Characteristic of ransomware, the attack locked transportation agency employees out of their workstations and disabled other systems. As a result of such widespread system failure, the agency was unable to collect payments for fares at their many ticketing kiosks, seeing as each kiosk could only display the message ?you hacked. ALL data encrypted.? However, the agency still managed to operate by accepting cash payments for fares or not charging for rides while the system was down. The hacker or group of hackers responsible went by the username Andy Saolis. In exchange for the decryption key, the hackers asked the agency to fork over approximately $73,000 worth of Bitcoins. In an odd twist as to why the hackers targeted the public transportation agency, an email revealed misplaced Robin Hood-like motives, ?They give Your Money and everyday Rich more! But they don?t Pay for IT Security and using very old system?s !? However, an investigation by the FBI into the Andy Saolis account reveals a less-than-noble history of hacking several private companies. Instead of bowing to the hackers? demands, officials elected to restore their system from a backup copy. Essentially, they called the hackers? bluff and came out on top. Upon enlisting the help of hackers of their own to assist with stopping the attack, the agency discovered that the hackers had only gained access to 25 percent of the agency?s network and made off with no data. This stands in contrast to the hacker?s online claim that they stole financial information from the payment kiosks, as well as 30 gigabytes of sensitive data pertaining to the operations of the agency. While your SMB may not be able to employ the services of the FBI or vigilante hackers to strike back against those who hack your business; or, even be in a position to offer your services for free during a blackout, you do have the ability to maintain backed up copies of your data so that you can revert back to these copies should a ransomware attack ever befall your organization. Additionally, by taking advantage of security best practices like using complex passwords, two-factor authentication, and security solutions like firewall, spam blocking, and content filtering, you?ll be able to safeguard your network from getting hacked in the first place. To make sure your network is equipped to thwart a malicious ransomware attack, reach out to White Mountain IT Services at (603) 889-0800.

Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) uses your Internet connection to send your voice to the recipient rather than the traditional telephone line. As you can imagine, this adds a certain element of flexibility in and of itself, but there are many more reasons why this flexibility is important for a business. Here are three of them. VoIP Helps Your Business GrowAs your business grows, so can your VoIP solution. When you set up your VoIP infrastructure, you?ll have a specific number of users and devices to consider at first. This helps you get a better feel for what kind of bandwidth and network traffic you can expect to deal with. However, there?s also the potential to add new users and devices as they are needed, which makes growing less of a pain than it would be for a traditional telephone system. With VoIP, you don?t have to run cables or knock down walls to make room for new offices or desks. Since VoIP uses your Internet, you can use a wireless or wired connection, as long as your bandwidth can accommodate it. If not, check with your ISP or invest in a new wireless router. VoIP is More DynamicConsider how the flexibility of VoIP affects your business?s ability to perform while out of the office. Since VoIP can be used on any device, be it a smartphone, laptop, or desktop, it?s exceptionally more useful than a traditional landline. Furthermore, VoIP allows you to use your work telephone number on your personal smartphone without setting up advanced call forwarding systems. This is (obviously) preferable to carrying around two smartphones. Furthermore, since it runs as an application on your device, you can turn it on and off as needed, allowing you to keep your work and home life separate as much as you want. VoIP Offers More FeaturesDoes your traditional phone line offer instant messaging capabilities? How about real-time video chat and conference-calling? This is one of the main reasons why VoIP is such an advantageous solution. There are plenty of additional VoIP features that can change the way that your organization communicates both on or off-site. VoIP also offers several, if not all of the services, that are offered by traditional telephony providers. Plus, you?ll never pay for features that you don?t want or need, unlike telephone providers who often bundle services together. Does VoIP sound like a worthwhile investment for your business? If so, reach out to us at (603) 889-0800. We?d be happy to help you get started with a new way to communicate.

As a result, a business can?t afford to risk operating on the Internet unprotected. Fortunately for intrepid entrepreneurs and online operators everywhere, there are solutions expressly designed to protect them against such malicious malcontents: web filtering and firewall solutions. Web filtering and firewall implementation work as opposite sides of the same coin while a user navigates online. A web filtering solution is a fancy term for a specialized program that examines web pages to check for threats or other potential problems before the user can access the site. Based on predetermined rules, the filter can block portions of the page from sight, or just bar access entirely. Firewall solutions are portions of a system or network that prevent those without authorization from accessing its contents while still permitting communications to be sent outwards, providing your data protection against hackers and spyware. Depending on the system setup, a firewall solution could be a piece of hardware, software, or a combination of the two. It?s not uncommon for businesses to utilize web filtering and firewall for reasons other than security as well. For example, are you concerned that your employees have been less-than-diligent during work hours, perhaps visiting retail or entertainment websites when they should be completing their work-related duties? Web filtering can allow you to block their access to such sites while on your network. Furthermore, by preventing spyware and other unwanted bits and bytes of data from entering your network, a firewall can help keep your business operations running at full efficiency–allowing your employees to more easily reach their peak productivity. White Mountain IT Services can help you ensure your computing activities are safe, secure and streamlined to best benefit your business activities. Plus, we can help you be sure that your solutions are up to snuff. Give us a call at (603) 889-0800 to ask about our networking security solutions today.  

As a result, a business can?t afford to risk operating on the Internet unprotected. Fortunately for intrepid entrepreneurs and online operators everywhere, there are solutions expressly designed to protect them against such malicious malcontents: web filtering and firewall solutions. Web filtering and firewall implementation work as opposite sides of the same coin while a user navigates online. A web filtering solution is a fancy term for a specialized program that examines web pages to check for threats or other potential problems before the user can access the site. Based on predetermined rules, the filter can block portions of the page from sight, or just bar access entirely. Firewall solutions are portions of a system or network that prevent those without authorization from accessing its contents while still permitting communications to be sent outwards, providing your data protection against hackers and spyware. Depending on the system setup, a firewall solution could be a piece of hardware, software, or a combination of the two. It?s not uncommon for businesses to utilize web filtering and firewall for reasons other than security as well. For example, are you concerned that your employees have been less-than-diligent during work hours, perhaps visiting retail or entertainment websites when they should be completing their work-related duties? Web filtering can allow you to block their access to such sites while on your network. Furthermore, by preventing spyware and other unwanted bits and bytes of data from entering your network, a firewall can help keep your business operations running at full efficiency–allowing your employees to more easily reach their peak productivity. White Mountain IT Services can help you ensure your computing activities are safe, secure and streamlined to best benefit your business activities. Plus, we can help you be sure that your solutions are up to snuff. Give us a call at (603) 889-0800 to ask about our networking security solutions today.