If a USB device is infected with malware, it can put not just your computer, but even your entire data infrastructure at risk. We?ll discuss some of the many USB threats out there, including some that are more dangerous than you might think. USB Kill 2.0What happens when you push too much electricity into a device? It will experience a power surge, much like how a lightning storm could result in a power outage. Unfortunately, when used by hackers, this trait of electronics is a potent terror tactic. USB Kill is one particular threat that creates dongles designed to siphon power from a device, then release the energy back into the system to kill it. Scary indeed. The device was originally intended to help hardware developers test the device?s ability to resist what?s referred to as ?juice jacking.? Juice jacking is more easily described as the theft of data during the charging process. USB Kill 2.0 was capable of permanently damaging 95 percent of all devices that were tested. USB Kill was frequently successful when attempting to wipe data from the device. Though this isn?t the designated purpose of USB Kill, it?s a side-effect that hackers have been able to leverage for their purposes–simply because the charge is enough to fry the drive controllers. Someone who wants to use this device can get it for as little as $56, which is further influenced by the fact that there aren?t effective protections against this type of threat. All you can really do is inform your employees that they shouldn?t be plugging in just any old USB device. USB-to-Ethernet TheftIt?s a security best practice that you lock your device whenever you leave it unattended. It doesn?t matter if you?re leaving for the end of the day or taking a short stroll around the office–if you don?t lock your computer, it?s a security risk. Even if your device is locked, though, a security researcher created a way to extract data from a locked computer using a USB device. The USB device masks its malicious intentions by making the target PC adopt the device as the preferred network interface. This lets the hacker sap data out of the computer and send it to another connected system. In this particular case, it?s best to just not leave your computer unattended. What?s a Business to Do?Even though not all USB devices contain dangerous malware, it?s still not safe to just plug in any old device into your organization?s infrastructure. You can take a two-pronged approach to reinforce how your business handles USB devices: First, educate your team on how to use them properly. Second, enforce a policy that demands any and all devices be checked into IT and examined for threats before being plugged into your office?s technology. Of course, if USB drives are a regular occurrence in your office, you can avoid this pain in the neck by implementing a cloud solution for your mobile storage needs. It?s also recommended that you secure any exposed ports with locks or similar devices. In terms of security, while USB has been one of the most affordable and convenient ways to transfer data, it falls short of business-class standards. You should be looking to other solutions, like cloud computing, that can keep you connected to your data from […]
Security has never been easy for any business that deals with sensitive information. Nowadays, even a small business that uses an Internet connection has to worry about hackers and malware of all types. This is especially problematic for small healthcare offices that need to keep sensitive information secure and safe from online threats. This is primarily due to the fact that file storage systems are becoming increasingly reliant on connected digital systems. Traditional file storage systems are inefficient and susceptible to all sorts of problems; primarily user error, document destruction, and theft. While digital systems are now capable of more efficiently storing sensitive patient data, this comes at the major risk of hacking attacks. Cyber criminals understand how valuable personally identifiable information is, making healthcare institutions lucrative targets. In particular, hospitals are feeling the effects of hacking attacks–mainly due to the crippling effects of ransomware. Hackers understand how crucial a hospital?s data is to its operations, so they?re more likely to shell out huge amounts of revenue in order to save their data from ransomware. In most cases (this goes for larger enterprises too), hospitals have little choice but to comply with a hacker?s demands. To protect the data of patients in healthcare networks and systems, HIPAA governs guidelines for how organizations protect sensitive data. Here are some tips to help you keep your business HIPAA compliant. Use a quality data backup and disaster recovery solution. You want to make sure that your business is equipped with tools to not only back up, but also restore, your critical and sensitive data. This includes making sure that you have an optimal recovery point objective, as well as a quality recovery time objective. Lastly, you need your data stored not just on-site, but also in the cloud or an external data center for safe keeping. Implement enterprise-level security solutions. Regardless of whether or not your business handles sensitive data, you should always be using security solutions like firewalls, antivirus, and spam blocking technology. A Unified Threat Management solution is a great way to take advantage of preventative security solutions. Use encryption. Often times, organizations won?t see the need to encrypt their data specifically because they?re already using other security measures. They don?t think that there?s a chance that their data will be stolen. While HIPAA doesn?t necessarily call for encryption, we highly recommend it. Encryption makes any stolen data practically impossible to decipher–or, at least, not worth the hacker?s effort. Consult professionals in the IT field. Your business or organization specializes in a particular craft–not IT security. Therefore, it makes sense to bring in IT professionals who have been around the block a time or two to guarantee that you don?t overlook the details of HIPAA compliance. If your business is having trouble keeping up with HIPAA compliance, White Mountain IT Services can help. We understand the ins and outs of HIPAA compliance and want to ensure that your practice doesn?t get stuck with budget-breaking fines from failing to adhere to HIPAA standards. To learn more, reach out to us at (603) 889-0800.
Data backup is a critical component of a business continuity plan, but there are many businesses that fail to understand why data backup is important, as well as what it entails. We want to clear up some facts about how data backup is important, and why you need it for your business. Only with a thorough understanding of how your data backup saves your infrastructure can you effectively use it for business continuity. Multiple Copies Doesn?t Guarantee Effective BackupIt?s a best practice to keep multiple copies of your data strewn across various parts of your computing infrastructure. One should be in-house, while another should be stored off-site and in the cloud, completely unconnected from your in-house network. However, just because you have several backups of your data doesn?t guarantee that they?ll be effective when you need them most. Regardless of where they?re stored, data backups are still vulnerable to user error and data corruption. To avoid this unfortunate circumstance, make a habit out of regularly testing your data backups. Data Often Cannot Be Restored from the OriginalWhile there may be an opportunity to restore data following a loss incident, it?s not always a guarantee. Regardless, rebuilding data out of nothing would certainly be a time-consuming endeavor, especially if you lost a significant portion of your data infrastructure. Instead, it?s better and more time-conscious to just restore a backup of the data rather than attempting to restore data from what remains of your data disaster. Data Backup and Disaster Recovery Aren’t the Same ThingIt?s worth mentioning that data backup and disaster recovery aren?t the same thing, but are quite closely related. Data backup is the act of taking the backup itself, while disaster recovery is the ability to recover these data backups. Data backup represents a figure known as the recovery point objective, which determines how much data you want to back up at any given time. Disaster recovery, on the other hand, focuses on the recovery time objective, which is how long it takes you to get back to normal operations. Both of these should be clearly outlined in order to guarantee that your disaster recovery can go as smoothly as possible. One of the best ways to address all of these misconceptions is with a backup and disaster recovery (BDR) solution from White Mountain IT Services. Our BDR can help your business fully leverage enterprise-level business continuity software that allows for optimal uptime and efficiency. Our BDR can take backups as often as every fifteen minutes–automatically–without disrupting the workday. Furthermore, these backups are captured both in the BDR device and in an off-site data center, from which they can be restored remotely in the event of a data loss disaster. The BDR can act as a server unit while your business makes plans to replace your faulty hardware. To learn more about BDR and business continuity, reach out to us at (603) 889-0800. Our professional technicians would be happy to answer any questions or concerns you might have over the future of your data infrastructure.
When a business finds new software solutions that can effectively replace their older, less efficient systems, applications can often go unused for extended periods of time. However, these unnecessary apps can waste time and money for your business, which can add up quickly. In fact, as much as 38 percent of enterprise applications are wasting away on organizations? networks. More specifically, 30 percent of applications went unused, while only eight percent were somewhat unused (less than once a month). According to a recent study by 1E, between the United States and United Kingdom, there are $34 billion dollars wasted on unused or rarely used software solutions. An average large enterprise stands to lose $7.4 million every year on unnecessary software solutions. Of course, small companies don’t spend nearly as much in this area, but it?s very true that software licenses aren?t as cheap as you?d like them to be. Of course, you may not have the time or resources to really pay attention to how much use your organization?s applications get. Unless you have an internal IT department whose sole responsibility is improving the way your business functions, you might just be renewing software licenses with little reference as to how often you actually use them. This is a practice that can cost your company a pretty penny in the long run, so it?s your responsibility to find a solution. A comprehensive network audit is often a necessity when attempting to find improvements in your organization’s infrastructure. It?s needed if you want to find where resources are being allocated and if they?re being used in the most efficient way possible. If your network is filled with unused or unnecessary applications, a network audit can identify them for you so that you know where to start your network cleanup procedure. White Mountain IT Services can perform a comprehensive network audit that identifies bottlenecks and other inefficiencies in your business?s network infrastructure. We can then suggest ways to improve your network by streamlining operations and introducing you to new and improved software solutions that allow you to do more with less. We also want to mention that it?s important to only pay for software licensing for solutions that you know you will be using, and to keep a close eye on when these licenses expire. Furthermore, through remote monitoring and maintenance, your business can more efficiently deploy patches and monitor software license expiration dates so that you know for sure that you?re only paying for solutions that you want to be paying for. To learn more about network audits and remote monitoring and maintenance, reach out to us at (603) 889-0800.
When was the last time you had to reach out to IT support, only to have to wait for the tech to drive to your office and resolve the problem far too late? This is a common occurrence amongst business owners, and if your technology is mission-critical, you can?t afford to deal with more downtime than necessary. How can your business more effectively take advantage of technology support? A remote monitoring and maintenance solution may be just what you need. Remote monitoring and maintenance allows your business to get the help you need, when you need it. An outsourced provider can keep an eye on your business?s systems for any discrepancies and address them without an on-site visit. There are plenty of benefits that your organization can reap from a remote monitoring and maintenance service. Resource AllocationWhen you have components and applications across your network infrastructure being accessed by your entire workforce, it can be tricky to make sure that everything is working to your specifications. When you have remote monitoring and maintenance, resources can be adjusted as needed to ensure maximum functionality. Threat ManagementUnless you have eyes on your network at all times, chances are that a threat could slip into your infrastructure and remain undetected for some time. Thanks to remote monitoring and maintenance technology, it?s possible to discover threats before they manifest into problems and root them out. Furthermore, you can detect telltale signs of hardware failure and take preventative measures before something goes wrong. Patching and Security UpdatesOne of the most valuable services offered through remote monitoring and maintenance is the ability to patch and apply security updates as they?re released. This can be challenging for a small company that may not have the time or resources available to deploy patches, so it makes the most sense for an outsourced provider to administer them. This way, you can be sure that you never miss an update again. You might be surprised to hear that most problems that your technology experiences can be resolved remotely, without the need for a costly on-site visit. Therefore, it makes the most sense for your organization to invest in remote monitoring and maintenance, as it?s a mutually beneficial service for both your organization and your provider. You don?t have to pay for the time that the tech spends on the road to reach your office, and they don?t have to saddle up for an on-site visit. Granted, some problems simply can?t be resolved remotely and require an on-site visit, but the fact remains that the more problems that you can fix remotely, the better. Trust us–your budget will thank you. White Mountain IT Services can help your business get started with remote monitoring and maintenance. To learn more, reach out to us at (603) 889-0800.
