Internal team or outsourced, managed services provider? How to choose the right IT solution.
IT outsourcing is when a business uses an external IT service provider to deliver some or all of the functions required by a company and includes managing infrastructure, IT strategy, and running the service desk. IT providers can take full responsibility for all maintenance and support. This approach is also known as fully managed services. They can also provide additional support to an internal team, an approach usually taken by larger organizations. No matter the size of your business, the large majority of companies have some IT requirements. Many companies will find IT critical to the day-to-day of their business. Not only do you need to think about the business’s overall IT requirements, but each department within the company. It’s not uncommon for each department to have their individual needs – such as specialized programs, software or workflows. Most businesses will need some dedicated IT resource. Still, the trouble comes in deciding whether to build your own internal IT team or opt for outsourced IT support. There are benefits to both approaches. However, the key to success is determining which is the best fit for your business. In-house IT support Hiring the right people with the right experience…
Financial Services IT: Add Business Continuity to your Bottom Line
As a financial services firm, your clients depend on your guidance to help them make the most out of their fiscal decisions. From accounting to hedge fund management, your clients gain peace of mind when appropriately advised. These relationships require trust, often built over time. What would happen if that trust were threatened? How long could you keep your clients at ease if they could not retrieve information or make withdrawals? What would happen if you couldn’t get their tax returns filed in time? What would happen if someone’s identity were stolen and you couldn’t access their information to stop it? In the financial industry, downtime can be detrimental to your ability to do your job and customer relationships. Nowadays, downtime threats are not only weather-related. Entire systems can fall victim to ransomware, and individual identities can be stolen. In these instances, your clients will turn to you for financial security. Being able to deliver that service is crucial to your reputation and business’ livelihood. A False Sense of Security While you may be taking some precautions, such as securing and backing up your sensitive data, sometimes that’s not enough. There is a common misconception that data is…
How to Ensure Your Team Can Securely Work From Home
As the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to spread, many companies continue to assess how they can best prioritize their employee safety and maintain regular business operations. Many companies and governments recommend employees work from home, where possible, to avoid exposure to illnesses and the subsequent loss of productivity. This article will cover some of the ways your company and employees can work from home safely, securely, and productively. How Businesses Can Securely Work From Home With the increase in remote work, companies have to respond in various ways to avoid cybersecurity risks or interruptions to business. “When supporting a remote workforce, understand that security controls shift. Therefore, firewalls, DNS, and IDS/IPS could be ineffective when employees head home. Most environments that support VPNs should be able to protect the remote user, be sure to account for the bandwidth of users and remote desktop sessions,” said Dan Garcia, Senior Information Security Engineer II at Datto. VPN Guidance from CISA The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) released an alert to encourage organizations to adopt a heightened state of cybersecurity. According to the CISA, remote work options require a VPN solution to connect employees to an organization’s network. The CISA encourages…
How to Confidently Protect Your Business from Ransomware
More and more, ransomware has emerged as a significant threat to individuals and businesses alike. Ransomware is a type of malware that encrypts data on infected systems, has become a lucrative option for extortionists. When the malware runs, it locks the victim’s files and allows criminals to demand payment to release them. These people can impact organizations of all types and sizes. Still, small businesses can be particularly vulnerable to attacks, and the use of ransomware is on the rise. In the McAfee Labs June 2018 Threat Report, the number of new ransomware strains saw an increase of 62% in the previous four quarters. This increase brings McAfee’s total number of identified strains to roughly 16 million. Ransomware is distributed in various ways and is difficult to protect against. Like a flu virus, it is continually evolving. There are ways to protect your business against ransomware attacks. In this article, you’ll learn how the malware spreads, the different types of ransomware proliferating today, and what you can do to avoid or recover from an attack. Hiding your head in the sand won’t work because today’s ransom seekers play dirty. Ransomware Today There are a few dominant types, or families,…