Habits to Help You Foil Phishing Attacks Fortunately, once you and your staff have developed the following habits, the likelihood of a phishing attack fooling one of you diminishes greatly? but not entirely. Attackers are always coming up with clever and new ways to pull the wool over their targets? eyes, and there?s always the chance that you or one of your team members could miss one of the warning signs. This is precisely why it is so important to turn the following activities into learned, automatic behaviors. Check Links Before You Click Them Links are a wonderfully convenient thing, when you think about it – all you have to do to go to the website you want to visit is click on the right link. However, cybercriminals will put wrong links into their messages (often disguising them) in an attempt to take advantage of this tendency. You need to get into the habit of taking a moment before clicking through any link you see and simply hovering your cursor over it. This will display the URL the link directs you to, giving you the chance to confirm that the link is legitimate before clicking through. Know How to Spot Fraudulent Links  Speaking of whether or not a link is legitimate, there are a few warning signs that hackers are counting on you to miss. Let?s assume that you receive an email that appears to come from Amazon, offering some really impressive deals on some furnishings that your business could use, or some basic office supplies that always seem to be running low. The important thing is, it is something that definitely interests you? but is it actually coming from Amazon? As we said above, the URL can help you determine whether or not the message is legitimate. Where in the URL does the last ?dot? (as in, ?dot-com?) appear? In a legitimate URL, the last dot would be the last one in the domain.  [amazon.com/deals/offers] – As the last dot is the one in ?dot-com,? this link should be safe to click through. [amazon.com.deals/offers] – This URL should not be clicked on, as there is an additional dot after the domain. Check the Sender Who does the email actually come from? Sure, it might look like any other email from Amazon, or eBay, or PayPal, or whatever the case may be, but a skilled fraudster could have replicated their design with little trouble. What would be more difficult for them to do would be to hide the email address that displays in the header. Pay close attention, as these attackers have had to become really clever with how they disguise their trickery. Sometimes they?ll omit letters, so the URL still looks close enough to the real one to pass the ?quick glance? task. Quickly skim through this list: amazon.com google.com ebay.com payal.com reddit.com visa.com Did you catch the fake? If you didn?t, look again more carefully. Since our brains are expecting certain letters to be there, we can subconsciously insert them into what we?re reading.  Similarly, we can still read words that are scrambled up, so long as all the right letters are still there and the first and last ones are in place. In fact, that list could just have easily included the URL for ?papyal.com,? or some […]

Payment Skimming The fact that your credit card quickly and conveniently withdraws money from an account and transfers it in exchange for consumer goods is often overlooked. Most people in fact, don?t even bother verifying their account and the transaction that went through. This is an easily targetable characteristic associated with your average card-user. The way these users are typically targeted is through skimming.  Payment skimming is the act of discretely acquiring credit card information. What an attacker chooses to do with this acquired information is up to them. However, due to the lack of attention to detail and also fraud detection on high cost purchases, most attackers will withdraw small, unnoticeable amounts of money from a large amount of victims, rather than one lump sum of change. So how do they do this? Attackers will often add their own, home-made skimming device to a location where debit or credit cards are swiped. Every time a card is swiped, the skimmer collects information and adds it to the criminal?s to-do list. The criminal can do a number of things with this information, from producing a phony card which they can swipe wherever, or just making a fraudulent purchase. Your credit card information could even be sold on the Dark Web.  These skimming devices can be found on gas pumps, ATMs, or even made to be mobile. Here are a few tips on how to recognize if a skimmer is in place. Combatting Skimmers There are a few different means of protecting yourself from skimming attacks. Many of them are put in place by the card provider themselves. Many cards are equipped with computer chips to contain data, rather than a magnetic strip. This is a much more secure option. In 2015, a new law was determined: if a store decides against utilizing this more secure chip payment method, they themselves would be liable for the fraud that took place. This ruling convinced most business owners to update their POS infrastructure. Assuming your ATM transactions are safe isn?t wise. While you might think that these sorts of attacks don?t happen in your area, this ideology is foolish. Here are a few things you can do to reduce your risk of being a victim to a skimming attack. Where You Swipe is Important Before you decide to swipe your payment card, consider your environment. ATMs in the corner of a gas station are a lot easier for a criminal to attach a skimming device to. An ATM in a bank is in a much more secure, well monitored location. Plus, you won?t have to pay those outrageous ATM fees if you are using your own bank. Payment Has Gone Touchless Paying for consumer goods has gone touchless. You can use a mobile app, or another touchless payment option. This ensures that your magnetic strip on your card never comes in contact with a potential skimming device. Keep Your Card Another simple way to keep your cards secure, is by keeping a close eye on them. This doesn?t have to mean following your waitress up to her POS system and monitoring the transaction. It means do your best to avoid situations where a merchant needs to take your card away, out of sight. They could easily swipe your card in their skimming device […]

Introducing document management, a system that can file away all your business? data and provide you with easy data retrieval without the headache of depending on other people to physically get the data for you. If your business has been in operation for years (or decades), documents can go missing and create inefficiencies. With the integration of a Document Management System, your business will immediately move faster. What is Document Management? The Document Management system (DMS) is basically a structured repository for all of your organization’s documents. It?s a simple concept that seems difficult to implement, but with today?s solutions, it?s easy for your business can keep all of its crucial data in one secure location. Here?s How It Works Once you decide that a Document Management System is right for you, you need to address some logistical problems. The first is where are you going to store all your information. You will need to procure file storage space inside your location or in the cloud. Next you will get all of your paper documents digitized. Using either scan-to-storage or data imaging, the DMS you choose will capture a document as an image and file it away in a pre-defined location.  When scanned, the images of the new documents are saved as PDF files, it provides users a way to search the DMS for keywords and metadata found on that document. With a DMS you will never have to have another filing cabinet. All of your data is stored digitally and searchable through the DMS.  What are the Benefits? The benefits of a DMS are substantial for manufacturers. Business moves fast and no large (or small) manufacturer can afford to deal with downtime. With a DMS, business moves faster. Some DMS solutions integrate with document signing applications providing built-in contract management. This keeps the supply chain constantly working for your company, and keeps it from working against it.  A full list of benefits includes: Reduction in physical space needed for storage Enhanced security with encryption Improved compliance with regulations Easy and fast retrieval of documents Remote retrieval for enhanced collaboration Easier redundancy for your organization’s business continuity efforts If you are a manufacturer that is searching for a way to centralize all of your documents in a reliable and secure document management system, call the experts at White Mountain IT Services today at (603) 889-0800.

Costs of a Data Breach Before we go into depth about the manufacturers, we need to get across just how devastating a data breach can be for your business. Here are some interesting statistics from a study of 2018?s data breaches conducted by IBM: The average cost of a data breach: $3.86 million  The average cost per lost or stolen record as a result of a data breach: $148 The average cost of lost business after a data breach: $4.2 million The average cost of notifying individuals that their data has been compromised: $740,000 With this information, you know that protecting your business? data and infrastructure is imperative to the long-term success of your business.  Manufacturing Cybersecurity Manufacturing is the second most attacked industry. For the manufacturer it can get a little tricky since it seemingly depends on several different entities and departments to make the finished products. Here are four ways that modern manufacturers can go about guarding against today?s cybersecurity threats.  Protect Your Company?s Intellectual Property Intellectual property is one of the most stolen entities in modern computing. As a result, companies looking to protect their property against outside threats need to do what many organizations would do while protecting personally identifiable information. The first would be to limit access. A comprehensive access control system will go a long way toward keeping knowledge on a need-to-know basis. Prioritize Training Every employee that has some type of access to your business? information systems have to be trained with the requisite knowledge necessary to properly protect the company?s network and data. Some topics that should be touched on include how to identify phishing, the dangers of unauthorized access, and the dangers the organization faces if this strategy isn?t successfully maintained.  Monitoring and Maintenance In order to keep your data secure, having your systems and data monitored and managed is important. Keeping systems up to date with security patches and new features can help by closing vulnerabilities. This helps keep intrusion to a minimum. Partner Accountability Network security is always a joint venture. It requires coordination and collaboration. Your vendors, suppliers, and other entities that you interact with normally may work with you, but they don?t work for you. You have to understand which partners could possibly be a liability to your cybersecurity efforts and demand that they show the accountability needed to help keep your business from being inundated with threats.  If your manufacturing enterprise is having difficulty with keeping its information systems secure, call the professionals at White Mountain IT Services today at (603) 889-0800.

Line of business software is made up of applications designed specifically for your needs, or close enough to your needs that you can adjust the way you use the software to fit your business. Either way, line of business software is some of the most crucial applications the modern business uses.  Examples of Line of Business Software Line of business software is any software that is necessary for the specific needs of your business. A software that was built for businesses like yours in mind. As where your business may not be able to properly function without its word processor, or its email client, or its accounting software, these applications are used by many businesses in many industries and wouldn?t be considered Line of Business solutions. Let?s take a look at some line of business software you might find in different industries. Finance Finance is where you probably would find the most line of business software. Most elements in finance are regulated, which means that companies would be more apt to have specific software created for them, or they would have open-sourced software altered with security as to meet the criteria of any compliance standards their company is beholden to. Some line of business software you might find in finance include: Consumer banking applications Wealth management applications Retail brokerage applications Insurance portal applications Retail The retail space is a major growth space for software integration. Not only do businesses develop their own management software that integrates inventory management, staff scheduling, and point of sale systems, they also need to integrate those systems with their online ecommerce software. These custom software titles can carry huge upfront and recurring development costs. Service Companies that provide a service needs to have the basic elements that will allow them to sell, carry out the service, and support the service delivery. Many service businesses tend to need a ticketing system, a scheduling system, with integrated payroll systems as the work is usually carried out by trained professionals. The professional services automation (PSA) software works well for the service industry as it gives a business? staff all the resources it needs to deliver service and support customers. Medical The medical field, much like finance, is governed by very specific regulations. As a result, specialized line of business software is needed to protect sensitive health data, while still providing patients access to their data so that they can make the right decisions about their health. Encrypted electronic medical records that are designed to specifically integrate all factions of care delivery are a great benefit for physicians, insurers, and patients, alike.  Manufacturing Most manufacturers need the ability to manage their supply chain and distribution processes from one central hub. The enterprise resource planning (ERP) software incorporates business management, client relationships, supply chain management, and internal operations in one end-to-end management software allowing manufacturers of all sizes to control their businesses.  Line of business software is extremely important, especially as software begins to integrate with new and more dynamic systems to speed business up and promote efficiency. Find out more about what type of line of business software your business might need by calling the experts at White Mountain IT Services today at (603) 889-0800.