A Brief History of Work and Labor Let?s begin at the Industrial Revolution, where the morning-to-dusk hours of farmers and independent tradesmen were replaced by the inhumane hours that the factory system demanded of its workers. These conditions helped to inspire the limits that President Roosevelt placed on working hours as part of the New Deal, with the United Kingdom capping work at 40 hours not long afterwards. With women surging into the workforce in unprecedented numbers during World War II and remaining there after the fact, and the surge in African American employment rising in the ?50s, the factory layout returned to the office, desks crammed tightly together to make the most of available space. It wasn?t until the late 1960s that the cubicle was developed. Along with the cubicle came other technologies intended to boost productivity. IBM introduced its electric typewriter and a business computer system. Technological innovations continued coming into the workplace throughout the 1970s, with the fax machine, laser printer, and floppy disk all being developed amid economic insecurity and rising sexual harassment awareness. The 9-to-5 as we know it, as well as a focus on corporate culture, really arose in the 1980s. The World Wide Web was also introduced, opening the door for most of our processes today. The ?90s saw the introduction of a few long-lasting business tools (mobile phones and email) and ones that didn?t last quite as long (the PDA). After the turn of the century, employment opportunities largely shifted to knowledge-based roles, with many platforms and collaborative tools rising up in the aughts. The 2010s specifically saw services rise in importance, powered by technology solutions, which has continued into the 2020s. Throughout this entire time, the 5-day/40-hour workweek implemented in the New Deal era has remained unchanged? despite our technological capabilities improving exponentially. Let?s examine some of the reasons this may be the case. How Things Have (and Haven?t) Changed It is important that we look back at how technology has developed and how it has influenced the way we work. For instance, while the technology available in the ?50s and ?60s may not have been as productive as the solutions we have today, it is also important to remember that it also allowed for a hard break from the office. Nowadays, we have the technology that keeps us in contact with work for all hours. This means that the lines can become blurred between work and home much more easily. However, household roles have not changed nearly as much, with working mothers continuing their workday by caring for the family and preparing meals. This demographic also tends to be employed in high-stress positions, like those in hospitality, education, or healthcare. A Four-Day Workweek Could Help Resolve These Issues In addition to promoting an improved work/life balance, reducing the time spent in the office by employees (crucially, without reducing their take-home pay) can help make household responsibilities more equitable and easier to manage. It also improves the delineation between home and office by assigning an additional day as ?off.? Furthermore, it has to be said that a four-day workweek could significantly benefit the environment. Commuting creates a huge carbon burden through gasoline-powered vehicles and other ways, like meals in single-use packaging and the like. If you?re worried that shortening the workweek […]

Redundancy Defined When you search ?redundancy? in an online dictionary, you will generally get two different definitions with completely different connotations and meanings. For example, let?s take a look at Merriam-Webster?s definitions. One defines ?redundancy? as ?the quality or state of being redundant,? which can be further elaborated as ?exceeding what is necessary or normal.? Other words that are synonymous with this definition for redundancy might include ?unnecessary? or ?superfluous,? so it?s easy to see how redundancy gets a bad rap? at least in this context. When discussing technology or engineering, on the other hand, redundancy has a much different meaning. Merriam-Webster defines ?redundant? as ?serving as a duplicate for preventing failure of an entire system (such as a spacecraft) upon failure of a single component.? Suddenly it all makes sense; when something within your infrastructure is redundant, it means there is more room for error, and faulty components or user error are far less likely to sink operations in any meaningful way. Flipping the Conversation In a way, redundancy?s two definitions are polar opposites of each other. While one suggests that too much of one thing is superfluous and unnecessary, we would argue that having options and, more importantly, a contingency plan in the event that something unexpected happens is far from unnecessary. If anything, it?s even more of a necessity these days, especially considering the significant threats posed by advanced cybersecurity threats like ransomware. Achieve True Data Redundancy Today If you want to achieve complete redundancy for your business? technology, we know of a couple places to start. In particular, you should focus on redundant data backup and disaster recovery with operations in a close second. If you can keep access to data consistent, then you should have no problem keeping operations going, provided you have a plan in place to address any operational challenges that might arise while you are in the midst of an emergency or disaster. White Mountain IT Services can assist your business with the implementation of any new technology that might be used to achieve this redundancy. To learn more about how we can use technology to aid your efforts at redundancy, reach out to White Mountain IT Services today at (603) 889-0800.

Let?s take some time to break down the National Institute of Standards and Technology?s definition of zero trust, and the seven ?tenets? that must be followed, as found in their Special Publication 800-207. How Does NIST Define Zero Trust? Such a definition can be found in that special publication: ?Zero trust (ZT) provides a collection of concepts and ideas designed to minimizeuncertainty in enforcing accurate, least privilege per-request access decisions ininformation systems and services in the face of a network viewed as compromised. Zerotrust architecture (ZTA) is an enterprise?s cybersecurity plan that utilizes zero trustconcepts and encompasses component relationships, workflow planning, and accesspolicies. Therefore, a zero trust enterprise is the network infrastructure (physical andvirtual) and operational policies that are in place for an enterprise as a product of a zerotrust architecture plan.? In other words, zero trust seeks to not only make it more difficult for a threat to get in, it also simplifies the task of identifying how such a threat would get in. NIST?s Seven Tenets, Reviewed Let?s go through the list and discuss what each of these policies requires that a business do to abide by them. ?All data sources and computing services are considered resources.? In other words, anything that connects to the network needs to abide by any security requirements and access controls that have been established on that network.  ?All communication is secured regardless of network location.? Regardless of whether a device is on the network or not, all communication between it and other network resources needs to maintain the security it would have if external networks were involved. ?Access to individual enterprise resources is granted on a per-session basis.? It is entirely possible that one of your users might only need one of your company?s assets for a limited time, if not for a single session. Locking down your business? resources and requiring authentication each time these resources are accessed helps to limit the chance that unauthorized usage takes place. ?Access to resources is determined by dynamic policy?including the observable state of client identity, application/service, and the requesting asset?and may include other behavioral and environmental attributes.? The hard fact of the matter is that business technology is increasingly complicated, especially now that remote work has become a viable option. This gives the business access to a lot of data that can be used to help its authentication measures. Taking this data into account when determining access permissions in the moment can make a business? access more secure. ?The enterprise monitors and measures the integrity and security posture of all owned and associated assets.? At the risk of sounding cliche, zero trust means that you trust nothing and no one. As this would imply, the zero trust model requires all assets to be monitored constantly?whether an asset is owned by the workplace or the employee. This helps to prevent threats from intruding, as well as ensures that patch management is seen to appropriately. ?All resource authentication and authorization are dynamic and strictly enforced before access is allowed.? Putting it simply, a zero trust approach continues to confirm access permissions even after the user has been initially confirmed and created in the system. This continuous process takes a lot of different inputs into consideration to determine whether trust can be given. ?The enterprise collects as […]

Let?s review the steps that can be taken to help optimize the privacy settings in each of the major browsers. Optimizing Chrome?s Security As Murphy?s Law predicts, the world?s most popular browser is generally accepted as the least secure without the implementation of some customizations. These customizations come in the form of downloadable extensions, developed thanks to Chrome?s open-source nature. With the blessing (and preferably, the assistance) of an IT professional, the Chrome Web Store can be accessed and the right extensions downloaded to help shore up Chrome?s security shortcomings. These extensions can then be removed whenever necessary via the three-dot menu, under More, More Tools, and then Extensions. If you go to the Privacy and security section, and then to Cookies and other site data, there you?ll find the option to Block third-party cookies. For business owners, we can enforce all instances of Google Chrome on your network to follow several best practices, such as not storing passwords and other sensitive information. If you would like help, give us a call at (603) 889-0800. Optimizing Firefox?s Security Firefox, on the other hand, has relatively robust security built into the browser. Under Preferences, you can find Privacy & Security. That area will have the options Standard, Strict, and Custom. The Standard option, the default, blocks trackers in private browsing, cryptominers, and third-party cookies. Strict takes everything included in Standard and blocks trackers and fingerprints. Custom allows the user to adjust how these trackers are blocked. Your settings can be applied to your active tabs by reloading them, with a Reload All Tabs button provided. Optimizing Edge?s Security Edge keeps it pretty basic, offering a few options for the user, including tracker blocking on the Tracker prevention screen. In terms of the options that can be found in Edge, security can be set to Basic, Balanced, and Strict. Basic blocks the trackers utilized for fingerprinting and cryptomining. Balanced, the default setting, blocks trackers from unvisited sites while allowing those that can help speed up browsing. Strict blocks the most trackers, potentially interfering with the functionality of some sites. Optimizing Safari?s Security Despite a few hiccups in the technology, Safari offers its users a way to identify any ad trackers present on the website, as well as a list of all trackers that have pinged them in the prior 30 days. Safari also allows you to prevent this kind of tracking by accessing your Preferences and from there, Privacy. Check to make sure that Prevent cross-site tracking is selected, and delete your cookies manually for good measure. Access Manage Website Data, where you can review which websites have left trackers, and remove them individually or all at once. Safari also has the capability to Block all cookies if you so choose. Your business? security is critical, whether you?re browsing the web or using the solutions it relies on to function. White Mountain IT Services is here to be your resource to help you protect your investments. Give us a call at (603) 889-0800 to ask how we can help you keep your business safe.

Let?s examine the many variables associated with voice authentication to see how much promise it actually shows. First and Foremost, How Does Voice Authentication Work? It may help to specify how authentication in general works, just so we can get a full appreciation of how voice authentication would function. In any variety of authentication measures, the user provides some kind of proof of identity. If that proof matches the reference that the security system is comparing it to, the user is given access. In terms of voice authentication, the user?s voiceprint of a specific phrase would be compared to the stored copy of what that user?s voiceprint should resemble. So, if your passphrase was ?The rain in Spain falls mainly over the lazy dog,? the system would check for the correct phrase, but also check that the tones and inflections present in the user?s voice matched the patterns in that user?s voiceprint. As a result, voice authentication is typically classified under the ?something you are? subset of multi-factor authentication along with retinal scans, facial recognition, or palm scans. How Secure is Voice Authentication? Like any other authentication measure, there are already countless stories of voice recognition being bamboozled, meaning that more work is needed to keep your solutions secured. Hackers have already been able to fool voice authentication using recorded snippets, and have hidden malicious commands in white noise to gain control over voice-activated devices. Having said that, it is important that we also address that any form of identity authentication is inherently less secure when used exclusively, rather than as part of a multi-factor authentication strategy. Furthermore, voice authentication is now being developed with two fraud-fighting technologies built-in. The first, liveness detection, works to differentiate between a live voice and a recorded one. The second, continuous authentication, does what its name suggests and verifies the user throughout the time they are active. That way, an attacker that just switches back to themselves after using a recorded voice to log in would be caught regardless. Best Practices Concerning Voice Authentication We?ve referenced a few already, but here are a few essential functions that any voice-based authentication system should involve: Multi-Factor Authentication: We really can?t encourage the use of MFA enough. The more proof that a user has to provide to prove their identity, the less likely it is that an unauthorized individual will have what they need to access your resources. Pairing a PIN or password/passphrase with a secondary proof, like voice authentication, makes it much harder for this kind of access to be secured. This primary form of authentication should need to be reconfirmed regularly. Secure Storage: On your end, you need to keep your saved records of all authentication data extremely secure? including the biometric data. Otherwise, MFA could potentially be fooled and the whole system would topple. Obtain Consent: You also need proof that your users have agreed to use biometric data as an authentication measure, for privacy and legal reasons alike. So, would you consider implementing voice authentication as an option in your company?s protections?specifically as part of a multi-factor authentication requirement? Are you concerned about the protections you currently have in place? Give us a call, we?ll help ensure that your business is properly secured. Call (603) 889-0800 today.