Why You Need Backup and Disaster RecoveryEvery organization should have a sound plan to recover any data that?s lost due to unexpected disasters. It?s been proven that organizations that fail to recover lost data within 7 days of the incident, typically go out of business within one year. There are many reasons why data backup and disaster recovery solutions need to be implemented. Here are just a few of the threats that could uproot your business and disrupt operations. Natural disasters: Floods, fires, electric storms, tornadoes, hailstorms, and so on, all have the potential to not only destroy your physical infrastructure, but also your business?s data. Therefore, if you?re in a region that?s prone to extreme weather conditions, you need to consider backup and disaster recovery. Cyber attacks: Data breaches are well-known culprits of data loss. It?s not easy to predict what a virus or malware will do, but most often, they?re designed to steal your data, delete it, or lock it away until a ransom is paid. In all of these cases, it?s best to have your data backed up so it can be safely restored. User error: The biggest threats often come from those who are supposed to have access to your data, not just those who don?t. If an end-user accidentally deletes a file, moves it somewhere it doesn?t belong, or hands over credentials to a hacker on accident, your data is put at risk. Hardware failure: The inevitable part of working with technology is the fact that it will eventually fail and be rendered obsolete. This can happen when you least expect it, and the costly downtime can be a major setback for your business – not to mention the data that could be lost if a server were to go down. What You Should Look ForNot all backup and disaster recovery services will be the same, nor should they be. You need a solution that?s customized to meet the specific needs of your business. Here are some of the best features to look for in a BDR solution, and why they?re critical for the continued functionality of your business. Cloud and off-site backup: You don?t want to store your data backups on in-house tapes. Rather, you want them secure in an off-site location, like the cloud or a data center. This way, you can know that your data is stored in a compliant location that can?t be damaged by natural disasters. Quick recovery time: You want to be able to rapidly deploy your business?s data to your infrastructure in order to minimize downtime. Tape backup can make this part of the recovery process long-winded and wasteful, but BDR can automatically deploy your data through the cloud, making recovery practically instantaneous. Comprehensive backup: Furthermore, you want to make sure that your data is as recent as possible. Tape backup is inefficient for this purpose, while BDR can take backups of your data as often as every fifteen minutes – maybe even more often. For more information about BDR and business continuity, contact White Mountain IT Services at (603) 889-0800.

Data leakage is a primary concern for any business using employee-owned mobile devices in the workplace. Every business has sensitive information that cannot be exposed under any circumstances, and it?s the business owner?s responsibility to make sure that policies are put into place to protect this data. A study by Bitglass reveals that 72 percent of many different types of organizations, including financial, technology, healthcare, government, and education, believe that BYOD should be supported for at least some of their employees. In terms of mobile device management, however, only a meager 14 percent of these organizations use some way of protecting corporate data with device encryption. This is a significant disparity, and one that should be considered when your organization implements a BYOD strategy. You can?t allow your business to be the next to fall victim to mobile security threats. With a mobile device management solution from White Mountain IT Services, your business can have full control over the devices that your employees want to use for their work roles, as well as the flow of data that?s stored on them. Below are some of the many features available for a mobile device management solution: Whitelisting and blacklisting apps: Some applications will request access to information stored on a mobile device, but some won?t have any real reason to have access it. For example, a flashlight app has no business accessing your phone?s contacts or geographical location. By whitelisting and blacklisting apps, you can minimize your data?s exposure to threats. Role-based user access: One of the easiest ways to minimize danger to your organization?s data is to limit who has access to it. By integrating role-based user access, you can allow your team to access data that they need to do their jobs properly, and keep them accessing that which they don?t. Remote wiping: Sometimes the best way to prevent a data breach is by remotely wiping data from a lost or stolen device. You shouldn?t rely on the device showing up, especially if it were left in a public place like a bus or subway station. You should always be prepared for a worst-case scenario like this. For more information about BYOD and our mobile device management solution, reach out to White Mountain IT Services at (603) 889-0800.

Imagine this scenario; you have your entire IT infrastructure hosted in the cloud, including your mission-critical applications and data. This information is required in order for operations to continue. Now, imagine that your local Internet service provider has suffered a catastrophic outage for your region due to some unforeseeable circumstance. Now, your office is left high and dry with no Internet access. This presents a problem with no clear resolution, especially if most of your infrastructure is only accessible via the cloud. Unless you also have a backup of your infrastructure stored locally on your in-house network (which isn?t a bad idea), you won?t be able to access any information stored on the Internet. One simple way to bypass the problems associated with a downed Internet connection is to equip your office with 4G-enabled laptops or smartphones that can act as temporary hotspots. However, if you do this, you better be sure that your phone carrier supports this immense amount of data expenditure. In many cases, it?s better to just let your team work remotely if they?re capable of doing so. The most reliable choice would be to have any team that can work remotely do so until the problem is resolved. Working remotely during the incident might be a valid opportunity to eliminate downtime associated with your Internet access. As reported by ZDNet, ?It’s true that businesses are increasingly allowing for remote work and disaster planning is a good argument for it. It may even be worthwhile as an exercise. Require employees to have a plan for working offsite and schedule a day for everyone, or perhaps one department at a time, to do so. You might learn something about productivity while you’re at it. 9/11 proved that it’s possible your offices may be out of commission for a while. Do you really want to have to make up your plans on the spot when that happens?? If your business needs help implementing technology to keep your team connected at all times, you can count on White Mountain IT Services to find a solution. We can work out ways to help your employees access information regardless of the circumstances, all so you can keep downtime to a minimum. Furthermore, we can provide your business with the technology solutions required to ensure that your team can work off-site when needed. For example, a virtual private network (VPN) allows your team to securely access your business’s sensitive information from any wireless connection, allowing your team to access mission-critical files even if the in-house wireless network is down. If you?re concerned about not being able to communicate with your team while they?re off-site, we can make it much easier by helping you implement a unified communications solution that?s designed to work seamlessly, as long as you have an Internet connection. You can communicate in real time with both instant messaging and Voice over Internet Protocol telephony solutions that will make you feel like your team is right next door, even if they aren?t. For more information about how White Mountain IT Services can help bring your business back from the brink of downtime, give us a call at (603) 889-0800.

What Brute Force Attacks AreBasically, you can imagine a brute force attack as a method which involves the rapid input of passwords and usernames in succession. They?re designed to crack encrypted data by finding a usable password. Most brute force hacking attacks are performed by an algorithm and can input a ridiculous amount of credentials every second. The reasoning behind the name, ?brute force,? is due to the brutal assault on the system, rather than taking a more discreet or intellectual path to hack the system. There are many different types of brute force attacks, but one of the most popular ones is the dictionary attack, in which passwords are generated with a dictionary, using popular words, in order to access the system. Why They?re DangerousAccording to a McAfee Security Report from 2015, brute force attacks account for about 25 percent of all online hacks, second only to Denial of Service attacks. One of the reasons why they?re so popular is that they can be used as a straightforward way to infiltrate privileged accounts and steal sensitive information. These attacks are typically used to access accounts and steal credentials like credit card numbers, Social Security numbers, and other data that could be used for financial gain. Furthermore, brute force attacks can be used to install what?s called a rootkit on a device, or turn a PC into a bot. Most often, brute force attacks will be seen as a jumping-off point for other types of threats to terrorize the targeted machine. What You Can DoHaving a security solution put into place that can lock users out based on IP location or failed login attempts can be a great way to protect against brute force attacks. However, both of these methods can be bypassed if the hacker is using a botnet. Since the botnet consists of several infected computers from all over the world, they will have different IP addresses and be identified as individual users, rendering the aforementioned security practices moot. Another useful technology to have to protect against brute force attacks is two-factor authentication. By providing another layer of security, in addition to the required password, brute force attacks will be rendered useless. Without the secondary credential that gets sent to a smartphone or email address, any attempts to brute force an account with a password will be pointless. This is why it?s always recommended that you use two-factor authentication. Your business should be prepared to handle all types of online threats, especially those that can lead to more dangerous or destructive results. White Mountain IT Services can provide your organization with security solutions that are designed to maximize your network?s protection against brute force attacks, and other online threats that could have an impact on your business?s operations. To learn more about what we can do for your company, give us a call at (603) 889-0800.

Next time you run into a PC problem that you just can?t wrap your head around, try out these six troubleshooting tips. Keep things simple: You?d be surprised by how often some of the most common problems with technology can be resolved by simply restarting it. Reset the hardware or application, check to see if the machine is plugged in properly, shut the machine down, or reboot it. After all, there?s no real reason to go through in-depth troubleshooting practices if the problem can be easily resolved with a restart. If others tried it, try it anyway: Sometimes you?ll be passed a problem that?s been tested by other people within your organization. Thinking it will help you narrow down the problem, they?ll list off what they have or haven?t done. While this might be helpful, you should trust your own judgement – perhaps they didn?t perform a process correctly, or maybe they say that they?ve tried it, but really haven?t. Don?t leave any stone unturned. PEBKAC (user error): This issue, ?problem exists between keyboard and chair,? is a common reason why you might be unable to diagnose what the real problem is. ZDNet estimates that about 80 percent of problems are due to user errors, which means that the one at fault might not be technology at all. In these cases, it?s important to accept that you might be wrong and work towards whatever the solution might be. Replicate the issue: In order to best understand a problem, sometimes it?s helpful to try to remake the issue. After all, if you know how a problem starts, you might be able to best learn how to fix it. Ask your end-users how the symptoms showed up, and what they were doing when disaster struck. Fix vs replace: Your IT budget needs to be considered when you?re choosing to either implement new technology or to fix recurring issues with your old solutions. You need to understand where the fine line between fixing or replacing lies. It makes no sense to purchase new technology if there?s still life left in your current solutions. On the other hand, hardware refreshes can be considered when you?re looking for ways to improve operations and get rid of old technology that?s no longer functional or needed. Seek professional assistance: If you can?t resolve a problem on your own, you need to realize that it?s often more advantageous to seek out professional help, rather than waste valuable time and resources by doing it yourself. Remember, there?s no shame in asking for help when it?s needed. Businesses often do this with their IT, as it can get quite technical and challenging for those who aren?t specifically trained on its best practices. Instead, outsourcing it eliminates this responsibility so that you can focus on your business. White Mountain IT Services can be your outsourced IT experts. To learn more, reach out to us at (603) 889-0800.