholder data. Cardholder data is any information found on a user’s payment card, and according to the PCI DSS mandate, shouldn’t be stored by an organization unless used to improve the product or service that is being purchased. 

Outside of this standard, there has been some technological improvements that are aimed at keeping cardholder data secure. The first is the “chip”. Over the past few years the EMV chip (which stands for Europay, MasterCard, and Visa) has become standard on most payment cards and is used to encrypt data transfer. It sends a unique code to signify individual transactions. The code then expires if there is no need to return the purchase. 

Other technologies that are improving protection for card carriers include: 

• Dynamic Card Verification Values - The CVV found is the three-digit number found on the back of most payment cards. It functions as another verification option. Today, some banking organizations are beginning to use a dynamic CVV, which changes the value of the CVV based on what time of day it is. This means that someone will have to be in possession of a card in order to use that card digitally.
• Mobile Wallet - Think Google Pay and Apple Pay. Using near field communications (NFC), mobile wallets allow for linked cards and accounts to make purchases in participating locations. While being much more convenient, it is also a more secure way to pay for goods and services, provided that you take care of your account. 
• Biometrics - Using technology that records and analyzes biological characteristics for the purpose of authentication, this technology is often found on mobile banking apps and other mobile technologies, but could be of great use if financial organizations were to standardize a thumbprint or retina scanner. Technology like this is being used in South Africa as well as some European and Asian markets. 

If you rely on your payment cards, you need to consider how to keep your card and account information private and secure. If you need help getting your business compliant with PCI DSS, or if you need to protect your customers as much as your business, call the IT professionals at MSPNetworks today at (516) 403-9001.

The password isn’t nearly as secure as it used to be. Hackers have begun to take advantage of extremely powerful solutions designed to brute force their way into accounts by using software to rapidly guessing thousands of passwords per second, making it extraordinarily difficult to prepare yourself for them.

What’s the best way to guarantee that passwords aren’t going to be the downfall of your company? A great start is by taking a close look at password best practices and two-factor authentication.

To get started, let’s review the best practices for creating a password. The best practices for creating a password include the following:

• Use complex passwords: Your passwords should always be a complex string of letters, numbers, and symbols, including both capital and lower-case letters. Try to keep them as random as possible, without including any specific words or phrases if you can help it. This reduces the chance that your password will be guessed by a hacker.
• Use different passwords for each account: If you use the same password for every single account you have, you run the risk of one password exposing multiple accounts to hackers. Using multiple complex passwords can make them difficult to remember, however, which leads us into our next point.
• Use a password manager: If you’re following password best practices, you’ll notice that remembering passwords is difficult--especially when they are all different and complex. A password manager can store your passwords in a secure vault for access when they are needed, allowing you to use complex passwords at all times without needing to remember them. It sure beats writing down passwords in a Word document or elsewhere, and it’s much more secure than doing so. There are even password managers for businesses that let employers dish out certain credentials to staff in a safe, secure way.

While password best practices are important to ensure maximum security for your accounts, they’re often not enough to secure your business. Hackers are always trying to find new ways to crack even the most powerful of passwords. This is where two-factor authentication comes in. A hacker might be able to replicate the password, but can they replicate your accounts needed for access?

Two-factor authentication works by using a device or email account as a secondary credential for accessing an account or network. The obvious example is a smartphone, which can receive an SMS text message with a code needed to log into an account. Others might have codes sent to secondary email accounts. Either way, the point is that these types of credentials can only be received by the holders of the device, which is much more difficult for a hacker to take advantage of. There are even some types of two-factor authentication that utilize biometrics and near field communication technology (NFC), allowing for even more complexities that hackers will sigh and shake their heads at.

If your business needs to protect sensitive data, two-factor authentication is definitely one line of defense you will need. MSPNetworks has a solution for you. To learn more, reach out to us at (516) 403-9001.

Look, we get it. All you want is for the technology your business relies on to just… work. While that may not always be possible, there are quite a few things you can do to help prevent issues. For this week’s tip, we’ll go over some basics that will help make your use of your computer much less stressful.

1. We’re Not Kidding When We Say “Turn it Off and On Again.”

Yes, we’re aware that this advice has become the go-to punchline for any jokes at IT’s expense. However, we’re also aware that this is the case because we do offer this advice a lot, and that’s because it works. A surprising amount of issues can be resolved through a simple reboot. You know how refreshing a nap can be for someone? A reboot can work similarly for a computer, as it gets rid of all the extra data that can otherwise bog it down. This is a simplified way of describing the process, of course… the important thing is that you know we aren’t just asking that question to sound smart.

As silly as it admittedly sounds, a quick reboot is effective often enough to make it worthwhile to ask right off the bat.

However, it is important to remember that a reboot requires more than just turning your monitor on and off, or just logging out and in again. You need to actually restart your computer - and not by pressing the physical power button on your device, as this could cause worse problems. Instead, use the Restart option - found in the Start menu, under the Power icon. Furthermore, you also need to remember that locking your computer is a different process entirely, but still should be done whenever you leave your computer unattended. All you have to do is press WINDOWS+L.

2. Don’t Rush Your Computer

Anyone who has sat at a computer and had to wait for a process to complete understands how irritating this wait can be. There’s a real feeling that almost seems like helplessness - so it’s only natural that we have the urge to do one of the few things we can do… click on what we wanted to do, over and over and over and over…

There are a few problems to this approach. First, there’s probably some reason that the computer seems not to be completing its action. Second, your computer isn’t ignoring any of these additional clicks. As a result, if/when your computer makes it past whatever it is that is causing the holdup, it’s going to take all those clicks seriously. You won’t just open one instance of whatever file or program you were trying to access, you’ll open the application however many times you clicked on the shortcut. This will be annoying. Naturally, the same can be said for trying to print something out, or really any other action you were trying to complete. Doing so can even slow your computer down further.

Try to be patient… but, if the problem persists, reach out to IT for assistance.

3. Exercise Password Caution

It’s hard to overstate the importance of your passwords and their impact on your security overall. This means you have to be careful about how you remember them, as well as where and how you input them. Take your Caps Lock key, for instance. It won’t matter if you spell you password correctly if Caps Lock is activated unnecessarily, because it’ll still be wrong.

In terms of your security, you need to also consider the consequences of how you and your team stores your passwords. Let’s say that one of your employees is trying to cover up some corporate espionage. If another employee keeps their passwords written on a sticky note somewhere around their workspace (stuck to their monitor, for instance), that gives the insider threat a great way to pin their activities on someone else. This is why it is so important that every computer is locked when left unattended, as we discussed above, especially if the browser or other applications have their access credentials ‘remembered’ by your device.

If you’re seeking a simpler way to remember all the passwords you need to keep in mind, you’d be better off utilizing a password manager.

4. Talk to IT

Regardless of whether you have an internal IT team or you have a managed services agreement with a provider like MSPNetworks, you need to make sure you are communicating your issue to them in clear detail - chances are, they’ll assume that you have some kind of computer-related issue if you’re reaching out to them. Make sure you provide as much detail as you can, like what your error message says specifically, or a screenshot of your issue, if possible. This makes their job much easier, which leads to quicker resolution times. Hopefully, it goes without saying that you should remain available to IT to ask any questions of you once you reach out to them.

If your business needs more help with its information technology, don’t hesitate to reach out to us! We can help your operations by providing the IT solutions and services necessary to remain competitive today. Call (516) 403-9001 to learn more.

Unfortunately, one of the most effective defenses against phishing attacks has suddenly become a lot less dependable. This means that you and your users must be ready to catch these attempts instead. Here, we’ll review a few new attacks that can be included in a phishing attempt, and how you and your users can better identify them for yourselves.

How Has Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) Been Defeated?

There are a few different methods that have been leveraged to bypass the security benefits that 2FA is supposed to provide.

On a very basic level, some phishing attacks have been successful in convincing the user to hand over their credentials and the 2FA code that is generated when a login attempt is made. According to Amnesty International, one group of hackers has been sending out phishing emails that link the recipient to a convincing, yet fake, page to reset their Google password. In some cases, fake emails like this can look very convincing, which makes this scheme that much more effective.

As Amnesty International investigated these attacks, they discovered that the attacks were also leveraging automation to automatically launch Chrome and submit whatever the user entered on their end. This means that the 30-second time limit on 2FA credentials was of no concern.

In November 2018, an application on a third-party app store disguised as an Android battery utility tool was discovered to actually be a means of stealing funds from a user’s PayPal account. To do so, this application would alter the device’s Accessibility settings to enable the accessibility overlay feature. Once this was in place, the user’s clicks could be mimicked, allowing an attacker to send funds to their own PayPal account.

Another means of attack was actually shared publicly by Piotr Duszyński, a Polish security researcher. His method, named Modlishka, creates a reverse proxy that intercepts and records credentials as the user attempts to input them into the impersonated website. Modlishka then sends the credentials to the real website, concealing its theft of the user’s credentials. Worse, if the person leveraging Modlishka is present, they can steal 2FA credentials and quickly leverage them for themselves.

How to Protect Yourself Against 2FA Phishing

First and foremost, while it isn’t an impenetrable method, you don’t want to pass up on 2FA completely, although some methods of 2FA are becoming much more preferable than others. At the moment, the safest form of 2FA is to utilize hardware tokens with U2F protocol.

Even more importantly, you need your entire team to be able to identify the signs of a phishing attempt. While attacks like these can make it more challenging, a little bit of diligence can assist greatly in preventing them.

When all is said and done, 2FA fishing is just like regular phishing… there’s just the extra step of replicating the need for a second authentication factor. Therefore, a few general best practices for avoiding any misleading and malicious website should do.

First of  all, you need to double-check and make sure you’re actually on the website you wanted to visit. For instance, if you’re trying to access your Google account, the login url won’t be www - logintogoogle - dot com. Website spoofing is a very real way that (as evidenced above) attackers will try to fool users into handing over credentials.

There are many other signs that a website, or an email, may be an attempt to phish you. Google has actually put together a very educational online activity on one of the many websites owned by Alphabet, Inc. Put your phishing identification skills to the test by visiting https://phishingquiz.withgoogle.com/, and encourage the rest of your staff to do the same!

For more best practices, security alerts, and tips, make sure you subscribe to our blog, and if you have any other questions, feel free to reach out to our team by calling (516) 403-9001.

If you own an Asus laptop, there is a chance that a recent update could have installed malware, and we are urging anyone who has an Asus device reach out to us to have it looked at.

Numbers are still coming in as far as how widespread this issue is. As of Monday, cybersecurity firm Kaspersky Lab said potentially thousands of Asus computers were infected, but on Tuesday that number has potentially broken a million.

How Could My Asus Laptop Get Hacked?

This type of attack is called a Supply-Chain Compromise and is one of the most frightening kinds of cybersecurity threats out there. Asus’s software update system was compromised by hackers, putting a backdoor into consumer devices. The scariest part is that this backdoor was distributed last year and it’s just being noticed now.

The good news is this has given Asus plenty of time to plug up the security holes on their end, but if you own an Asus device there is still a chance that it is infected with malware from the initial attack.

What Do I Do Now?

First and foremost, no matter what brand of computer or laptop you have, you need to make sure you have antivirus, and that antivirus needs to be licensed and kept up-to-date.

If you have an Asus device, Asus has released an update in the latest version of their Live Update Software. They’ve also patched their internal systems to help prevent similar attacks from happening in the future. You’ll want to make sure you have Live Update 3.6.9 installed.

Asus has also released a security diagnostic tool that will check your system to see if it has been affected. Click here to download the tool.

We HIGHLY encourage you to reach out to MSPNetworks if you are running any Asus hardware. It’s better to be safe than sorry.

When we write about Net Neutrality, we typically write about how it is designed to keep the telecommunications conglomerates, who make Internet service available to individuals on the Internet, honest when laying out their Internet service sales strategy. One way to put it is that without net neutrality in place, the Big Four (which are currently Comcast, Charter, Verizon, and AT&T) have complete control over the amount of Internet their customers can access.

In 2018, the Federal Communications Commission repealed the Net Neutrality laws that were in place for several years with a vote of 3-to-2. This has allowed the ISPs to control the Internet again. Today, we present you with a brief reminder, and update the situation as we roll into 2019.

Our Internet?
Commercially-available Internet services have been made available for the better part of 30 years. It is available and utilized almost everywhere in the U.S. As broadband began to take off, there was a very noticeable shift in the way that ISPs governed high-speed internet. Today, as most applications require the use of high-speed Internet, it becomes more important than ever for people to have access to affordable high-speed Internet.

For the past seven years, legislators have attempted to pass a law that would secure an open Internet in the future. These attempts have failed miserably. Cases like Verizon Communications, Inc. vs. FCC haven’t helped the cause much, as the attempts to make broadband Internet service a utility were thwarted in the courts. Today, nobody really knows who is going to control the Internet in the days to come. Currently it is in the hands of the ISPs, but that doesn’t seem likely to stay that way. It seems like an issue that is split down party lines, so the controlling factor seemingly depends on what party controls the executive branch of the government. Without legislative intervention, that likely won’t change anytime soon.

What Is Going on with Net Neutrality Now?
Almost immediately after the last shift in 2018, lawsuits were filed and they seem to keep coming. States, advocacy groups, neutrality lobbies, and companies have all started lawsuits against the FCC both for their handling of the situation and for the repeal of net neutrality itself.

To see if the repeal of net neutrality is working to benefit consumers, you simply have to consider the following two points:

1. Net Neutrality is hindering broadband investment. In 2018, the Big Four spent much less than it did prior to the repeal of the net neutrality laws. It was the first time in three years that investment has been reduced.
2. It doesn’t make sense for ISPs to throttle Internet traffic. These companies reportedly slowed internet traffic without telling customers as soon as six weeks after the repeal. Websites such as YouTube, Netflix, and Amazon Prime were the most targeted for throttling. Verizon, specifically, was put into hot water after slowing speeds that led to slower EMS response times in sections of California battling record forest fires last year.

Despite the political bickering, there are similar views on some issues. Most governing bodies would like to see fast, open, and unobstructed Internet. There are older FCC mandates that have worked to prohibit ISPs from creating anticompetitive and harmful practices in the past, but whether these mandates would be enforceable with current FCC investment thwarted is unknown.

Individuals roundly support net neutrality laws. They simply don’t like the idea that corporations, whose stated purpose is to make as much profit as possible, hold control over how bandwidth is utilized. Only time will tell who is right.

If you would like to do something about it, go to https://www.battleforthenet.com/ and sign up. Do you believe market forces will keep ISPs honest, and the Internet open? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below.

When encryption is discussed, one of its high points that business professionals try to hammer home is that it’s more secure. But what does encryption really mean for businesses? Does it adequately protect data and devices? We’ll walk you through a brief rundown of how encryption works and the role it plays in keeping your business secure.

What is Encryption?
Encryption is a security measure that’s designed to help you keep your data safe on the off-chance that it’s ever stolen by hackers. If a hacker has access to the file, then they can use any of the data they can access, which could be a lot if you’re unlucky. Encryption removes this factor by scrambling the data in a way that renders it unreadable to anyone who doesn’t have the decryption key. This effectively makes the data useless, as high-quality encryption can take insane amounts of time and processing power to crack.

One technology solution that uses encryption particularly well is a virtual private network, or VPN. A VPN can be used by your employees to securely access your network across an Internet connection, no matter their location. It’s like a bridge between the employee’s device and your data. Imagine that there is a clear tube connecting your infrastructure to the employee device; any onlooker will be able to see the contents. Encryption makes it so that it’s more opaque, or less clear, making it more difficult for hackers to steal your data while it’s in transit.

Why is it Important?
Considering how important security is in today’s data-driven environment, you need to take any and all precautions possible to ensure your organization isn’t at risk. Encryption in particular is important because it’s a fail-safe that protects your data should a hacker somehow acquire it. With this in mind, you need to take preventative measures now while you still can. Remember, as long as your data can be stolen in a readable state, hackers will seek it out, so take matters into your own hands now to prevent a catastrophe in the future.

MSPNetworks can help your organization secure its data with encryption. To learn more, reach out to us at (516) 403-9001.