What follows are some common issues that often trip up companies when their IT is audited. Outdated Software – From the operating system on company workstations to the network itself, a failure to apply any updates or security patches is a big red flag for auditors. This is because outdated solutions are vulnerable to security threats, and therefore, the business is put at risk and could potentially put others at risk as well. No Business Continuity Plan – A business without a business continuity plan is a business that is vulnerable to chance–and while chances are that your business won’t burn down or be flooded by a tropical storm, there’s still a chance that it might. A lack of preparation for a potentially business-ending event is certainly not in line with best practice, and will prevent your business from receiving approval from auditors. Poor or Lacking Implementation – A wide variety of internal processes will be checked to determine a company’s compliance, and so you must be sure that yours are all in line. Outdated IT policies will often result in a failing grade, as will a lack of penetration testing or two-factor authentication practices. Furthermore, auditors will not look well upon security responsibilities being spread throughout an IT resource team, so every member will have to be able to handle all security responsibilities if called upon. These are just the beginning of the ways your company could potentially come up short in an audit. In order to truly perform well, you must be sure that the entirety of your IT is up to standards. It is also important to remember that auditors are not the bad guys. In fact, they are just the opposite–they’re the ones who are actively making sure that the bad guys have as difficult a time as possible entering your systems by enforcing basic security practices. White Mountain IT Services can help you prepare your security for the next time you potentially face an audit by implementing the solutions that the auditors are looking for. Give us a call at (603) 889-0800 to get started.

It doesn?t matter which phone you have. This week?s tip will help you learn how to block everything from telemarketers to stalkers. Even though telemarketing is completely legal, the last thing you want to do is put up with it time and again. The most effective way to deal with it is to just block them. Follow these steps to block a number and never be bothered by the pesky number again. Android UsersFor users of Android Nougat and Marshmallow, follow these steps: Go to the Phone application Select All Calls Choose Call from Undesired Contact Select Block/Report Spam You will be asked if you want to report the call as spam. If you?d like to report it, select this box. For users of Android Lollipop (on Samsung Galaxy S4, S5, S6, and Note 4 users): Open the Phone app and tap the Call Log Select the phone number that you want to block Tap More Add the number to the Auto reject list iPhone UsersIf you want to block a number on your iPhone, follow these steps: Select Recents, which is found at the bottom of the screen Find the number of the caller that you want to block Tap the i icon in the right-hand side of the screen You?ll now see the caller?s information, along with how to create a new contact. Look at the very bottom of the screen and you?ll see the option to Block This Caller Select this and a message will ask if you really want to do this. Tap Block Contact and you?ll seal the deal. In the event that you?re receiving unwanted text messages from a stranger rather than phone calls, iOS demands that you add the number to your Contacts list before actually blocking them. To create a new contact directly from your Messages app, select the phone number at the top of the screen and select Create New Contact. Once you?ve done this, follow the directions outlined above. However, if you have yet to upgrade to iOS 10, you?ll have to look for the i icon in the top-right corner of the text conversation. Once you?ve selected it, tap Block This Caller and proceed to Block Contact. Was our guide on how to block phone numbers helpful? Let us know in the comments, and be sure to subscribe to our blog for more technology tips and tricks.

This vulnerability was uncovered and reported by researchers Tavis Ormandy and Natalie Silvanovich, of the Google Project Zero team. Taking to Twitter, the duo reported that they had made a discovery, reporting it to Microsoft and the Microsoft Security Response Center. The MSRC confirmed the presence of the vulnerability, discovering that numerous pieces of software within the Microsoft Malware Protection Engine would allow a “specially crafted file” to begin running any code the attacker pleased on the system. This vulnerability was present on essentially every Windows machine, having been found on Windows 7, 8.1, and 10, and even affecting Windows RT. While Microsoft pushed out this particular update, this story still serves as a reminder to keep all of your solutions up-to-date. There is a digital arms race that is waged between programmers and hackers, where each side tries to gain the upper hand over the other by improving their programs. This is one of the main reasons why your solutions have regular updates released, and why it is so important to implement these updates in a timely manner. Without these updates, your system is left vulnerable to threats that have been made preventable. White Mountain IT Services can help you to be sure that your company’s systems are updated. We’ll keep an eye out for any updates as well as warning signs of impending threats. For more information, give us a call at (603) 889-0800.

Cloud computing offers businesses an economical way to obtain the software and services they need. Yet, there comes a point when having too much of a good thing becomes wasteful, no matter how affordable the service may be. If a business owner isn?t careful about how they utilize the cloud, then they can unknowingly find themselves experiencing ?cloud waste.? Simply put, cloud waste occurs when more cloud resources are consumed than what your business actually needs. Business 2 Community provides a helpful list of various ways that cloud waste can manifest itself: Instances or VMs which are left running, chewing up $/CPU-Hr costs and network charges Orphaned volumes (volumes not attached to any servers), which are not being used and are incurring monthly $/GB charges Old snapshots of those or other volumes Old, out-of-date machine images Any kind of waste is tragic due to it being preventable and cloud waste is no different. The tragedy of cloud waste is that it hurts bottom lines. For businesses, the waste erodes their return on assets, return on equity, and net revenue. Additionally, cloud waste hurts the bottom lines of cloud providers, seeing as they are more profitable when they can oversubscribe their data centers. Consequently, when cloud providers can?t oversubscribe, they?re forced to build more data centers than they need to–a very expensive endeavor. On the surface, this fact may seem inconsequential to consumers. However, like any profit-minded business, a cloud provider will charge enough for their services to cover their expenses and still be profitable, which means users will inevitably be charged extra to cover the expense of a cloud provider?s waste. Preventing cloud waste can be achieved with proper oversight and planning whenever your company?s cloud services are implemented. In order to spot cloud waste in your company?s cloud solutions, this may mean taking a fresh look at your cloud setup. More likely than not, this will require an outside perspective, like consulting with IT professionals. White Mountain IT Services can do this for you and determine if there?s any waste or not, as well as suggest changes that will remedy the waste and improve operational efficiency. Call us at (603) 889-0800 to learn more.