Business Solutions & Software Group Blog

Malware is a common enough issue that it’s pretty well established in the public lexicon, and much more pertinently, the most dangerous malware has seen an increase of 86% year over year. Worse, this kind of malware is largely the variety that takes users by surprise… making it all the more important that your team members are defended against them. To accomplish this, artificial intelligence could be an essential tool.

One of the biggest letdowns a business can have is when its IT malfunctions, rendering its operations interrupted. Nowadays, there are plenty of actions you can take to ensure that you are in the best position to avoid such occurrences from happening. Let’s go through a few practices that circumvent technology problems and will put your business on the path to productivity.

Let’s say, hypothetically speaking, your business was infected with ransomware, and—despite our advice not to—you decided to pay the ransom. Once the money’s handed over, that’s the biggest cost that you might be subjected to, right?

Not so fast. Ransomware has many more impacts than that, each of which come with their own costs as well. Let’s dive into some of the other factors that also contribute to the cost of ransomware.

Running a business can be stressful, especially if you are a smaller organization or a startup just champing at the bit to grow and become as successful as you know you can be. Unfortunately, as you move through your day-to-day duties and responsibilities, you’re going to encounter situations where you aren’t going to know what to do, or you might feel so overwhelmed that you feel like there is just too much that you don’t know.

For years now, cybersecurity experts have reiterated time and again that it was only a matter of time before smartphones would become a target for major cyberattacks like ransomware. The facts are that most people use smartphones and most of these devices aren’t really protected with active antivirus software. It stands to reason that ransomware is developing into a major trend in mobile cybercrime. Since ransomware is the grand-daddy of threats, keeping it off your systems is essential.

The laptop is one of the most useful innovations in modern computing—not only is it capable of accomplishing most (if not all) modern workplace tasks, it does so while offering the portability that today’s mobile operations require. However, these productivity workhorses don’t last forever…but how do you know when the time has come to upgrade?

It always helps to be a little skeptical of any new USB drives appearing in the workplace, especially if you are security-minded. Distributing threats via USB drives is a common practice amongst hackers, and a new threat called Raspberry Robin has the potential to be a serious problem for unsecured businesses with poor security hygiene.

By now most people that work in business understand the demands and merits of our collaborative efforts. Unfortunately, many businesses struggle to get everyone on the same page and it hinders organizational productivity to a point where it can really negatively impact the bottom line. Today, we’ll give you three really useful tips on how to take advantage of your collaborative strategies to better manage situations you may run into.

We have all heard about disaster scenarios in which offices are struck by terrifying threats that put the organization on life support. However, the most devastating disasters don’t necessarily have to destroy your business’ office to really do measurable harm to your organization. All they have to do is disrupt your operations so profoundly that it can be a real challenge to recover.

If there was a specific form of cyberattack that was responsible for a quarter of all data breaches, how seriously would you take it? Hopefully, pretty seriously, as this form of cyberattack exists. Phishing attacks, the infamous means of hacking an end user, remains a considerable threat to this day.

Reflecting on this, it seems prudent to review what phishing is and, crucially, how to avoid it.

Your business has different technology needs from others, and it’s your responsibility to ensure that you are strategically implementing technology to benefit your organization’s needs, strengths, and most important of all, your budget. It can be challenging to get the IT help you need to succeed, but managed IT services make it as simple as can be.

When it comes to your business’ technology, a lot can go wrong if you don’t take the time to… well, take care of it. The best way to ensure that your technology remains in proper working order is to keep up with basic maintenance. We realize that this can be a challenge, though, especially for small businesses with limited budgets.

There are many moving parts of a functional and successful business, all of which depend on access to its data. If you’re not prepared for a worst-case scenario in which your data gets wiped out, you’ll be in dire straits with no opportunities for recovery. If you take proactive action now, you can prevent a data loss incident from sinking your business.

Communication is an incredibly important aspect of running a business that you cannot overlook, especially when all eyes are on you to make sure your team has access to the tools they need to succeed. The pandemic has brought about a surge of adoption of new and innovative collaboration tools, so how are you using these tools to better your business and its operations?

You invest in the things you care about, things like your business. You want to make sure that you are doing all that you can to protect it from harm. Let’s take a look at some of the approaches you might take to secure your business from threats, as well as what you should look for in each solution that you might consider.

Botnets, or massive numbers of connected devices all infected by the same malware, can be used in devastating attacks against networks, bringing down services of businesses, organizations, and governments alike. One such botnet was recently halted thanks to the efforts of the United States Department of Justice and various law enforcement agencies throughout Europe.

The modern business depends on its data, so maintaining your infrastructure and keeping it healthy should be imperative to your success. Businesses generally host their data on servers, and keeping these complex pieces of technology safe, secure, and sound will take more effort than managing your average workstation. Follow these best practices and your job will be made much easier, though!

A successful business is a growing business, so you should be prepared to grow alongside your profit margin by accommodating for increased operations and resources. Otherwise, you could be putting your future on the line by remaining stagnant for too long. Let’s discuss the difference between scaling your business and growing your business, and especially why scaling might be more important than simply growing it.

One of the ways that businesses have approached the issue of having to log into multiple different accounts, applications, websites, and services is through the use of single sign-on solutions. It’s a common technology that you might see just about every day, but how does it work, and what kind of security can you expect from it?

Do you remember the good old days when you could go down to the store and purchase antivirus software that you installed off of a CD-ROM? It used to be the case that this would be enough, but if you think that’s going to cut it these days, think again. Businesses have so much more to worry about in the realm of cybersecurity.