Doing business with Federal, state, and local governments has become increasingly more difficult for organizations because of increased regulatory and compliance requirements applied to information technology. For nearly 20 years the federal government has been focused on cybersecurity practices of government contractors and protecting data and systems from evolving threats. Many contracts have been updated…
Category Archives: Business Tips
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NIST 800-171, CMMC, and Compliance Issues Affecting Government Contacting Businesses
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Regulatory Compliance Could Be Affecting your Business: Are you Prepared?
Federal, state, and local regulations are constantly changing and are affecting business technology in significant ways. In the world of increased digital information, data leaks, and evolving threats to data, regulatory bodies have placed a microscope on business practices and information technology. Noncompliance with industry regulations can result in significant fines, loss of contracts, tarnished…
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Best Line of Defense Against Business Email Compromises- $43 Billion Stolen & Counting
In May of 2022, the FBI published a report stating that Business Email Compromises account for over $43 Billion in losses Internationally. In the “2022 State of Email Security Report” from Mimecast, a polling of 1400 organizations showed that 96% of the participants had experienced targeted phishing attacks with 79% of organizations seeing heavier email…
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What Should You Expect from a Managed IT Service Provider?
If you’re considering a new Managed IT Service Provider (MSP) for your business, you probably know how difficult it is to assess them objectively. Many MSPs tout objective measures like Average Response Time and Mean Time to Resolve. These are important measures, but they can be manipulated by responding before a technician is ready to…
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3 Big Security Risks – Ghost Users, Old Data and Home Storage
As a business leader it can be difficult to decipher what security threats you need to keep a close eye on versus those that are not as likely to impact your organization. That’s especially true these days when you are likely getting hit by a message about how important cybersecurity is nearly every five minutes….
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Technology Downtime: What’s Reasonable? (and What Isn’t?)
One of the most important jobs of a Managed IT Service Provider (MSP) is to minimize downtime. Losing even a single workstation can easily cost a business more than a thousand dollars per day of idle time. When a network outage strikes, or a major server faces a hardware failure, hours of downtime can have…
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Cyberattackers Attempt to Poison Entire Town (and other February 2021 IT threats)
Cyberattacks keep CEOs, governments and IT professionals up at night. But the latest attack in Florida is especially hard to swallow. Hackers (Briefly) Poison Water Supply Remotely A worst-case scenario cyberattack was nearly executed earlier this month when a hacker gained access to a small Florida town’s water supply system and increased the lye concentration…
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Keeping Your Business Safe in the Post-Pandemic World of Cybercrime
Before 2020, many companies took a cybersecurity posture equivalent to buying a car with great brakes, headlights and wiper blades, but no seatbelts or airbags. Most small businesses were focused almost exclusively on preventing cyberattacks. Antivirus and anti-malware programs blocked dangerous software from being executed. Password policies ensured that old, hacked passwords weren’t used on…
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What is Cyber Insurance, and Why Does My SMB Need It?
What is Cyber Insurance? A cyber insurance policy covers damage to you and/or damage to your clients and vendors from a cyberattack on your business. Although each policy is different, covered costs can include business interruption, data recovery, investigative services, legal fees, and the costs of providing legally required notifications and credit monitoring services to…
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Three Questions for Your Line-of-Business Software Provider
If you run a business, there’s a good chance that you are using a line-of-business (LOB) application – software built specifically for businesses in your industry to get things done. If you’re in a big industry, it’s probably made by a billion-dollar software company. If there are only a few thousand companies like yours in…