Cybersecurity The aim is to proactively identify and neutralize threats before they can be problems. AI has proved to be a huge asset in this regard. With so many threats out there to be legitimately concerned about, IT professionals simply don?t have the time, energy, or resources to deal with false alarms. This is where AI comes in. It can be used to detect legitimate threats and intrusions, as well as identify weaknesses in software and malicious code that has already been introduced, making it a real benefit for your IT department. Operational Efficiency All types of businesses are realizing the benefits that automation can bring to their operations. The more efficient everything works, the more productive your business can be. With AI bringing sophisticated tools and applications to a wider range of industries, and its continued development adding more utility, many businesses are able to find a way to incorporate AI. Repetitive tasks that would otherwise slow down a company?s progress can now be automated away, even if there are some non-static variables. Customer Service AI has played a significant role in customer relations. In fact, Chatbots are one of the first AI applications that were widely adopted. Some are so effective, that many users may not even be cognizant of the fact that they?re talking to a machine at first, as modern solutions have become quite capable of adapting the interface to optimally provide the desired support. While AI is far from what Hollywood has promised us for decades, it remains one of the most important technologies of the 21st century. If you are interested in learning more about incorporating AI-driven solutions into your operations, call the IT professionals at White Mountain IT Services today at (603) 889-0800.
Coming after a lengthy investigation by the House?s antitrust subcommittee focused on the competition to be found in the digital space, this legislation could be the largest change to antitrust laws in many years? assuming, of course, that this legislation passes. The Bills Being Considered: Let?s go over the context of these bills, and what each is designed to do. The American Innovation and Choice Online Act Designed to disallow tech giants from pushing their own products and services over that of their rivals, this bill would also ban companies from cutting their competition off from services and from using data collected from rival companies using their platforms to develop products in direct competition with them. The Ending Platform Monopolies Act This bill is meant to prevent tech companies from weighing the scales in their favor by leaning on their diversified business portfolios. Basically, if a platform has more than 50 million monthly active users and market capitalization rates (better known as a market cap) of over $600 billion, this bill would prevent them from operating another business that creates a conflict of interest. Lawmakers have indicated that Amazon and Apple could have partially inspired this bill, as each distributes their own products and services on the platforms that each host: Amazon sells Amazon-branded products, while Apple creates applications for distribution in its own app store. The Platform Competition and Opportunity Act This bill is intended to prevent businesses from eliminating their competition and otherwise expanding their influence in their market by acquiring the other companies around them. Rather than the government needing to prove that an acquisition would cause harm to the business landscape, the business seeking to take ownership of another would carry the burden of proof to show that their merger would be legal. The Merger Filing Fee Modernization Act This piece of legislation would raise filing fees, which would then be used to fund the government?s pursuit of other antitrust initiatives. As such, these funds would largely go to the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice. The Augmenting Compatibility and Competition by Enabling Service Switching (ACCESS) Act ACCESS would make the process of transferring one?s private information far simpler, and is not the first bill introduced to do so. These Bills Are Largely Targeting Four Particular Companies Can you guess what these four companies are? If you guessed Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google, you?d be right. When these bills were released, Colorado Representative Ken Buck called them out by name in the accompanying statement: ?Apple, Amazon, Facebook, and Google have prioritized power over innovation and harmed American businesses and consumers in the process. These companies have maintained monopoly power in the online marketplace by using a variety of anticompetitive behaviors to stifle competition.? These companies?worth a combined total of about $6 trillion?have long been the focus of such efforts, mainly because they hold such power. These six pieces of legislation could each level some significant impacts upon them. For instance, Amazon could no longer sell its own branded items on its marketplace if the Ending Platform Monopolies Act were to pass, while it could also prevent Google from featuring YouTube videos in its search results. Meanwhile, representatives of these four companies have spoken out against these bills, and these companies are all currently embroiled […]
To understand the desperate nature of this issue, you simply need to look at the global statistics. According to the Internet Society?s Online Trust Alliance (OTA), 2019 saw losses of over $52 billion as a result of cyberattacks, of which roughly 95 percent could have been avoided through simple, common sense actions and procedures. Additionally, these figures are expected to grow rapidly in the future. That?s why it is essential that your business, aside from your dedicated network and cybersecurity strategy, comes up with a plan on how to properly train your staff with procedures that won?t stymie your business? ability to be productive. How you go about doing that is up to you, but this month we thought we would share a few strategies on how to effectively get this done. Get Your Employees to Understand Educating a bunch of people (who don?t work in security) to learn about something as yawn-inspiring as network security isn?t impossible, but it takes a little creativity. If someone can relate to a victim, it?s easier for them to do things they wouldn?t typically do because they don?t want to be responsible for another. Use real world examples in your education materials. Chances are many of them have been the victim of identity theft or they?ve had their data leaked as a result of negligent behavior. Show them that many of the things they can do to protect the company are things that they already do to protect their own data. Create a Culture of Security If history has taught us one thing about people, it is that people are impressionable. If they are constantly surrounded by a certain message, they will typically accept that message. Creating a company culture that is rooted in security will do a lot of the heavy lifting for you. If your company consistently pushes the need for comprehensive security, you better believe that most of your staff will get the message loud and clear. Keep Training Consistent Pushing security can go a long way, but without training that is designed to educate exactly what problems are being addressed by the procedures that are put in place, the whole thing is completely pointless. Employees need to understand: How to avoid becoming a victim of phishing What network resources they have access to The importance their role has in protecting company and customer data Solid password management and best practices What to do if they do make a security mistake If every employee you have has a good handle on these five concepts, there likely won?t be a network security disaster coming from your staff in the near future. Lead By Example Obviously, in the average employee?s mind, network security, like physical security, is nothing they are inherently concerned with. If they follow procedure, there should be no problem. They figure that decision makers take the time and effort to address these issues and deploy the systems that are needed to protect the business. Not only that, many workers consider workplace security a C-suite issue. Firewalls, antivirus, multi-factor authentication, mobile device management, and intrusion detection are largely looked at in the same way as digital surveillance, access control, printer management, and a slew of other security systems that are controlled by people outside their expertise. In fact, many people […]
What Happened in this Breach? McDonald?s Corp recently announced that some of their data had been stolen by hackers, after systems in South Korea, Taiwan, and the United States were breached. According to the company, they had identified unauthorized activity through their internal security, managing to cut it off a week after its discovery. With the assistance of hired consultants, it was discovered that some of the company?s data had been exfiltrated. McDonald?s informed their employees in the United States that the breach had involved contact information for franchisees and employees, in addition to some infrastructural data about its locations. Fortunately, it seems that no sensitive data regarding any employees was breached, with no customer data absconded with. However, the restaurant chain has advised its franchises and employees to keep an eye out for any potential phishing emails they could receive. In its Asian markets, customer emails, phone numbers, and delivery addresses were stolen. Regulators were quickly informed, with the company also reaching out to employees in South Africa and Russia to follow up on possible breaches there. Cybercrime Targeting Businesses Has Been Prevalent While this breach didn?t involve the use of ransomware, it is still difficult not to group it amongst other attacks we?ve seen recently. In addition to the frequent attacks we?ve seen over the past few years against the healthcare industry and local government bodies, the past few months have given us two major ransomware attacks?one against a global meat distributor, the other against a major pipeline in the United States. Volkswagen has also had its data lifted from a third-party vendor, putting data regarding prospective buyers and existing customers in the wild. Clearly, No Business is Safe? So What Can Be Done? With the way that ransomware has developed (focusing on stealing its targets? data before encrypting it, so that they can sell it after the fact) along with other varieties of cyberattacks, businesses are only under increased threats? and because many such infections are spread through means like phishing, protecting your business will require you to do a bit more than keeping an antivirus up to date (which you should do regardless, of course). Instead, your team members need to be able to not only spot potential phishing threats as they come in, they need to know how to handle them appropriately. This will require ongoing employee education and training as the threats facing businesses continue to develop, in addition to diligent monitoring of your IT solutions. White Mountain IT Services can help with all this, and more. Reach out to us at (603) 889-0800 to learn more.
Defining Hardware Strategies On-Premise Solutions On-premise solutions are those that a business keeps in their office, on privately-owned and maintained servers. The actual makeup of these solutions varies from business to business, as it is dictated by each business? needs. Cloud Solutions Cloud solutions are mostly those that are hosted off-premises in data centers filled with servers that are dedicated to providing downtime-free hosting, services, and other computing resources for businesses that rent the space. Benefits of an On-Premise Solution One of the primary benefits of a business hosting its own server is the idea that control remains in the business? hands. If a power outage (which is a basic and common enough business continuity threat) were to happen, a business hosting its own solutions on its own hardware could mitigate it effectively by turning to a backup power source until the outage was resolved. Comparatively, a business relying on cloud-hosted solutions also relies on the cloud provider to prevent downtime. In a similar vein, a business with control over its infrastructure is therefore in more control over its security. This means that a business can ensure its security is best suited for its environment and needs when its resources are kept in-house. Whether or not this is the case, however, also depends on the business. Benefits of a Cloud Solution A cloud-hosted solution is going to be much more cost-effective for a business of any size to implement, but to run for some time, costs may tend to be slightly higher. While you aren?t obligated to pay for any more resources than you need at the moment, the cost of maintenance and management is baked in. Cloud-hosted solutions give you freedom and flexibility to scale your use as needed, however, which keeps costs down. Additionally, since you won?t be tasked with managing the infrastructure, it frees up your internal teams to focus on other priorities and projects. Of course, there are drawbacks to choosing exclusively between one or the other option. With on-premise servers, any upgrades are based on your schedule and your business? financial capabilities, while cloud servers may not always be available (leading to downtime) and potential data security concerns are another issue that an on-premise server doesn?t have. This is why many businesses settle somewhere in the middle and elect to use both, in what is called a hybrid cloud, utilizing the best of both worlds. This carries with it additional cost as well, but the control you have over mission-critical parts of your business? IT infrastructure can be worth it for the right business. The IT professionals at White Mountain IT Services can help you determine which of these options is best for your business. To talk to one of our consultants today give us a call at (603) 889-0800.
