Pay for Skills, Not for ExperienceWhen you post a job opening, it?s normal to include a laundry list of all of the qualifications you?re looking for in an applicant, which often includes a minimum amount of job experience. The thing about hiring experienced workers is that they have the ability to command top dollar, seeing as your competitors desire a worker with experience as much as you do. Although, if you?re looking to save money, then try hiring workers that have the skills necessary to perform the job, but lack experience. Often times, they?ll be so eager for the chance to work and gain experience that you can onboard them with an entry-level salary and let them work towards better benefits, which can total a fraction of the cost of what you would have to pay a worker with experience. Conserve Electricity and Heating and CoolingThe heating and cooling bill for your office can be significantly reduced with careful oversight and the right solutions. The alternative is to leave the lights and monitors on overnight, as well as your HVAC system. It may seem like a hassle to walk a lap around the office at the end of the day and turn everything off, but it?s a hassle that can save you a ton of money. Ideally, you can train your staff to do these tasks at the end of their workday, and computer peripherals like monitors can be set to turn off after a few minutes of inactivity. Smart lights and thermostats can be used to manage energy use (they?ll end up paying for themselves). Also, try designing your office in such a way that the rooms utilized the most have windows. This will allow you to spend less on electricity needed for lighting. Recycle Your Old EquipmentIt?s a win-win scenario when you?re able to trade in old equipment and ink cartridges to vendors and they give you a discount when purchasing new equipment and ink. There is a variety of companies that incentivize recycling in this way. Be sure to ask about this before making your next technology purchase. Outsource as Much as You CanIn business, one of the surest ways to save time and money is to outsource a responsibility to an expert. This applies to everything from the delivery of your product, to the cleaning of your facilities. One surefire way to save money is to outsource the maintenance and oversight of your company?s IT network. White Mountain IT Services can handle this responsibility for you, as well all other IT responsibilities that may be eating up more of your resources than is necessary. These are just four ways that you can tighten operations and create some breathing room in your budget. What are some reasonable changes that you?ve made to your business that have yielded major savings? Feel free to share them with us and other business owners in the comments below!

There’s some interesting data and insights shared on CIO.com, in an article called: ?Why Businesses are Turning to Managed IT Services?, written on June 3, 2015 by Thor Olavsrud. The beginning of the article explains: ?Organizations are increasingly turning to managed service providers (MSPs) to handle elements of their IT needs…according to new research from IT industry trade association CompTIA.? This final assessment is backed up with insightful evidence; the businesses themselves tell us the reasons and the data proves the growth. The article explains: ?’…[2014] CompTIA found…3-in-10 organizations had any of their IT in the hands of an MSP’… more than two-thirds of companies surveyed [2015 study]… have used the services of an outside IT firm…? This tells us the year 2015 was when the shift occurred: minority to majority of businesses using MSPs in some form. Now, over a year later from this article, we can estimate this majority is even stronger; especially, considering the growing integration of cloud and mobile computing technologies in business systems. This is a large part of why SMBs and large businesses are increasingly seeking MSPs for specialized project work, or a more comprehensive outsourced IT department service. Software as a Service (SaaS) and other non-hardware remote services are being adapted by businesses for workflow efficiency and productivity. Innovative CRM, ERP, WMS, VoIP, and other business systems, are offering businesses exciting ways to enhance their workflow and systems, yet keeping track of the implementation and operation of these — many separate services and components to the overall business system ? is proving to be difficult for businesses’ IT departments. The article shares specifically why businesses are shifting to using MSPs: ?CompTIA found that improving the efficiency and reliability of IT operations…56 percent of companies with 100 or more employees and 47 percent of companies with fewer…? ?Enhanced security and compliance… 38 percent of companies of all sizes. ROI/cost savings… 33 percent of companies with 100 or more employees and 28 percent of companies with fewer…? ?…six-in-10 respondents that consider their technology usage advanced are using an MSP for physical security services. Also, 63 percent of the same group are using an MSP for application monitoring.? Summary This trade research study show us that businesses with advanced technologies are using MSPs services the most. The main reason, for all businesses using MSPs, was to increase efficiency and reliability; and security was the biggest reason for businesses using advanced systems. So, we learn the reasons why businesses are outsourcing at least part of their IT departments: reliability, security, efficiency, and enhanced functionality. Businesses are turning toward MSPs to help: manage, maintain, secure, and enhance their systems. Not all MSPs are the same, and not every business’s needs are the same. If on-site IT services are needed, a local MSP can be found; if remote cloud based services are needed, businesses can choose an MSP from across the world. White Mountain IT Services is located in Nashua, New Hampshire and has served this area’s IT consultation and support needs since 1985. We’ve adapted to the technological changes over the years, and have designed our modern IT services to expertly manage our clients IT needs. This could be in the form of cloud and mobile computing, security and monitoring services, help desk IT repair/maintenance, and more. Please contact […]

1. The greatest threats come from the inside. Angry or troubled employees pose the greatest threat to a company’s digital integrity. The oil and energy exploration company, EnerVest, discovered this after an employee who was on the verge of being terminated purposely deleted years of historical data from the company’s file servers and backups. EnerVest did not discover the loss until well after it occurred, and it was never able to recover the data.  2. Size is irrelevant. A company that relies on its small size or limited exposure to the online world can still be a stepping stone for hackers who are searching for a bigger prize. Through a hacking process known as “leapfrogging”, a cybercriminal can gain access to the digital networks of a small vendor and then use that access to break into a larger customer’s digital environment. Hackers recently used this technique to break into a White House server that housed scheduling and other non-critical information about the President’s daily activities. The hackers first gained access to State Department servers and found a channel into the White House through those servers. Smaller companies that do not have strong cyber security systems often provide an easy entry point for hackers that are targeting larger organizations. 3. Hacking is inexpensive and hacking expertise is easy to find. Cybercriminals now sell their expertise on the “dark web” and through other obscure platforms. Someone with limited knowledge of the workings of networks and IP addresses can purchase a “cyberbot” for as little as a few hundred dollars that can initiate a widespread distributed denial of service (“DDoS”) attack to shut down servers at a particular IP address location. While those servers are overloaded with login attempts and cyber defense teams are distracted with their efforts to shut down the DDoS attack, the hackers can then more readily sneak into a network to steal critical data. 4. Digital alarms fail to provide advance warnings of attacks. Hacking expertise has increased in sophistication such that an organization might not discover a network incursion for weeks or months after the hack was initiated. Hackers can install key stroke loggers and other monitors into a network to steal passwords and data over long periods of time. The damage from this type of data loss will not become apparent until long after the thefts have occurred. 5. Redundant internal systems cannot stop modern hacking techniques. Hackers inevitably rise to the challenges presented by every new internal cyber security technique. In-house security teams place too much reliance on their internal systems and fail to adapt as quickly as the hackers do to new tools and hacking methods. Regardless of internal cyber defense expertise, no organization can remain fully and adequately prepared for all external hacking threats. Managed IT service companies like those provided by White Mountain IT are a stronger solution to the new and advanced cyber security threats that arise every day. Please contact us for more information about how our managed IT services can enhance the cyber security of your digital environment.

In a culture where people take great pride in car ownership and driving skills, it?s no wonder why self-driving cars are a tough sell. After all, when riding in a self-driving car, you?re essentially giving up complete control of what happens on the road. For many drivers, that?s a scary thought–as evidenced by this elderly woman experiencing automated driving for the first time. Despite the sheer terror associated with handing over the wheel to a computer, the technology behind self-driving cars (advanced driver assistance systems) can already be found in many of today?s vehicles. Plus, new forms of this technology are being added to the latest vehicle models. Here are some examples of ADAS technology from Wikipedia: Adaptive high beamAdaptive high beamGlare-free high beam Adaptive light control: swiveling curve lightsAutomatic parkingAutomotive navigation system Automotive night visionBlind spot monitorCollision avoidance system Crosswind stabilizationDriver drowsiness detectionDriver Monitoring SystemElectric vehicle warning soundsEmergency driver assistantForward Collision WarningIntersection assistantHill descent controlIntelligent speed adaptation Lane departure warning systemLane change assistancePedestrian protection systemTraffic sign recognitionTurning assistantVehicular communication systemsWrong-way driving warning How many of these ADAS systems can be found in your own vehicle? One way that the automotive industry is currently taking advantage of ADAS technology is to have it assist drivers when needed. This is a much different approach than using it to fully automate the entire driving experience. As seen by companies like Toyota with their ?Guardian Angel? program, ADAS technology can be effectively used to assist drivers. This is achieved by having cars learn the driver?s habits for the sake of providing them feedback on becoming better motorists, as well as having the car take complete control of the vehicle in order to prevent a crash. The goal here is to leverage this technology to improve safety, and ultimately, reduce the number of deaths associated with car crashes (30,000 deaths per year in the U.S.). Of course, the current challenge faced by developers is to know when it?s appropriate for the car to take control away from its human driver. Gil Pratt, CEO of Toyota Research Institute, explains to CIO, ?Your car may someday warn you several times about a particularly dangerous driving habit you have before taking control of the wheel. Autonomous driving capabilities are measured on a government scale of zero to four, with zero being no automation, and four being fully automated. The focus of most of the discussion among car makers today is how far up the scale they should go and how quickly. There’s a lot of discussion in the industry whether we go incrementally up the scale or whether we jump.? Eventually, this technology will be fully realized and mass produced. In fact, CIO reports that, ?The U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) announced earlier this year that 20 automakers have pledged to make automatic emergency braking (AEB) standard on their cars by 2022.? Like other useful technologies that the public was initially skeptical or even scared of (like electricity and airplanes), it will just take time for people to get used to it. What about you? How willing are you to ride in a self-driving car? Would you trust assisted-driving technology to take over for you when the situation on the road becomes dicey? Share with […]

How CEO Email Fraud Works In a CEO email scam, fraudsters use LinkedIn and other sources to glean information about a company’s CEO or other top executive. They gain insight into how to pose as the CEO or executive in order to send a convincing email to an employee ordering an immediate bank transfer. It works because the email uses specific language that persuades an employee, who is often eager to do a good job and please the boss, to initiate the urgent transaction. Scammers often send the fraudulent email when the boss is traveling out of town, making it seem all the more genuine. These cyber criminals are well-organized and understand the structure and practices of the businesses they attack. They may also impersonate a trusted business partner such as a lawyer, auditor, payroll representative, or outside accountant. They directly contact a manager or employee in accounts payable using language that Deloitte reports incorporates these persuasive techniques: Authoritative Order: It is an order to do this Secrecy: This project is still secret and its success depends on this transaction Responsibility: I count on you for your efficiency and discretion Pressure: The success of the project rests on your shoulders To make matters worse, it is unlikely that criminals will be caught perpetrating CEO email fraud. Email sources are easily blocked by sending them through anonymous proxy clients or virtual private networks.  Steps to Prevent CEO Email Fraud Criminals also find other ways to gain access to the sensitive information needed to add convincing details in the fraudulent emails. Some victims reported to the FBI that they first received ?phishing? e-mails requesting details about the business or individual being targeted such as names, travel dates, etc. Others were victims of various Scareware or Ransomware cyber attacks prior to the BEC incident.  Global Risk Insights points out, “CEO email fraud is one of the least sophisticated social engineering schemes. It is low cost, low risk, and can generate high rewards.” It is important that your company develops internal IT policies and accounting procedures to help detect and prevent these simple yet devastating scams.  Education and Awareness Educate employees about the means and methods criminals use to commit CEO email fraud. Simply becoming aware of the fraud is highly effective in detecting it. The scam relies heavily on preying on people’s judgment and desire to do a good job. Discussing ahead of time the potential for exposure to CEO email fraud builds an employee’s confidence in handling the situation. This will help them make the right decisions if it actually does occur. Two-Step Verification Process Implement a policy requiring that significant transactions requested by email must also be confirmed through telephone verification. It is important that employees don’t use the phone numbers provided in the suspicious email. Rather, they should use established contact information to reach the person who is allegedly requesting the transfer. Contacting the person directly by cell phone is preferable. IT Prevention Methods The FBI recommends several methods IT can help prevent intrusion by cyber criminals. Incorporating these tips into your company’s policies makes good business sense and increases communication security. Delete Spam: Immediately delete unsolicited email from unknown parties. Do not open spam email, click on links in the email, or open attachments. They often contain malware to gain access to your entire computer system. Forward vs. Reply: Do not use […]