Business Solutions & Software Group Blog

Most businesses fall under some type of regulation that demands compliance. This will be especially true as data privacy concerns turn into further regulations. Most of today’s compliance standards are centered around data security, so you’d figure that if a company is compliant with the regulations their operations fall under, that would mean their business is secure. Unfortunately, the two terms aren’t always synonymous. Today, we will discuss the difference between security and compliance. 

Preserving cybersecurity requires the person responsible for doing so to consider every component and connection associated with their technology, down to the smallest minutiae. Let’s consider a sizable example that comes from a narrowly avoided disaster in the Democratic Republic of Congo, that could have potentially left millions of Internet users exposed to serious threats.

There are dozens of Internet browsers on the market. They are typically all free and when they come stock, are pretty much all the same. Most of the most popular ones come with an app store where users can download useful apps to make their experience better. Unfortunately, there are times that malicious code gets in there. Security firm Avast recently found 28 third-party extensions that are extraordinarily popular that had malicious code found in them.

It’s 2021! We made it! 

A lot of us look at a new year as an opportunity to greatly improve our lives. Maybe your resolution is to hit the gym regularly or commit to fewer processed foods—regardless, there are endeavours that take serious commitment, and others that take just a few minutes to accomplish. A really simple, really beneficial task you should add to your 2021 to-do list is to lock down some of your most important online accounts—and we’re going to walk you through it.

When was the last time you intentionally and systematically changed your passwords?

It’s a good practice, even though it can be a huge pain. For many of us, Google is a huge central hub that is tied to a lot of our data. With all of the cybersecurity issues and data breaches, it’s just a good idea to keep your Google account in check.

2020 has brought us a lot of news that we’d rather not hear. Just days before the end of what may be regarded as one of the worst years on record, there is more. One of the largest hacks in the history of the Internet happened earlier this year and more is being learned about it each day. Today, we will tell you what we know, who it affected, and what your business needs to do to secure itself. 

Around this time each year, there’s a tradition of people telling stories that have been passed down for years. We wanted to participate this year, so we’ve decided to reimagine a true holiday classic: Die Hard.

Let’s consider how the action may have played out differently if the movie’s events were to take place today…

In March, when the stay-at-home orders first came down, and businesses started asking their employees to work from home, it was obvious that many of them were not prepared for this contingency. As the pandemic has gone on, however, businesses have had to adapt. Today, we thought we would look at some of the solutions and strategies that are being used by businesses to secure their endpoints with most of their workforce out of the office. 

Unfortunately, this season’s holiday is going to be much like the rest of 2020: risky. With many people taking the necessary precautions to not contract or spread the coronavirus, a lot of people are doing most of their shopping online. By distancing from others and using the Internet to do the lion’s share of your holiday shopping, you take on different risks. Let’s go through some of them today.

The Department of Homeland Security has issued an alert over several zero-day exploits found in the world’s most popular Internet browser, Google Chrome. Google has since patched this software and we would like to remind you that you need to do so on all of your devices that feature the Chrome browser. 

Cyberattacks continue to be a major problem as scammers send out billions of phishing messages a day. While it doesn’t really sound that nefarious it can be a major problem for a lot of people. One version of phishing, the absurdly labeled smishing, is gaining traction and presents another avenue of attack for hackers. 

With so many companies pivoting to remote operations this year, strategies to keep your data and infrastructure secure have had to pivot as well. Today, we’ll go through some important variables that you need to address to maintain a secure and reliable computing environment when you are supporting a remote workforce. 

From individuals all the way up to companies and governments, ransomware has been causing no small amount of stress for some years now. Let’s take a few moments to discuss this threat, what you can do about it, and how seriously the government is taking ransomware.

Business success is often tied to the quality of your business relationships, and there are many people you need to trust: suppliers who can provide you with everything you need, the team who do their jobs, and customers who turn to you because they know they need you. Unfortunately, it is possible for cybercriminals to exploit this trust to achieve their own goals.

This year, the main focus for business owners has been how to conduct business with a global COVID-19 pandemic. The public health crisis has created opportunities for scammers and hackers, and they’ve responded. One could say that there is a flourishing cybercrime pandemic as the past twelve months has seen a 50 percent increase in lost revenue over the second-highest period on record. Let’s take a look at COVID-19-era cybercrime and how it’s just getting worse as the pandemic rages on.

Regardless of how long they stay in a medical facility, patients and their visitors now expect that they will have access to wireless Internet during their time there. While it was once just a convenience, it is now an essential part of ensuring that they remain comfortable. As such, it is now the responsibility of the healthcare facility to ensure that their Wi-Fi is fast, reliable, and accessible.

Zoom is a video conferencing application that, as the coronavirus pandemic reared its ugly head, saw a considerable leap in popularity amongst organizations of every kind as well as private users. However, this leap also helped bring some serious security issues with the platform to light. Let’s check in and see how Zoom has since worked to improve their user protections.

Phishing attacks are a fashionable strategy for many cybercriminals and have been for some time. From the infamous Nigerian Prince email scam to the generic urgent message from the bank, most people have seen at least one example of phishing hit their inbox.

“To confirm you’re a human being, select all of the images that include traffic signals.”

Chances are good that you’ve seen such a requirement before as you’ve spent time online, whether you were filling out a form or logging into a website. Whether it was an evaluation like the one above, or simply one where you needed to identify a highly distorted series of alphanumeric characters, you probably have also noticed these tests getting more difficult as time has passed. The reason for this is simple: computers are getting better at beating them.

There are a lot of cyberthreats out there… too many for the modern business to avoid them all. While employing best practices may greatly reduce your chances of being breached and having data stolen from your network, they can also help you determine how a breach occurred and how your data was stolen. While there is no such thing as perfect cybersecurity, there are a few strategies you can lean on to strengthen yours.