What Changes When People Work Remotely? One big change your employees might not grasp is that working remotely effectively distributes your entire operational infrastructure across many different networks, most of which your organization has no control over. This means that employees have to do a lot of legwork to keep your business secure, too. When more devices are added to the network, more opportunities arise for hackers to make their way to your infrastructure. When onboarding new employees, be sure to include the expected protocols for working remotely. This includes who supplies the devices, where important data is hosted, how employees are accessing said data (including devices/networks), whether or not a VPN is involved, etc. All of it must be included, and if you don?t keep your employees apprised of the expectations?especially new ones?they will not comply. The Threat of Personal Devices Many employers might find themselves gawking at the concept of purchasing new endpoints for each remote employee. While one might argue that, from a security standpoint, it is an effective use of funds, it isn?t the most functional. Personal devices might save you money, but they are not going to be as secure, as you have no control over their operating systems, installed software, password practices, and so on. Data breaches happen even to secured systems, so imagine the pain of dodging these bullets with even more open vulnerabilities. To this end, be sure that all company-owned data is saved to company-controlled infrastructures, like an on-site server or cloud platform. If you can limit the amount of company data on employee devices, you can better secure it. Collaboration Challenges Employees now depend on collaboration apps to get projects done and to keep communication lines open, but these tools are not necessarily designed to prioritize security. One way you can ensure that security is not put at risk is by isolating conversations to specific users or groups. This will keep you from overexposing certain data to unsecured parties. This can happen fairly easily, especially for larger or medium-sized organizations. The need to train your employees cannot be overstated. You must invest resources into ensuring that your employees are receiving the training needed to prioritize security. While they don?t need to become security experts, even the basics can be enough to improve cybersecurity standards for your organization. Consider teaching them how to identify spam attacks, how to create complex passwords, etc. If you need some help with preparing your business for remote communications that prioritize security, White Mountain IT Services can help. To learn more, reach out to us at (603) 889-0800.

AI Can Efficiently Analyze Vast Troves of Data Regardless of how often you go to the doctor, your medical history is more than likely a huge assortment of disparate data points that?while grossly impractical to go through manually?could likely provide some insights if analyzed and organized properly. AI is perfectly suited for just this kind of task, as it can find patterns that sheer numbers might have otherwise hidden in data. In theory, this kind of processing could ultimately lead to machine-based predictions that the human eye might have missed. Much like retail sites use your browsing and purchasing history to recommend products to you, AI might someday be able to predict a patient?s health trajectory and help rectify it preemptively. From how long a patient should stay in the hospital to customizing treatment plans for patients, AI could very well have a say in most medical decisions through its capability to organize data. AI Can Make New Medicines, Cheaper Medicines are not a cheap thing to make. The amount of research alone that needs to go into developing a safe and effective drug is staggering, simply because of all the variables involved. However, by using a similar technology that is found in self-driving cars, databases of molecular structures can be considered and tested through simulation. This form of AI can cut research times by months or even years, as we saw in 2015 when the ebola virus outbreak of the time was hastened by this kind of analysis and a treatment was developed much more rapidly as a result. Faster outcomes equal less time and money spent to come to the same conclusions. Likewise, AI can be used to study existing drugs and find new purposes for them in a way that a human being simply can?t do. By identifying new use cases for existing drugs, companies can save money and expand the options for healthcare providers. AI Can Make Healthcare More Secure Like we said, healthcare providers have to store a lot of data? most of it sensitive and/or personally identifiable in nature. Not only that, but there?s financial data involved, too. All of this data is also critical to effective patient care, which means that lives could potentially be dependent on the availability of this data. This all makes healthcare providers and others in the industry a tantalizing target for cybercrime. After all, they have plenty of motivation to comply with any demands. While human intervention may be enough to stop some threats, precedent has shown that the human element isn?t nearly effective enough to protect these systems unaided? particularly as threats are now also being powered by AI to be as effective as possible. In light of this, many are now turning to AI as a means of automating their protections against attacks?fighting fire with fire. With AI trained to detect potentially malicious activity, many threats can be nipped in the bud. AI Can (Potentially) Help Eliminate Bias Finally, we need to address the issue that bias creates in healthcare. Factors like race, gender, and ethnicity have been demonstrated to lead to flawed conclusions in healthcare as the bias of the researchers seeps into the research. While it is true that these biases can also be included in an AI program?s deliberations, careful consideration and remediation […]

If you don?t have an answer ready, you need to fix that. Employee Privacy Isn?t Something to Take for Granted? ?and there?s legal precedent to prove it. In Pennsylvania, the state?s Supreme Court ruled as much in Dittman v. UPMC, a class-action suit that was filed after the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and UPMC McKeesport had data stolen after hackers accessed the medical center?s systems and stole a considerable chunk of data. This data involved personally identifiable information and financial details, and so the case was ruled in favor of the plaintiffs?the employees who had their data stolen. According to the employees? case, the hackers used the data to illegally file tax returns, costing the Internal Revenue Service a significant sum. As a result, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court established that ?an employer has a legal duty to exercise reasonable care to safeguard its employees’ sensitive personal information stored by the employer on an internet-accessible computer system.? On a national scale, employees also have their privacy protected by the tenets of the Privacy Act of 1974. Of course, we are not legal professionals, so none of this should be construed as legal advice. However, it is important to know that you are responsible for protecting the personal and private data that your employees have entrusted to you. So, how can you do that? Essential Steps to Protecting an Employee?s Privacy Fortunately, protecting an employee?s privacy is a task that can be accomplished (or at the very least, supported) with a few technologies and policies that we regularly endorse: Private Wi-Fi Connections If your business isn?t utilizing a secured, private Wi-Fi signal, you?re effectively inviting threats in. This kind of vulnerability could enable access to any device that connects to the wireless signal, potentially putting your data?including that which pertains to your employees?at risk. Securing your Wi-Fi signal and keeping it private helps to deter all kinds of threats to some degree. Internet Filtering While all of these safeguards ultimately help protect your business as well as its employees, this one, in particular, can help keep threats off your network by preventing your employees from visiting the sites that are likely to spread them. As an added bonus, you can filter out websites that would primarily be a waste of a team member?s time to visit. Virtual Private Network Use A VPN is a great way to keep a potential cybercriminal from accessing any data you?re sharing over the Internet by hiding it in a layer of encryption. However, it also helps to shield a remote employee?s identity and location, boosting their privacy as a result. Device Protections Many threats that could potentially steal an employee?s information can be prevented through some basic safeguards, like antivirus protection and spam blocking. Ensuring these defenses are installed, activated, and maintained on any device used for work should be a top priority. Access Controls Here?s the thing?the less able someone other than an employee with permissions is to access certain network resources, the less you have to worry that someone else can access data they shouldn?t. Two-factor/multi-factor authentication (2FA/MFA) is a good option to help do so. You Also Need to Respect an Employee?s Privacy, As Well Finally, it?s important that we touch on the fact that, despite the employer having the advantage insofar […]

The Cloud Improves Accessibility Perhaps the biggest benefit that comes from using the cloud is that data and the applications using said data are much more accessible. Since it?s all stored on the Internet, it can be accessed at a moment?s notice, empowering your team to get work done when and how they want, be it remotely or in-house, on company devices or personal devices. This type of accessibility prevents your data from being spread out across countless devices, as it will be warehoused in one location and accessed through one portal. The Cloud Allows for Scalability Adding or removing licenses can be difficult for businesses with large workforces, especially when the software has to be downloaded and installed on new workstations. The cloud gives you more control over these licenses by allowing you to pay for services on a subscription basis, meaning all you do is create an account for each user you need, then they have access to the solution. Essentially, since the service is in the cloud (on the Internet), you don?t have to worry about installing it on each device?you just give the credentials to the user, who then has access to it through the Internet. This scalability gives you a lot of cost-cutting control. The Cloud Improves Flexibility Employees are more productive when they can access data on their preferred devices, be it a laptop, smartphone, their at-home desktop, etc. When employees use cloud solutions, they can effectively access data on the devices they are most comfortable using, meaning they are not pigeon-holed into using the technology you assign them to get work done. This flexibility gives your team the ability to get work done on their own terms and can be incredibly empowering for some. If your business is ready to start implementing cloud solutions to reduce its overhead and improve its bottom line, White Mountain IT Services can help. Chances are that if you think of it, the cloud can help you with just about any aspect of running your business. We recommend that you go through a comprehensive infrastructure audit to see where the cloud can help you cut costs and improve operations. You might be surprised at what you find with such an audit! Our trusted technicians can go through your IT infrastructure and find ways to save with the cloud. To learn more, reach out to us at (603) 889-0800.

The Provider is the One Who Determines How Secure Cloud Storage Is At the end of the day, the cloud provider is the one who will be responsible for maintaining the security of your data. The cloud is just the infrastructure you use to remotely access the resources. Basically, you are borrowing someone else?s server for your needs. As a result, your data relies on whatever protections the cloud provider has in place (or unfortunately doesn’t). If your cloud provider is trustworthy, they will secure your data through a variety of security methods and safeguards, like access controls, encryption, data redundancy, and cloud monitoring. Furthermore, they will test it all on a regular basis to ensure that it all works the way it?s supposed to. Plus, your cloud provider will be focused on the safety of their own infrastructure by locking down servers that house their data and securing them as best as possible. On Top of This, Your Data Needs to Be Available After all of this is taken care of by the cloud provider, it?s important to keep accessibility in mind. If you can?t access your data, then it may as well not even exist. Therefore, a cloud provider should be able to guarantee a certain level of uptime. No matter the circumstances, you need to find a cloud provider who can ensure your data is accessible, and they should have contingencies in place to make sure of this. Having Said This, Most Cloud Security Issues Come from the Client?s Side Most cloud security problems do not come from the providers themselves; rather, they come from the user. Here are just a few examples of how this might happen: Shadow IT, as your users store your data on an unapproved service or platform Files being shared inappropriately  Cloud resources being accessible through Insecure passwords Users inadvertently deleting data Cloud resources being accessed using Insecure devices All things considered, the cloud is remarkably secure, as long as you are sure to address problems like user behavior and management. White Mountain IT Services can help ensure your staff know how to properly utilize your business? solutions, the cloud included. To learn more, reach out to us at (603) 889-0800.