27
Sep, 2019
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Technologies that Fuel a Remote Workforce

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Many companies today are increasing their adoption of remote working strategies, enjoying the operational benefits that come along with them. In order for you to take advantage of these benefits in your own operations, you need to be sure you have the tools needed to optimize remote work. Here, we’ll review what you need to make the most of your remote worker strategy.

#1: Communication and Collaboration Solutions

Let’s face facts… you’re going to have to be able to work with your remote workers in order to accomplish what needs to be done, so you need to make sure you have a solution that maintains open lines of communication between you and your staff. All of the solutions that a business should use to enable communications while in-house should also be leveraged by a remote workforce, including email, chat platforms, video conferencing, and Voice over Internet Protocol.

On top of that, your line of business apps and the everyday software your staff needs should be available to remote workers. A prime example of a necessary solution for your remote employees is a file sharing platform that allows your team to work side-by-side on documents and data… whether or not they’re actually side-by-side.

#2: Project Management Tools

Time management is one of the biggest challenges inherent in remote work, so giving your staff direction through project management software can help your remote workers stay on task, while keeping the team as a whole apprised of progress towards a shared goal. In this way, project management solutions can help your team more efficiently reach their objectives – while keeping all members more accountable for what they need to accomplish.

This can be a considerable benefit, especially if an employee is going from a structured office environment to the more laissez-faire arrangement that remote work provides. Looming deadlines, combined with a fluid schedule, have been known to increase work-related stress. A reliable project management solution can return some of the structure to a remote worker’s day, giving them the purpose, they need to accomplish their goals.

#3: Cybersecurity

Any of the benefits of remote work are rendered moot if this remote work leads to a breach or some other security incident. This means that your remote workforce needs to be equipped with the same cybersecurity measures that you should have protecting your business’ on-premise infrastructure.

As a result, you will want to be sure that you’re having your remote workers utilize multi-factor authentication measures, and that their solutions are equipped with fully up-to-date security software. In order to connect back to your business’ network resource, they should also be leveraging virtual private networks to fully ensure your business’ data remains secure while in transit.

In many ways, a password management system would also be classified as a cybersecurity need – especially where remote workers (and thereby, remote access) are involved. 

#4: Time-Tracking Software

Finally, you need to make sure that your remote employees are spending their time effectively, as well as that you are properly reimbursing them for their time. There are many tools to help track how time is being spent while in the office, and these tools work equally as well for remote workers.

Whether you need to track how long a task took for billing and invoicing purposes, you’re trying to optimize your workflows, or you are simply ensuring that your team is being efficient and productive, understanding how time is spent during the workday is crucial. Implementing time-tracking software for remote workers can simplify payroll, allowing you to focus on other pressing business matters.

NuTech Services can help you out, by introducing the solutions that will make your remote working strategy far simpler. To learn more about what we can accomplish for you, reach out to us at 810.230.9455.

25
Sep, 2019
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Essential Network Security Best Practices

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Too frequently, we hear stories about cyberattacks, software vulnerabilities turned tragic, and other pretty terrible situations for businesses. In an effort to help fight this, we’ve put together a list of handy tips for you so that you can be prepared to ward off threats.

Leverage Authentication Measures

One of the first steps to securing your network against threats is to create strong authentication procedures. Most of the devices with permission to access your network will already have an authentication system in place, based on a password. If the passwords used are strong enough, this can actually mitigate most threats – but you still have to worry about the ones that this doesn’t discourage. Leveraging something called multi-factor, or two-factor, authentication can help minimize the chance of something slipping past your security.

Two-factor authentication works in a relatively straightforward way. As with most login systems, a username and password are entered – but instead of being granted access, the user is asked for another credential. This is usually a randomly-generated code that a specialized authentication app will generate. Mobile devices are popular to use with 2FA, as their convenient nature makes them more likely to be available when needed. In order for a user to leverage their mobile device, the 2FA system administrator has to authorize it.

Tip: Make sure that you don’t let your password best practices slip, even if leveraging 2FA. Your passwords still need to be sufficiently complex. If you are one of those who find remembering different passwords difficult, consider using a password management system in conjunction with your 2FA. 

Protecting Your Business’ Computing Environment

Whether you use a Local Area Network or a Wide Area Network, the security practices that you need to deploy are fairly predictable. Once you’ve seen to your authentication needs, you need to combine three approaches to security into one all-encompassing strategy: your software-based security, your physical security measures, and your security awareness and best practice training.

Software-Based Security

There are many examples of how software can help keep your business’ network secure. From firewalls to content filtering to antivirus to spam detection, each of these tools protect your business data from a different kind of threat. You may even want to consider adding encryption to your email solution to make it a lot less likely that the contents of your messages will be intercepted.

Tip: If you aren’t sure which solutions are the right ones to implement, think about how your data moves about your business. The more insight you have into how your data operates, the more effectively you will be able to plan its protections.

Physical Security Measures

Somewhat ironically, we seem to have become so focused on our digital security that it can sometimes seem like we forget that there are very real reasons to protect our physical locations and infrastructure, as well. Consider the damage a bitter ex-employee could do in moments, should they manage to get into your server room. It has become fashionable to leverage biometric authorization measures to protect your server room – and there’s a lot to be said about a good, old-fashioned surveillance system, complete with alarms and cameras (as well as some updates to make this system considerably less old-fashioned).

Tip: Bring in a consulting professional to help you determine your physical security needs. Not only does this save you time by eliminating work you would otherwise have to do for yourself, it ensures that your system will be designed by an experienced professional that knows what will work best in different situations.

Security Awareness and Best Practice Training

Would you be surprised to hear that your employees are likely your biggest vulnerability? Of all of the pieces that make up your network security, the people who use your technology are the leading cause of security issues. With the number of ways that your business could be attacked, your staff needs to be educated on how to identify them and avoid them.

Tip: Both businesses and individuals have experienced difficulties with phishing and it adversely affecting them, so it makes sense to begin your training there. Not only is it a common issue, it is conceptually very simple to grasp, so it is a good starting point before moving on to increasingly complex concerns. The more your staff knows about how they can resist attacks, the more likely they’ll be able to do so if the needs arises.

Remote Solutions Via the Cloud

Modern organizations need to contend with potential threats to their network infrastructures, as businesses always have in some form. The difference is that issues can now come in on the mobile devices owned by their staff, and company resources can be routinely accessed from outside the business’ area network.

This has helped contribute greatly to the growth of cloud computing technologies – although the relative cost savings don’t hurt either. Using the cloud, your staff can access their work data and applications from a remote location, while the resources stored in the cloud are kept secure by the platform’s baked-in security and privacy.

Mobile devices have also been a disruptor to business-as-usual, which means that businesses need to plan on leveraging them if they don’t want them becoming a distraction. Designing a Bring Your Own Device policy and enforcing it through mobile device management solutions is an effective and secure way of reaching a compromise and minimizing the time wasted by mobile devices in the workplace.

Tip: Remember that cloud services are inherently scalable, so you don’t need to worry about overreaching your capabilities. However, you also don’t want to waste capital that doesn’t need to be spent. Auditing your resources is an effective way to identify and eliminate redundant costs leeching from your budget.

Network security can be complicated, but it is an absolutely crucial element to your technology strategy if you want to have any success. NuTech Services can help take care of the technical side of things for you, and help teach better habits to your staff. To learn more, keep reading our tips, and reach out to us at 810.230.9455.

21
Jan, 2019
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Top Cybersecurity Threats Right Now

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Bar none, cybersecurity has to be a major consideration for every business owner or manager in business today. The prevalence of people looking to rip your company off has never been higher; and that is the truth for nearly every company that uses the Internet for anything. Today, we take a look at some of the most serious cybersecurity threats that everyone should be cognizant of right now.

Shadow IT
In a lot of ways, productivity is a lot like the thing it produces, money. People will do anything to get more of it. Businesses, have a plan; and, while they also want to maximize productivity and money, they typically don’t put their whole enterprise in jeopardy to get a little bit more of it. Shadow IT is the process in which an employee will download and use a piece of software that hasn’t been tested or passed by a company’s IT administrator to try and get a little more done.

Often times, the employee is just showing initiative, with no real knowledge that by downloading and utilizing a certain off-brand software that they have just put their whole business in danger. This wouldn’t be such a major deal if it was an isolated incident, but studies show that nearly 80 percent of all employees admit to utilizing software that wasn’t selected, tested, and released for use by their IT administrator. These apps may have vulnerabilities that would-be infiltrators can take advantage of. That is why it is important to utilize the software that has been vetted by the company, even if that means losing out on a bit of productivity.

Cryptojacking
There are well over 1,500 different cryptocurrencies, and in 2018 crytojacking, the strategy of using malware to use a target computer’s resources to mine for cryptocurrency was a major problem for businesses. Since this is a computationally complex task, it significantly reduces the computer’s effectiveness and longevity. As a result, cryptojacking has become en vogue for hackers and others looking to mine cryptocurrency without the investment necessary to do it.

Most studies show that the effect of cryptojacking could get way worse in 2019 since the value of cryptocurrency has fallen significantly over the past year. This means more machines mining for crypto are necessary, and thus more attacks. Users are just learning how these attacks are carried out and how to protect their business against them.

Ransomware
While there was a reported reduction in the number of ransomware cases in 2018, it still remains a major concern for any business looking to build a comprehensive network security strategy. Ransomware, of course, is a strain of malware that encrypts parts of or entire computing systems and then demands payment in cryptocurrency in a set amount of time for safe return of the files/access.

Hackers using ransomware have taken to targeting healthcare organizations’ networks for the breadth of the sensitive data they hold on them. They’ve also began to target operational technology systems, since, as with healthcare, costs of restoration of these systems (rather than payment) are prohibitive. This produces a little more urgency to get the problem resolved.

Unsecured Internet of Things
The Internet of Things keeps expanding, but so does the security threats to networks as a result of security-light devices. With more and more devices presenting security problems for businesses and individuals alike, it becomes important to ascertain exactly what devices are present on your network at any given time. Remember, even if a security-less IoT device is connected to a network-attached smartphone, it still offers up a major vulnerability.

While this is a major threat, there has been a push to improve the security of IoT devices as of late. With more security-minded companies developing useful smart products, these concerns will begin to take a back seat. But until that shift has been well documented, you’ll want to be diligent in the manner in which you utilize IoT devices.

Phishing
No business goes very long without getting some type of phishing email. In fact, it is estimated that 156 million phishing emails are sent every day, making it the most used practice by hackers everywhere. The way it works is that since most accounts are secure enough not to be guessed outright, hackers search for ways for people to help them gain access to the accounts they want to get in to. Nearly every successful cyber attack begins with a successful phishing scheme.

A specific example called business email compromise (BEC) which targets specific members of an organization is responsible for over $12 billion in losses across the globe. Once thought to be an email scam that could be mitigated with strong spam filters, today’s phishing scam is taking on a new shape by utilizing text messaging, instant messaging, phone calls, and even the seemingly-benign social media quiz to gain access to business networks.

2019 is lining up to be another stellar year for business technology, and as more tech is used, more threats come with them. If you would like any more information about how to prioritize network security, give our IT experts a call at 810.230.9455 today.

9
Apr, 2018
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Cybersecurity Requires Flexibility to Changes

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Security is always changing due to the volatility of online threats and vulnerabilities. Things have changed so much over the past decade that solutions that worked back then are so outdated that they put your business at risk today. This brings into question what you should expect in the years to come. What are some of the threats that your business can expect to face in the future?

For reference, this information is from a study performed by Cisco. The study references the findings of 3,600 data security professionals from organizations such as Talos and others from all over the world.

Malware Has Grown More Autonomous
Early types of malware relied heavily on the user actually clicking on a link or downloading an attachment to install itself on their computer. Nowadays, malware doesn’t take the risk that the victim will know better than to click on a link or download something bad. Instead, a ransomware might be more network-based, meaning that all it takes is a simple mistake to spread to your entire infrastructure. Cisco suspects that this type of threat could potentially grow so widespread that it could take over the Internet.

Ransomware Is About More Than Just Money
Ransomware used to be all about making money and disrupting operations. It was a way to make money to fund further hacking attacks against even more victims. People would pay up because they were too scared to imagine losing their data. Trends are showing that hackers are increasingly more interested not in the financial side of ransomware, but with the destruction of businesses. Ransomware is being actively used by criminals to put an end to any business unfortunate enough to be hit by it.

Threats Are Avoiding Detection More Effectively
Ultimately, any online threat’s level of danger is equivalent to how easy it is to hide. The easier it hides, the more dangerous it can be. Ransomware can now hide in encrypted traffic to make itself much harder to detect. It can even use cloud-based applications and services to implement a command and control attack, all hidden within normal traffic.

Watch Out for Internet of Things Devices
The Internet of Things–a large collection of connected devices that all perform various functions–has grown at a considerable rate. Since Internet of Things devices are difficult to patch properly, they can provide backdoor access to an infrastructure. Since many IoT endpoints aren’t secured properly, your company network could potentially be opened up to all kinds of threats.

Security changes every day, but the one thing that never changes is that NuTech Services can help your business secure its infrastructure. To learn more, reach out to us at 810.230.9455.

9
Oct, 2017
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Security Concerns Have Led To New Voting Machines In Virginia

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Regardless of your feelings on the matter, the 2016 United States presidential election was an extremely divisive one–in no small part, due to the suspicion that the outcome of the election may have been significantly influenced by hacked voting machines. This uncertainty has led to some states making strides to ensure that their technology will no longer be responsible for such doubts.

Virginia is one of those states, deciding to remove direct-recording electronic voting machines in favor of those that produce paper documentation. In addition to that, there is now legislation in Virginia that will remove all touch-screen voting devices from circulation by November 7, 2017. This is when the next governor is to be elected, along with various other positions.

According to Politico, Governor McAuliffe has pushed for legislation to provide the necessary budget to replace new voting machines, but this legislation was denied two years ago. Things have changed since then, and now the state has little choice to obtain new machines, as the old ones will no longer be certified for use.

Other states have been recommended to emulate this decision by the Board of Elections, but again–it’s only a recommendation. While paper ballots do seem to be more reliable and authentic as the tangible option, counting them can be a drag. Therefore, it only makes sense that the states would want to expedite the process with technological assistance. Even so, there is the risk that this key democratic data can be manipulated and altered.

You can find a similar scenario much closer to home, in your very own business. If your systems aren’t painstakingly maintained–as many states’ voting machines are not–they can be vulnerable to numerous hacks and other attacks. Do you really want to risk your sensitive data when a solution is so easy to find?

NuTech Services’s technicians can help give you the ability to better prepare for a successful future for your business. One way is by equipping you with a Unified Threat Management tool that helps protect your business from threats before they have a chance to strike. Call 810.230.9455 for more information.

25
Sep, 2017
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3 Ways Your Business Can Prioritize Data Security

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In the wake of the Equifax data breach, which placed the personal information of 143 million users at risk, the issue of data security is at the forefront of social consciousness. Your organization needs to go about its daily business as if it will experience a data breach at any given moment. This involves looking at the worst-case scenario, and planning for it so that you’re never caught unaware.

Here are three preventative measures that you can take to secure your business.

Use Strong Passwords and Two-Factor Authentication
Passwords are often the only thing standing between your online accounts and your personal data. Think about it; a string of maybe 8-to-10 characters is the only thing keeping your sensitive information secure. Doesn’t it make sense to make this password as complex and difficult to crack as possible? You would think so, but a surprising number of folks still use the word “password” as their password. You should be using both upper and lower-case letters, numbers, and symbols, formed into a seemingly random string of characters. Doing so keeps hackers from guessing your password and accessing an account.

Secure Your Network with Unified Threat Management
Network security depends on both internal and external measures, which include network-attached security devices like a Unified Threat Management (UTM) tool. A UTM consists of an enterprise-level firewall, antivirus, spam blocker, and content filter, all to keep threats from taking root on your network in the first place. Furthermore, you’ll be able to react to issues that become prevalent before too much damage is done, which is a valuable opportunity in its own right.

Educate Your Users on Best Practices
Your employees access important information on a day-to-day basis, and they are often in contact with more threats than you’d like them to be. Something as simple as a spam message in the wrong inbox or a carefully disguised link could be all it takes to expose your business to dangerous situations. Take the time to teach your employees how to identify potentially dangerous scenarios, like phishing phone calls and sketchy emails or attachments. Often times, you’ll stop attacks from taking off simply by keeping your employees informed.

By using these three methods to secure your organization, you’ll be less likely to suffer from a data breach. To learn more about network security and other ways to keep yourself secure, subscribe to our blog, and call our IT professionals at 810.230.9455.

8
Sep, 2017
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Essential Cybersecurity Tips From The FBI

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In 2016 former President of the United States Barack Obama passed the Cybersecurity National Action Plan that implemented near-term action and developed a longer-term strategy of bringing awareness and protections to public computing systems connected to the Internet. The strategy is to make an immediate effort to empower citizens to protect their own privacy, while also maintaining public safety and national and economic security, as many of the most critical systems this nation utilizes are networked on the web.

For the average small business, it is more crucial than ever to avoid the pitfalls that lay on the internet. Victims of cybercrime deal with an endless number of issues, including drops in revenue, data loss, downtime, and fines/restitution if they are unable to keep their networks secure. Below are a number of line-items that the Federal Bureau of Investigation recommends to keep your data secure, and to avoid becoming a victim of the most pressing malware on the Internet today: ransomware.

  • Raise Awareness: Ensure that you make a point to make your staff cognizant of the threat of a ransomware infection.
  • Updates and Patches: Make sure to patch your operating systems, software, and firmware on all of your digital assets.
  • Auto Update Security Software: Lean on enterprise-level antivirus and anti-malware software to conduct regular scans and catch potential malware.
  • Limit Super Users: Ensure that you don’t just hand out administrator access to your mission-critical systems. Managing access is one of the best ways to keep untrustworthy entities out of your network.
  • Access Control: As stated above, access control is essential to ensure that you know who can and should be in parts of your network. If your users only need read-specific information, they don’t need write-access to files or directories, mitigating risk.
  • Filters and Application Control: Deploy software restrictions to keep programs from executing from location where ransomware may be found. This includes temporary folders found to support Internet browsers and compression/decompression programs.
  • Data Backup & Disaster Recovery Plan: Create data redundancy by having a comprehensive backup and recovery plan in place.
  • Multiple Storages: Ensure that each storage unit is stand-alone to avoid major problems with backups and other forms of storage.

Governments absolutely have to have a strategic plan on how to deal with cybercrime, and as a solid practice, businesses should follow suit. If you want to make sure your strategies are top-level, visit https://www.fbi.gov/investigate/cyber/news to see what the FBI is doing to protect their computing infrastructure. For more great security information, subscribe to our blog.

7
Apr, 2017
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Your Business Should Be in the Headlines for the Right Reasons, Not for a Cyber Attack

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Today’s headlines are peppered with stories of major companies and institutions falling victim to a cyberattack. As a business owner, what’s your response to these gut-wrenching stories? If you write them off as fear mongering and believe that these attacks can never happen to your SMB, well, you’re wrong. They can and it’s up to you to prevent such a disaster.

One reason why it’s so important to shore up your company’s network security is because the ramifications of a breach extend well beyond the sensationalism surrounding a news story. Take for example one of the biggest stories of hacking in recent memory; the revelation made public last December that Yahoo had more than one billion of its accounts compromised, dating all the way back to 2013. While the headlines focused on the plight of Yahoo and the negative effect this would have on the tech company’s value, what didn’t get reported is how millions of Yahoo users were negatively affected by having their sensitive information exposed to hackers.

In the same way, seeing to your company’s network security goes beyond protecting your corporate image from a negative headline. It’s also about protecting all of those who have entrusted you with their sensitive data. This includes customers and vendors that have provided your business with their financial information, as well as employees that each have a wealth of their personal information connected to your HR department.

We’ve established that there’s a lot riding on your network security and that it’s your job to make sure this is taken care of. If you don’t currently have a security plan in place protecting your company from a data breach, then where do you even begin? Fortunately, you don’t need to be an IT security expert or have a computer science degree to implement adequate security measures. As is the case with many vital responsibilities connected to your business, you can outsource the protection of your network to the professionals, such as the IT technicians at NuTech Services.

That said, IT security is such an important and comprehensive matter that it’s not something that you should outsource and then disregard. In fact, IT security works best when everybody in the company understands that they have an active role in its upkeep. Yes, everybody. We’re talking from the C-level executives down to the cleaning lady who connects her smartphone to Wi-Fi. If everyone in your company understands how to avoid the snares laid by hackers, then the cake that is your network security measures will be topped with the icing of best practices.

Remember, securing your network from cyberattacks isn’t something that you have to do on your own. NuTech Services is here to help, and we can do so by implementing proven and comprehensive network security solutions like our Unified Threat Management tool, as well as remote monitoring and maintenance in order to detect and take care of any threats that may breach your defenses. We’re also available to equip your staff with the means and know-how to better understand cybersecurity.

For assistance in all of these areas of security and more, give us a call today at 810.230.9455.