Blog

Online shopping? Watch out for these red flags

November 20, 2024

Who doesn't like online shopping? Online shopping has opened up a whole new world to us. Get whatever you want, whenever you want, without wandering from store to store. It doesn't matter if it is too...

DNS Cache poisoning: What every SMB must know

November 13, 2024

In one of the most common poisoning attacks, the attacker poisons the DNS Cache with the aim of leading visitors to a fake website. In a DNS cache poisoning case, the attacker gains control of the DNS server and...

Protecting yourself against poison attacks

November 06, 2024

Data poisoning by way of logic corruption, data manipulation and data injection happen when the attacker finds a way to access your data set. The kind of poison attack varies depending on the level of access...

Poison Attacks: A quick overview

October 30, 2024

Smart technology is everywhere. Not just in our offices, but even in our day-to-day lives with tools like Google Home and Alexa becoming a commonplace. With technology becoming smarter every minute, the risks are increasing...

Employee training & Cybersecurity

October 23, 2024

Employee training will form a big part of the cybersecurity initiative that you will take on as an organization. You need to train your employees to identify and respond correctly to cyberthreats. Here are some employee...

Strengthening your cybersecurity policies

October 16, 2024

Formulating strong IT policies and laying down the best practices for your staff to follow is one of the best ways to prevent your business from becoming a victim of cybercrime. In this blog, we explore the various...

Why do you need a top-down approach to IT security?

October 09, 2024

For any organization, its employees are its biggest assets. But, what happens when your biggest assets turn out to be your greatest threats or liabilities? That is how cybercrime can change the game. In a recent study...

3 steps you can take to protect your data in the Cloud

October 02, 2024

Moving to the Cloud offers tremendous benefits for SMBs that range from lower IT costs to any-time access to data and certainly more reliability in terms of uptime. But, data in the Cloud is also vulnerable to security threats...

Is the Cloud really risk-free?

September 25, 2024

The Cloud presents plenty of benefits that make it a very attractive choice, especially for SMBs who don't want to be burdened with higher in-house IT costs, putting your data in the Cloud is not risk-free. Just as storing data...

Things to consider before switching to the Cloud

September 18, 2024

More and more businesses are switching to the Cloud to store their data and rightly so. The Cloud offers numerous benefits over the traditional, physical on site server. For example...

Leveraging your business data to drive better business outcomes

September 11, 2024

Small, Medium Enterprises (SMEs), and Mid-market companies may hear about AI and how data is driving the big corporations of the world, but they often don't realize that they can do the same. The size and age of your business doesn't have...

Roadmaps for Data Security and for Strategic Planning

September 04, 2024

It is time you were encouraged to stop looking at the technology you use to run your business as just some reliable piece of invisible infrastructure that hums along in the background. Instead, business owners should...

An MSSP (Managed Security Service Provider) can help you prepare your business for tomorrow's market

August 28, 2024

Many small businesses tend to view an MSSP (Managed Security Service Provider) as the local fire truck. Available when an emergency...

MSSPs (Managed Security Service Provider) can focus on issues you don't have time for

August 21, 2024

Every business relies on technology to function. From simple things like email, VoIP, and the internet, all the way to predictive analytics for inventory and sales, digital...

Infection protection: Nine steps to start protecting your company today

August 14, 2024

Malware is a generic term that covers all manner of software that is designed to attack your devices, applications, programs, and networks. It is software that has bad intentions. Yes, stealing...

So, what, exactly, is Malware?

August 07, 2024

Listen to the news? Read the internet? You know cyber crime is a very big business. Hackers and criminals are out there doing all sorts of nefarious things. Most generally, you hear that malware is some kind of virus that attacks your software programs...

Thing to do this week to start protecting your customer data

July 31, 2024

You have client or customer data in your possession. It is part of running your business in a digital marketplace. If that data is breached, it could permanently damage your...

What exactly is Malware? A definition and some common types.

July 24, 2024

So what happens when you get software that has been mixed with a strong dose of malicious intent? You get malware, the term used to describe all manner of software invasion that has been...

Multi-factor Authentication Demystified

July 17, 2024

You have probably come across the term multi-factor authentication of late. It is an IT buzzword today and is fast becoming one of the best practices of cybersecurity. So, what is multi-factor...

4 Lesser-known benefits of hiring a Managed Security Service Provider (MSSP)

July 10, 2024

You are probably aware of the most common benefits of signing up with an MSSP such as On-demand IT support: Having an MSSP ensures that you get priority IT support when you need it. Scalable IT...

Dark web monitoring: What you need to know

July 03, 2024

The dark web is essentially a marketplace for cyber criminals. If your data has been compromised, the dark web is the place where it is traded. It could be sold by miscreants, to miscreants, who can later hack into your system...

The dark web: An introduction

June 26, 2024

Have you come across the term, dark web, recently? As a business, you might have heard that you need to keep your data safe from the dark web. So, what is the dark web anyway? Read on to find out. What is the dark web? The cybercrime landscape...

5 Important IT checklists that no organization should miss: Part-2

June 19, 2024

In our last blog, we discussed 2 of the 5 important IT checklists that every organization should have. In this post, we cover the other 3, namely, IT training, Data Backup, and BYOD checklists...

5 Important IT checklists that no organization should miss: Part-1

June 12, 2024

IT checklists are a great way to analyze, understand and take the necessary steps to meet your IT requirements. In this blog, we discuss 2 of the 5 important IT checklists--Hardware/software and Cybersecurity...

Know your IT risks

June 05, 2024

Whether you have your in-house IT team, or have outsourced your IT needs to be taken care of by a Managed Services Provider, you need to know what are the possible risks to your business from the IT perspective. Having an IT risk checklist can help you be better prepared...

What to consider when investing in cyber insurance

May 29, 2024

As a business, you are probably aware of the term, cyber insurance. With the cybercrime rates rising consistently, cyber insurance is increasingly becoming a necessity for survival. Here are a few things to consider before you sign up with a cyber insurance service...

Cyber insurance: What's the cost and what does it cover

May 22, 2024

Cyber insurance covers a range of elements, the most basic being the legal expenses incurred as a result of falling victim to cybercrime. This includes legal fees, expenses, and even any fines that you may have to pay or financial settlements...

How to Choose the Right SaaS Backup Solution for Your Business

May 20, 2024

As technology continues to advance, more and more businesses like yours are adopting Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) applications due to their flexibility, affordability and user-friendly nature. These...

The Most Dangerous Myths About Cloud Data Backup

May 17, 2024

For businesses, Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions offer unparalleled opportunities to enhance efficiency, scalability and overall operations. However, growing SaaS backup-related misconceptions also have the potential to hurt your business...

Cyber insurance 101

May 15, 2024

With cybercrime becoming a major threat to businesses across the world, irrespective of their size, cyber insurance is fast becoming a necessity more of a necessity than a choice. However, the concept of cyber insurance is still fairly new and not many SMBs are aware of its benefits. Cyber insurance...

What should your privacy policy cover?

May 08, 2024

As a business, you deal with a lot of personally identifiable information on a daily basis. It can come from anybody who interacts with your business. It could be your clients, your vendors, employees, etc. You need to have a privacy policy declaring...

7 Tips for creating a great privacy policy

May 01, 2024

A privacy policy is not just a legal requirement, it is a tool to help earn your customers' trust and to protect yourself. In many ways, it sets the stage for the next steps such as data security, sharing and storage. In this blog, we share 7 tips that will...

What is a privacy policy and why do you need one

April 24, 2024

Your business is privy to a lot of data. A lot of information flows in from clients, vendors and even your employees. This includes Personally Identifiable Information (PII)--data that can help identify an individual and perhaps even get in touch with...

Internal threats: A new angle to email security

March 27, 2024

You know how important your email system is to your business. Not only is email your core communication tool, but also bears a lot of weight from the legal perspective and must be accessible at all times. You have a good email...

Email safety: Firewalls and antivirus are great, but what about your employees

March 20, 2024

The Verizon Data Breach Investigations report states that emails are the primary source of two-thirds of malware. Email is an easy target simply because there is more human touch involved in the case of emails...

What to look for an email security solution

March 13, 2024

An important aspect to email security is, of course, deploying a good email security solution. But, with so many available in the market, what should you be looking for when opting for an email security tool? Here are some key features...

Your business runs on data, but so do the cyber criminals who want to steal yours

March 06, 2024

One very painful truth about running a business is that you possess data that is attractive to criminals. There is no avoiding that reality. You have data. They want data. It is an ongoing challenge to maintain data security...

Strategic IT planning for your business

February 28, 2024

One thing that the best MSP can do is become a strategic partner. Your expertise is your industry, business, or profession. Trends and innovations in technology aren't your focus. However, your business can benefit from some long-term strategic planning...

Like it or not, your business relies on technology.

February 21, 2024

Technology isn't just something used by Silicon valley firms and large corporations. Even the smallest start-up is now reliant on technology and the virtual marketplace. A business cannot function without operating in the digital world. At the very least...

How Can an MSP Keep Your Business Safe?

February 14, 2024

Are you a small- or medium-sized business that is in need of a more complete, dependable IT solution to support your business than you presently have? When your main focus is running your business, everything else becomes an afterthought. Other support...

Can a small business use AI?

February 07, 2024

One area where AI tools can help even the smallest business is in sales and marketing. Every business is marketing and selling in the online digital world. Marketing on social media is a given for every business, and can be a game-changer for a small startup. However, a lot of...

AI: Can you avoid the risks it carries?

January 31, 2024

Are there risks to AI? Absolutely. There are end-of-the-world predictions about the use of IA. For a business, many of the risks are a bit less extreme, but they are also very real. For example, in the area of content creation. There are a variety of risks...

AI Is All Around Us

January 24, 2024

IT seems it is virtually impossible to avoid hearing about Artificial Intelligence (AI). Ever since ChatGPT hit the market, AI has become a never ending source of news, articles, advertisements, and lots of gloom. Artificial intelligence isn't exactly new--the term goes back to the...

AI: Of any value to an SMB?

January 17, 2024

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been all the media rage in the past year. Specifically, it isn't AI in general, but a specific category of AI known as generative AI. This AI is capable of creating content, such as text, images, audio and similar data. Examples of generative AI tools can create...

IT isn't just about filling seats

January 10, 2024

No matter the size of your business, no matter what the product or service, your company is at least partially reliant on technology to survive and function in today's marketplace. It is just unavoidable. A significant portion of everyone's business is online in some fashion...

Risk assessment: A Value model

January 03, 2024

Risk assessment means looking at all the conditions, situations and threats that exist that could damage or bring down your business. Risk assessment is all about identifying the external and internal threats that exist and measuring the likely...

Staffing should address risk first and foremost

December 27, 2023

For any business, but especially a smaller one without deep pockets, the consequences of some disaster may mean the end of the business. As a result, risk evaluation becomes critical. There are an endless variety of events, from mishaps to major disasters...

Forego the standard IT staffing model?

December 20, 2023

From the outset, even the smallest start-up is reliant on an IT infrastructure. Digital technology cannot be avoided. For small-to medium-sized businesses, developing and bringing on staff to support that IT infrastructure is often a low priority...

Why Migrate to the Cloud

December 13, 2023

If you haven't already considered migrating your data storage to the cloud, you are probably in the minority of businesses. While it may seem intuitive that somehow your data is safer if it is stored "at home," on location at the site of your business, that probably is not correct. Given the ability...

Protecting Your Data on the Cloud

December 06, 2023

Cloud storage has transformed the way businesses store and manage data, but for some, it also raises concerns about data protection. This blog post discusses a few security measures that can be deployed when using cloud storage...

Your Cloud Questions: Answered

November 29, 2023

The cloud is now the preferred method for data storage. However, justified or not, there are a few worries you might have about migrating to a cloud solution. Isn't my data safer at home? While cloud storage offers enhanced security measures, organizations...

Cloud storage can save you money?

November 22, 2023

In this blog post, we will explore how cloud storage can support your firm. For SMBs, data loss or system failures can be catastrophic, leading to significant financial losses, brand damage, and even business closure. Having reliable backups...

Passwords: They seem to have been with us forever.

November 15, 2023

As we continue to suggest things you can do to protect the integrity of your company and customer data, here is a blog that covers an old level of security that we still rely on everyday. That protection is the password, so let's talk about bedding up your...

Prying eyes: Keeping your data safe

November 08, 2023

Even the simplest business possesses data that is proprietary and confidential. Customer and prospects lists, sales data, and personal data about customers such as their credit cards, names, addresses, birth dates. Maybe even medical...

Four Basics to follow for Everyday Data Security

November 01, 2023

One of the biggest questions we get from clients and prospects is "What can we do to protect ourselves from cyber attacks?" It is a sensible concern. A cyber attack that freezes operations or seizes data can ultimately shut a company down...

5 ways to make passwords more effective

October 25, 2023

You should be using an array of security tools to protect your business data. Some can be highly sophisticated, but there is one tool that we all still rely on heavily to secure access to our business systems and data. The password. But they can be hacked...

Eight ways an MSSP can help with an AI solution

October 11, 2023

AI, on its own, is a complex tool. It is also a tool that can be misapplied. Remember, the term artificial is key. To be used effectively and wisely, AI needs to be applied by someone with experience using it in your particular...

AI: Marketing and other sample uses - A quick introduction

October 04, 2023

As you are likely very aware, Artificial Intelligence has become a real attention getter in the business world, as well as public media. One cannot be looking at the news everyday without coming across some...

Marketing and AI

September 27, 2023

Suddenly, everyone is talking about artificial intelligence (AI). It is constantly in the news now. It suddenly is looming like some intimidating Terminator. However, AI is not a toggle switch that was suddenly turned on one day this year. AI is everywhere and has been around for far longer than...

Think you are too small to be targeted by a cybercriminal? Think again.

September 20, 2023

When I meet with clients, especially SMBs, I often hear them say that they feel their business is too insignificant to be a target of cyber-criminals. Why would someone go after my business when there are bigger...

Keeping your data safe: Access Control

September 13, 2023

Cyberattacks are a commonplace today. Malwares such as viruses, worms and more recently ransomwares not only corrupt your data or hold it hostage, but also inflict irreversible damage on your brand and business. As a norm, most businesses...

Smaller firms less likely to keep up to date on the basics that protect them.

September 06, 2023

On the never ending problem of cyber security, small firms often do not have any/much in-house IT support. As a consequence, they may be less likely to be able to make sure their software is consistently updated...

Cyberattacks and the vulnerability of the small business

August 30, 2023

You cannot go a day without reading about some big name company or even government agency being hacked and critical data being compromised. What you don't see in the media is that most of the attacks happen...

Get Ready for CMMC Requirements Now

August 23, 2023

Anyone offering a sure-shot solution to all your Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) woes is trying to pull a fast one on you. The CMMC is a comprehensive move by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) that involves many moving parts...

Denial is not a solution: Something you owe your customers and your employees

August 23, 2023

Why do so many people procrastinate about making a will? Why is it so hard to get young people to buy health insurance? Because it is one of those "probably won't happen...

Limited investment capital and planning for trouble

August 16, 2023

Small businesses often fail to take the time to make business continuity plans. One aspect of a business continuity plan involves developing plans to handle the loss of physical infrastructure and hardware. Unfortunately, smaller and younger...

Data Protection Laws and PIIs

August 09, 2023

Last week we discussed the overall concept of "Data Protection Laws," which govern the handling and securing of specific data. While these laws are wide ranging, most of these laws reference Personally Identifiable Information (PII) This "refers to information that can be used to distinguish...

Are you subject to Data Protection laws?

August 02, 2023

This blog introduces a new topic that many may be unaware of: Data Protection laws. These are laws that define fully, or in part, what type of data is covered by government regulations, proscribe general standards for the securing of covered data...

Ransomware part II

July 26, 2023

In our last blog, we explained what ransomware is, and why it can be an especially troublesome virus. Today, let's look at what you can do to avoid falling victim. Prevention is the best cure. Follow standard "data hygiene" principles that you probably hear about all of the time...

Ransomware part I

July 19, 2023

The daily reports of cybercrime are important reminders about the need to protect your business from malicious behavior that could threaten the success of your business. There are so many different things that can attack your computer, steal your data, and wreck your day...