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7 Ways To Maximize Workplace Productivity With Tech

In the fast-paced world of business, efficiency and productivity are paramount. Advancements in technology have revolutionized the way we work, providing a plethora of tools and resources to help us accomplish more in less time. Maximizing workplace productivity with technology has become an essential strategy for organizations looking to stay competitive and innovative in today’s global market. Here are 7 ways to add tech to your day-to-day activities to stay productive.

1. Automation And Streamlining Processes:

One of the most significant ways technology maximizes workplace productivity is through automation and process streamlining. With the help of tools like workflow automation software and robotic process automation, businesses can automate repetitive tasks, freeing up employees to focus on more creative and strategic tasks. By automating routine processes, organizations reduce the likelihood of errors and increase the speed at which tasks are completed. This not only boosts efficiency but also enhances job satisfaction by allowing employees to concentrate on tasks that require critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

2. Collaboration And Communication:

Effective communication and collaboration are vital to a productive workplace. Technology has provided a range of solutions, such as video conferencing, project management software and instant messaging platforms, that enable teams to work together seamlessly regardless of their geographic locations. These tools facilitate real-time communication, file sharing and project tracking, ensuring that all team members stay on the same page and are able to work efficiently together. This results in faster decision-making, improved project management and, ultimately, higher productivity.

Need help with choosing the right collaboration and communication tools for your business? We can help! Click here to book a 10-minute discovery call to get started.

3. Data Analytics And Business Intelligence:

In the modern workplace, data is king. The ability to collect, analyze and leverage data is a powerful tool for improving productivity. With the help of advanced analytics and business intelligence tools, organizations can gain insights into their operations, customer behavior and market trends. This data-driven approach allows for informed decision-making, optimized resource allocation and the identification of areas where improvements are needed. By harnessing data and analytics, businesses can work smarter, not harder.

4. Remote Work And Flexibility:

Technology has also played a pivotal role in reshaping the traditional office environment. The rise of remote work and flexible work arrangements has been made possible by advancements in communication and collaboration tools. Employees can now work from anywhere, provided they have an Internet connection, which not only enhances their work-life balance but also opens up opportunities for businesses to tap into a global talent pool. Remote work can boost productivity by reducing commuting time and allowing employees to work in environments where they are most comfortable and productive.

IMPORTANT: Security should be a high priority if you have remote workers. If you don’t have a robust security system for virtual team members, you need to get one right away.

5. Project Management And Task Tracking:

Effective project management is key to productivity. With project management software, businesses can plan, execute and monitor projects more efficiently. These tools provide a clear overview of tasks, deadlines and team member responsibilities, ensuring that everyone stays organized and accountable. From agile methodologies to Gantt charts, technology offers a range of project management approaches to suit various business needs.

6. Employee Training And Development:

Investing in technology for employee training and development is another avenue to maximize workplace productivity. Learning management systems and online training platforms enable organizations to offer continuous learning opportunities to their employees. By upskilling and reskilling their workforce, companies can ensure that their staff remains adaptable and capable of using the latest tools and technologies, which in turn enhances overall productivity.

7. Security And Data Protection:

As technology becomes more integrated into the workplace, the need for robust security and data protection measures is crucial. Cyber security solutions help protect sensitive information, prevent data breaches and ensure business continuity. When employees feel secure in their digital environment, they can work more confidently and productively, knowing that their data and the company’s assets are protected.

Technology is an indispensable resource for maximizing workplace productivity. From automating tasks and improving communication to harnessing data and fostering employee development, technology offers a wide range of solutions to enhance efficiency and effectiveness in the modern workplace. Embracing these technologies and staying up-to-date with the latest trends is essential for businesses looking to thrive in today’s competitive and ever-evolving business landscape. By leveraging technology effectively, organizations can achieve their productivity goals, improve their bottom line and create a dynamic, innovative work environment.

If you need help creating a strategic plan for your technology, such as determining what software to invest in, sourcing devices, creating a plan for efficiency or securing your network, our IT team can support you. Click here to book a 10-Minute Discovery Call to get started.

Out With The Old: Debunking 5 Common Cybersecurity Myths To Get Ready For The New Year

In today’s hyperconnected world, cybersecurity is a critical concern for individuals and organizations alike. However, as the digital landscape evolves, so do the myths and misconceptions surrounding cybersecurity. If you want to be protected, you have to understand what the real threats are and how you could be unknowingly overlooking them every single day. In this article, we will debunk 5 common cybersecurity myths to help you stay informed and protected as you take your business into 2024.

Myth 1: “I’m too small to be a target.”

One of the most dangerous cybersecurity myths is the belief that cybercriminals only target large organizations. In reality, cyber-attacks do not discriminate by size. Small businesses, start-ups and individuals are as susceptible to cyberthreats as larger enterprises. Cybercriminals often target smaller entities precisely because they may lack robust cybersecurity measures, making them easier prey. To stay safe, everyone should prioritize cybersecurity, regardless of their size or scale.

Myth 2: “Antivirus software is enough.”

Antivirus software is an essential component of cybersecurity, but it is not a silver bullet. Many people mistakenly believe that installing antivirus software on their devices is sufficient to protect them from all cyberthreats. While antivirus software can help detect and prevent known malware, it cannot stand up against sophisticated attacks or social engineering tactics. To enhance your protection, combine antivirus software with other security measures, such as firewalls, regular software updates and user education.

Myth 3: “Strong passwords are invulnerable.”

A strong password is undoubtedly an integral part of cybersecurity, but it is not foolproof. Some believe that creating complex passwords guarantees their accounts’ safety. However, even strong passwords can be compromised through various means, including phishing attacks, keyloggers and data breaches. To bolster your security, enable multifactor authentication (MFA) whenever possible, which adds an additional layer of protection beyond your password.

Myth 4: “Cybersecurity is solely an IT department’s responsibility.”

Another common misconception is that cybersecurity is exclusively the responsibility of an organization’s IT department. While IT professionals are crucial in securing digital environments, cybersecurity is a group effort. Everyone within an organization, from employees to management, should be aware of cybersecurity best practices and adhere to them. In fact, human error is a leading cause of data breaches, so fostering a culture of cybersecurity awareness is essential.

Myth 5: “My data is safe in the cloud.”

With the increasing use of cloud services, some individuals believe that storing data in the cloud is inherently secure. However, the safety of your data in the cloud depends on various factors, including the provider’s security measures and your own practices. Cloud providers typically implement robust security, but users must still manage their data securely, including setting strong access controls, regularly updating passwords and encrypting sensitive information. It’s a shared responsibility.

Cybersecurity is something you must take seriously heading into the New Year. Cyberthreats continuously evolve, and believing in these misconceptions can leave individuals and organizations vulnerable to attacks. It’s essential to stay informed, maintain a proactive stance and invest in cybersecurity measures to protect your digital assets. Remember that cybersecurity is a collective effort and everyone has a role to play in ensuring online safety. By debunking these myths and embracing a holistic approach to cybersecurity, you can better protect your digital life and business.

To start off the New Year in a secure position, get a completely free, no-obligation security risk assessment from our team. We’ll review everything you have in place and give you a full report explaining where you’re vulnerable and what you need to do to fix it. Even if you already have an IT team supporting you, a second set of eyes never hurts when it comes to your security. Book an up to 30-minute discovery call with our team here – link.

When Your Facebook Or Other Online Account Gets Hacked, Who’s Responsible For The Losses?

Recently, the CEO of a very successful marketing firm had their Facebook account hacked. In just a weekend, the hackers were able to run over $250,000 worth of ads for their online gambling site via their account and removed the rightful owner as the admin, causing the firm’s entire Facebook account to be shut down.

Not only are they uninsured for this type of fraud, but they were shocked to discover that Facebook, as well as their bank and credit card company, was NOT responsible for replacing the funds. Facebook’s “resolution” was that there was no fraud committed on their account because the hacker used their legitimate login credentials, and Facebook is not responsible for ensuring you keep your own personal credentials safe and confidential. Further, they didn’t have the specific type of cybercrime or fraud insurance needed to cover the losses, so they’re eating 100% of the costs.

Not only are they out $250K, but they also have to start over building their audiences on Facebook again, which took years to build. This entire fiasco is going to easily cost them half a million dollars when it’s all totaled.

In another incident, another firm logged into their account to find all of their ads were paused. Initially, they thought it was a glitch on Facebook, until they realized someone had hacked into their account, paused all of their legitimate ads and set up 20 NEW ads to their weight-loss spam site with a budget of $143,000 per day, or $2.8 million total.

Due to their spending limits, the hackers wouldn’t have charged $2.8 million; however, due to the high budgets set, Facebook’s algorithms started running the ads fast and furious. As they were pausing campaigns, the hackers were enabling them again in real time. After a frantic “Whac-A-Mole” game, they discovered the account that was compromised and removed it.

The compromised account was a legitimate user of the account who had THEIR account hacked. Because of this, Facebook wouldn’t replace the lost funds, and their account got shut down, with all campaigns deleted. Fortunately, these guys caught the hack early and acted fast, limiting their damages to roughly $4,000, but their account was unable to run ads for 2 weeks, causing them to lose revenue. They estimate their total damages to be somewhere in the $40,000 to $50,000 range.

When many people hear these true stories (with the name of the companies withheld to protect their privacy), they adamantly believe someone besides them should step up and take responsibility, covering the losses. “It wasn’t OUR fault!” they say. However, the simple reality is this: if you allow your Facebook account – or any other online account – to be hacked due to weak or reused passwords, no multifactor authentication (MFA) turned on, improper e-mail security or malware infecting your devices due to inadequate cyber security, it is 100% YOUR FAULT when a hacker compromises your account.

Facebook is just one of the cloud applications many businesses use that can be hacked, but any business running any type of cloud application, including those that adamantly verify they are secure, CAN BE HACKED with the right credentials. Facebook’s security did not cause their account to be compromised – it was the failure of one employee.

The BEST way to handle this is to NOT get hacked in the first place. Here’s what you need to do to protect yourself:

  • Share this article to make sure your staff is aware of these types of scams. Cybercriminals’ #1 advantage is still hubris; businesses and most people in general insist that “nobody would want to hack me” and therefore aren’t extremely cautious with cyberprotections.

  • Make sure you create strong, unique passwords for EACH application you and your team log into. Use a good password management tool such as <<XXXXX>> to manage this, but remember IT MUST BE USED IN ORDER TO WORK. For example, don’t allow employees to store passwords in Chrome and bypass the password management system.

  • Minimize the number of people logging into any account. If someone needs access, give them that access and then remove them as a user ASAP immediately after. The more users you have on a cloud application, the greater the chances are of a breach.

  • Make sure all devices that touch your network are secure. Keylogger malware can live on a device to steal all of your data and credentials.

If you want to ensure your organization is truly secure, click here to request a free Cyber Security Risk Assessment to see just how protected your organization is against known predators. If you haven’t had an independent third party conduct this audit in the last 6 months, you’re due.

It’s completely free and confidential, without obligation. Voice scams are just the latest in a tsunami of threats aimed at small business owners, with the most susceptible being the ones who never “check the locks” to ensure their current IT company is doing what they should. Claim your complimentary Risk Assessment today.

Out With The Old: Debunking 5 Common Cybersecurity Myths

Cybersecurity Myths

In today’s hyperconnected world, cybersecurity is a critical concern for individuals and organizations alike. However, as the digital landscape evolves, so do the myths and misconceptions surrounding cybersecurity. If you want to be protected, you have to understand what the real threats are and how you could be unknowingly overlooking them every single day. In this article, we will debunk 5 common cybersecurity myths to help you stay informed and protected as you take your business into 2024.

Myth 1: “I’m too small to be a target.”

One of the most dangerous cybersecurity myths is the belief that cybercriminals only target large organizations. In reality, cyber-attacks do not discriminate by size. Small businesses, start-ups and individuals are as susceptible to cyberthreats as larger enterprises. Cybercriminals often target smaller entities precisely because they may lack robust cybersecurity measures, making them easier prey. To stay safe, everyone should prioritize cybersecurity, regardless of their size or scale.

Myth 2: “Antivirus software is enough.”

Antivirus software is an essential component of cybersecurity, but it is not a silver bullet. Many people mistakenly believe that installing antivirus software on their devices is sufficient to protect them from all cyberthreats. While antivirus software can help detect and prevent known malware, it cannot stand up against sophisticated attacks or social engineering tactics. To enhance your protection, combine antivirus software with other security measures, such as firewalls, regular software updates and user education.

Myth 3: “Strong passwords are invulnerable.”

A strong password is undoubtedly an integral part of cybersecurity, but it is not foolproof. Some believe that creating complex passwords guarantees their accounts’ safety. However, even strong passwords can be compromised through various means, including phishing attacks, keyloggers and data breaches. To bolster your security, enable multifactor authentication (MFA) whenever possible, which adds an additional layer of protection beyond your password.

Myth 4: “Cybersecurity is solely an IT department’s responsibility.”

Another common misconception is that cybersecurity is exclusively the responsibility of an organization’s IT department. While IT professionals are crucial in securing digital environments, cybersecurity is a group effort. Everyone within an organization, from employees to management, should be aware of cybersecurity best practices and adhere to them. In fact, human error is a leading cause of data breaches, so fostering a culture of cybersecurity awareness is essential.

Myth 5: “My data is safe in the cloud.”

With the increasing use of cloud services, some individuals believe that storing data in the cloud is inherently secure. However, the safety of your data in the cloud depends on various factors, including the provider’s security measures and your own practices. Cloud providers typically implement robust security, but users must still manage their data securely, including setting strong access controls, regularly updating passwords and encrypting sensitive information. It’s a shared responsibility.

Cybersecurity is something you must take seriously heading into the New Year. Cyberthreats continuously evolve, and believing in these misconceptions can leave individuals and organizations vulnerable to attacks. It’s essential to stay informed, maintain a proactive stance and invest in cybersecurity measures to protect your digital assets. Remember that cybersecurity is a collective effort and everyone has a role to play in ensuring online safety. By debunking these myths and embracing a holistic approach to cybersecurity, you can better protect your digital life and business.

To start off the New Year in a secure position, get a completely free, no-obligation security risk assessment from our team. We’ll review everything you have in place and give you a full report explaining where you’re vulnerable and what you need to do to fix it. Even if you already have an IT team supporting you, a second set of eyes never hurts when it comes to your security. Book a 10-minute discovery call with our team here – https://tmtdemo.axionthemes.com/discoverycall/.

New And Urgent Bank Account Fraud Alert

Malware Strikes Again

The infamous Xenomorph Android malware, known for targeting 56 European banks in 2022, is back and in full force targeting US banks, financial institutions and cryptocurrency wallets.

The cyber security and fraud detection company ThreatFabric has called this one of the most advanced and dangerous Android malware variants they’ve seen.

This malware is being spread mostly by posing as a Chrome browser or Google Play Store update. When a user clicks on the “update,” it installs the malware designed to automate the process of accessing your online accounts and extracting and transferring funds.

Besides being alert to this scam (and you should let your spouse, partners and family know as well), you should be aware of a few ways to protect yourself:

  • Avoid links and attachments in any unsolicited e-mail. Simply previewing a document could infect your device, so never open or click on anything suspicious.
  • To update your browser, simply close it and reopen. You don’t have to download an application to update it. Furthermore, the Google Play Store app will not ask you for an update, so don’t fall for any website alert or text stating you need to download an update.

But remember, bank fraud can manifest itself in several forms, including:

  1. Phishing Scams: Cybercriminals send deceptive e-mails or messages, often impersonating trusted entities like banks or government agencies, to trick you or your employees into revealing sensitive information like login credentials. Sometimes these are facilitated by phone calls, so make sure your team is fully aware of this. The latest MGM hack happened when a hacker called the company’s IT department requesting a password reset.
  2. Check Fraud: Criminals may forge or alter your business’s checks to siphon funds from your account, making it essential for you to secure your checkbook and be careful about sharing or e-mailing your account information. You might consider going checkless to cut down on the chances of your account being hacked.
  3. Unauthorized Wire Transfers: Hackers may compromise your online banking credentials to initiate unauthorized transfers, diverting funds to their accounts.
  4. Account Takeover: Criminals may gain control of your business’s online banking accounts by exploiting weak passwords, reused passwords or security gaps, such as e-mailing your passwords to others or storing your bank password in your browser, allowing them to make unauthorized transactions.
  5. Employee Fraud: Sometimes, even employees may engage in fraudulent activities, such as embezzlement or manipulating financial records.

To protect yourself, use strong, unique passwords for your online banking accounts and never store them in your browser. Also, update your passwords monthly with significant changes to them, using uppercase and lowercase, symbols and numbers that are at least 14 to 16 characters.

Second, always turn on multifactor authentication (MFA) so you’re notified if anyone tries to log into your accounts without your knowledge.

Third, set up alerts for large withdrawals. You can ask your bank to require a physical signature for wire transfers to protect you from someone taking money from your account without your signature.

Fourth, get fraud insurance that specifically covers employee and online theft so you are protected in the event a cybercriminal steals money from your account.

And, as always, make sure you have strong cyberprotections in place for ANY device that logs into a bank account or critical application. Far too many businesses think that if their data is “in the cloud,” they are safe. Remember, your bank account is “in the cloud,” and the bank likely has a secure portal, but that doesn’t mean YOU can’t be hacked.

If you want to ensure your organization is truly secure, click here to request a free Cyber Security Risk Assessment to see just how protected your organization is against known predators. If you haven’t had an independent third party conduct this audit in the last 6 months, you’re due.

It’s completely free and confidential, without obligation. Voice scams are just the latest in a tsunami of threats aimed at small business owners, with the most susceptible being the ones who never “check the locks” to ensure their current IT company is doing what they should. Claim your complimentary Risk Assessment today.

Data backup planning: 10 best practices for protection

I was this article today and thought I would share & add my two cents worth.

For most organizations, loss of business data could spell disaster. Possible outcomes include reputational damage, regulatory penalties, loss of competitive advantage and damage to customer service. Ultimately, it could mean the end of the business.

 

Here’s a look at the top five tape storage backup and recovery tips of 2009. Learn about tape backup and tape trends in 2009 with these top tips.

No business wants to lose data — of any kind — so it’s essential that all relevant data and databases are protected. The most effective way to achieve that goal is to establish data backup planning procedures with secure technology that not only protects data, but enables it to be quickly and securely accessible.

Here are 10 best practices for optimizing data backup planning activities.

Establish data backup, data retention and data destruction policies. These three policies comprise the foundation of a secure data backup program. Policies are also essential when an audit is being conducted. Data backup translates to the process of identifying data to be backed up, the frequency and timing of backups, the tools and technology to be used for backups, and the process for accessing backed-up data. Data retention defines what data will be retained, the format in which the data is stored and the duration of the storage. Finally, data destruction defines what data is to be destroyed, when it takes place, and the process for destroying the data and the media on which it is stored.

Plan for dramatically increasing amounts of data. Regardless of what your current data storage requirements are, plan your backup needs on the basis that your capacity is likely to grow annually. Whatever storage resources you have in place now — whether on-site or remote/cloud — be sure you can scale quickly and cost-effectively if needed.

Ensure backed-up data is secure and protected from unauthorized access. We have seen far too many examples of cybersecurity breaches where large amounts of data are stolen or compromised. Whether data is stored on-site or remotely, ensure the resources needed for confidentiality, integrity and availability enable data to be protected from unauthorized access, prevent alterations or changes, and allow access anytime and from anywhere via secure technologies.

Build a backup environment composed of multiple elements. While many organizations still use on-site physical data storage arrangements, such as file servers, NAS and tape, the growth and acceptance of remote and cloud-based storage options are significant. Costs for remote storage make those options increasingly affordable, and assuming their security arrangements are robust, remote storage is a major best practice. The 3-2-1 Rule for data backup planning states there should be at least three copies of data available, stored on at least two storage devices and that at least one of those devices is located remotely. Major cloud storage providers, such as Amazon, IBM and Microsoft, offer an array of options and pricing plans.

Optimize backup plans and procedures to business requirements. It’s simple to have a backup program that requires once-daily backups of incremental data changes and once-weekly backups of all data. But if your organization is subject to regulatory requirements, you may need to have a backup arrangement for the regulated data and another one for other business data. Some data may need to be backed up or replicated almost immediately, while other data can be backed up daily or even weekly. Your data backup program should be based on your business needs.

Back up all your operating environments. Today’s businesses use a variety of operating environments. The key trend is to virtualize critical business operations. In such environments, it is essential that backup programs are powerful, cost-effective, secure and fast. Naturally, such environments have a cost associated with them. Take a close look at the total cost of ownership when conducting your data backup planning.

Consider tape backup. Sophisticated remote and cloud-based data backup services can be costly, whereas tape can be a cost-effective alternative, especially for data that is not needed daily or even hourly for business operations. [This point couldn’t be more off. Yes, tape is cheap but 50% of tape recoveries fail.  Even today after many advances and capacity 50% still fail for ALL sizes of organizations over the last 50 years]

Employ a backup architecture that supports data compression and deduplication to reduce infrastructure needs. With ever-increasing volumes of data to be stored, consider arrangements to conserve storage requirements, such as data compression and deduplication. The cost for such technologies may help defer a major — and costly — investment in backup technology.

Implement fast and secure access to backed-up data. With the investments being made in backup infrastructures, a key component is to have technology that speeds up the ability to find and access data that has been backed up.

Test backup plans regularly. No matter how robust your backup strategy is or how much diversity is in place for storing data, it’s still essential to test your backup plan, especially if a disaster has occurred. Just as a technology disaster recovery (DR) plan should be tested at least annually, so should your data backup plan. Ideally, the data backup planning element should be part of a DR test.

Overall a good article. Unfortunately, almost all organizations that I encounter before I get involved don’t follow all the most important pieces, follow-up, test and check to make sure it will work when you need it.

Mirrored Storage | Secure CLOUD Solutions for Business | mirroredstorage.com
Mirrored Storage provides cloud backupcloud storage and a full range of Information Technology services to businesses in Dallas, Fort Worth and surrounding area.
By John Neibel | mirroredstorage.com

World Backup Day: Is it needed or not? Tech experts share their views

 

Tech experts react to annual World Backup Day.

Source: http://www.cbronline.com/news/cybersecurity/world-backup-day-needed-not-tech-experts-share-views/

World backup day

As we reach the annual World Backup Day of the year, it is important to focus on the importance of backing up to avoid losing important files that could have been saved with a simple back-up procedure.

I, for one totally know how this feels following my recent incident of dropping my phone down the toilet, to which the phone became instantly inactive losing over 2000 pictures, files, A LOT! All of which could have been saved if I had just backed up to cloud, but yes I’ve learnt the hard way.

So now here’s the question- shouldn’t back-up day be every day? Does a day dedicated to it really express its true importance and effects?

Well, CBR put together a list with what some experts in this field have to say to answer this mystery.

 

GDPR

In aid of raising awareness of the risks of losing data and what can be done to prevent it, Cloud computing company, Rackspace shares its views on the importance of UK businesses backing up their data.

Read more: How Organisations Should Be Preparing for the GDPR

Lillian Pang, Senior Director of Legal and Data Protection Officer, Rackspace said: “Every day data becomes more valuable to businesses, with more and more created at an ever-increasing speed. While the message to ‘back up’ data is beginning to resonate, this in turn means that businesses are up to their necks in large amounts of data that needs protecting. And this is just the data they know about, without even thinking of what is going on in shadow IT.

GDPR“Initiatives like World Backup Day serve as a timely reminder to businesses not only of the need to back up data, but also to protect and carefully manage this invaluable asset. Like all risk based strategies, businesses must know what really needs to be backed up in the first place. In other words, businesses must understand what the ‘mission critical data’ actually is.

 “The sheer scale of data in circulation means that a simple backup tool is no longer enough in minimising the risk of valuable file or database goes missing or becoming corrupted. In addition, the process of backing up data has become more complex than it used to be because companies are more conscious than ever of the compliance regulations they have to adhere to.

“ If processes aren’t in place to meet legislation like GDPR, it’s not just reputational damage that organisations need to worry about – high fines could also have a significant business impact. Businesses need to dedicate time and resource to implement and execute on the processes in place for identifying and responding quickly to system degradations or failures.”

 

Disaster Recovery

In response to the importance of regular backups, Cloud service provider, iland shares the idea that backing up data is an easy and hassle-less procedure that can be done daily or any day of the week. Still yet, many organisations and individuals ignore the process for different reasons.

Brian Ussher, President and Co-Founder, iland said: “On World Backup Day, it’s a good time to recognise how far the market has come in protecting mission-critical business data. The scalability, flexibility and on-demand nature of the cloud means that backup and DR strategies that were previously only available to large enterprise customers are now also within the reach of small and medium sized businesses.

“Indeed, many of our customers have evolved from onsite backup to cloud backup to a full cloud-based disaster recovery strategy.  While risks ranging from the dramatic; hurricanes, storms and ransomware attacks to the mundane; power outages, unauthorised changes and human error are only increasing, companies of all sizes can be confident that the technology and expert assistance is available to help them achieve IT resiliency and business continuity.”

What do Veeam and Hitachi Data Systems have to say?

Data Centre Action

Again, in response to World Back up Day itself, many look at the risks of making organisations back up on the same day. Not only could it cause a crash in backup locations, but who can be so sure that the process of large amounts of data transfer at once will not cause users files to end up in different locations.

This is why files should consistently be stored in secure locations.

Jon Leppard, Director, Future Facilities said: “A comprehensive backup policy should involve keeping copies of data on a local server or hard drive, but most importantly it should also be stored in an external location –usually a datacentre. But even datacentres have capacity limits on the volume of data they can store at any one time. If everyone were to back up at the same time there would be considerable pressure on network bandwidth and global data centre capacity.

“Data centre operators must ensure they have a backup strategy in place, in terms of predicting the impact of a sudden spike in demand. After all, backup must be failsafe, or it is of little value. With that in mind, maybe encouraging everyone to backup on one day of the year is not the right approach.”

 

Availability Gap

As we have a specific day set aside to encourage backing up, it should be just as important to demand continuous availability, especially as businesses are now required to adjust to become the Always-On enterprise to allow 24/7 availability.

For this reason, it is advised that World Availability Day should be imposed the day before World Backup day and should also be given more awareness, according to Veeam.

Richard Agnew, VP NW EMEA, Veeam said:  “In today’s connected world, businesses need to ensure availability to avoid a breakdown in operations.

“The recent AWS outage (which took down many large websites for several hours) paints a clear picture that businesses cannot afford to have unavailable data. Not only does brand reputation take a toll, businesses are also left out of pocket. Organisations have become more aware of the dreaded ‘availability gap’ emerging – which includes data loss, extended recovery times, unreliable data protection, and a lack of knowledge of the IT environment leading to unplanned issues and downtime.

“Organisations have implemented innovative solutions and planning which needs to be complemented with processes that can ensure availability at all times. With AI, machine learning and the Internet of Things driving IT modernisation, it’s imperative that data and functionality is protected at all times, and that’s why having a secure website is important, but you can achieve this with the right hosting, and if you don’t know how to host a websites there are guides such as the Introduction to Web Hosting site you can find online and is perfect for this purpose.

“The boardroom discussions need to evolve from the backup and recovery strategy to availability. It’s high time for businesses to take action and introduce an IT strategy that ensures their business is Always-On 24/7.”

 

Data Storage

For businesses especially, secure enterprise data storage should be of key importance especially considering the upcoming GDPR effects which are due to take place.

Steve Lewis, CTO UK&I, Hitachi Data Systems said: “With just a year to go before organisations operating in the EU must become GDPR-compliant, it’s now more important than ever for companies to focus on safely and securely storing organisational and customer data.

“The amount of data captured by businesses every day can be a huge asset, unlocking valuable insights and creating competitive advantage. However, this same information can also cause serious headaches for those tasked with securely storing and managing it – and GDPR is putting a time limit on the need to get this right.

“As a result, it’s no surprise that many organisations are looking to new solutions to help them navigate the regulatory landscape – with Data Protection Officers increasingly being hired to guide organisations and provide a bridge between the IT department and the boardroom, and companies looking for technology solutions to help them better manage and govern the data they hold.”

Amazon Cloud Failure

Usually people don’t notice the “cloud” — unless, that is, it turns into a massive storm. Which was the case Tuesday when Amazon’s huge cloud-computing service suffered a major outage.

Amazon Web Services, by far the world’s largest provider of internet-based computing services, suffered an unspecified breakdown in its eastern U.S. region starting about midday Tuesday. The result: unprecedented and widespread performance problems for thousands of websites and apps.

While few services went down completely, thousands, if not tens of thousands, of companies had trouble with features ranging from file sharing to webfeeds to loading any type of data from Amazon’s “simple storage service,” known as S3. Amazon services began returning around 4 p.m. EST, and an hour later the company noted on its service site that S3 was fully recovered and “operating normally.”

THE CONCENTRATED CLOUD

The breakdown shows the risks of depending heavily on a few big companies for cloud computing. Amazon’s service is significantly larger by revenue than any of its nearest rivals — Microsoft’s Azure, Google’s Cloud Platform and IBM, according to Forrester Research.

With so few large providers, any outage can have a disproportionate effect. But some analysts argue that the Amazon outage doesn’t prove there’s a problem with cloud computing — it just highlights how reliable the cloud normally is.

The outage, said Forrester analyst Dave Bartoletti, shouldn’t cause companies to assume “the cloud is dangerous.”

Amazon’s problems began when one S3 region based in Virginia began to experience what the company called “increased error rates.” In a statement, Amazon said as of 4 p.m. EST it was still experiencing errors that were “impacting various AWS services.”

“We are working hard at repairing S3, believe we understand root cause, and are working on implementing what we believe will remediate the issue,” the company said.

WHY S3 MATTERS

Amazon S3 stores files and data for companies on remote servers. Amazon started offering it in 2006, and it’s used for everything from building websites and apps to storing images, customer data and commercial transactions.

“Anything you can think about storing in the most cost-effective way possible,” is how Rich Mogull, CEO of data security firm Securosis, puts it.

Since Amazon hasn’t said exactly what is happening yet, it’s hard to know just how serious the outage is. “We do know it’s bad,” Mogull said. “We just don’t know how bad.”

At S3 customers, the problem affected both “front-end” operations — meaning the websites and apps that users see — and back-end data processing that takes place out of sight. Some smaller online services, such as Trello, Scribd and IFTTT, appeared to be down for a while, although all have since recovered.

The corporate message service Slack, by contrast, stayed up, although it reported ” degraded service ” for some features. Users reported that file sharing in particular appeared to freeze up.

The Associated Press’ own photos, webfeeds and other online services were also affected.

TECHNICAL KNOCKOUTAGE

Major cloud-computing outages don’t occur very often — perhaps every year or two — but they do happen. In 2015, Amazon’s DynamoDB service, a cloud-based database, had problems that affected companies like Netflix and Medium. But usually providers have workarounds that can get things working again quickly.

“What’s really surprising to me is that there’s no fallback — usually there is some sort of backup plan to move data over, and it will be made available within a few minutes,” said Patrick Moorhead, an analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy.

AFTEREFFECTS

Forrester’s Bartoletti said the problems on Tuesday could lead to some Amazon customers storing their data on Amazon’s servers in more than one location, or even shifting to other providers.

“A lot more large companies could look at their application architecture and ask ‘how could we have insulated ourselves a little bit more,'” he said. But he added, “I don’t think it fundamentally changes how incredibly reliable the S3 service has been.”

Source: By Mae Anderson, AP technology reporter NEW YORK — Feb 28, 2017, 7:50 PM ET

Mirrored Storage | Secure CLOUD Solutions for Business | mirroredstorage.com
Mirrored Storage provides cloud backup, cloud storage and a full range of Information Technology services to businesses in Dallas, Fort Worth and surrounding area.
By John Neibel | mirroredstorage.com

Cyber Security Breaches at SMB’s in 2017

I read a very interesting article about 2017 predictions for SMB’s closing due to Cyber Attacks.  Businesses surveyed concerns have risen concerning their technology, email and even documents which can be in Word format or PDF which you can format with an sodapdf software .

It’s not just big firms like Target or Home Depot that need to worry about cyber security. Forty-three percent (43%) of all cyberattacks target SMBs.(1) Not surprisingly, our data shows they are increasingly concerned about the safety of their company’s technology and files. Most SMBs don’t have in-house experts to deal with breach issues, and the average recovery cost is $36,000. Sadly, 60% end up having to close their doors within six months of the breach (2). In 2017, this could add up to 550,000 business failures.

Sources: (1) Symantec Internet Security Threat Report 2016; (2) National Cyber Security Alliance 2016; Bank of America SBO Report 2015; The Business Journals SMB Insights; E = predicted estimate/preliminary data from SMB Insights 2017

The ONLY TRUE WAY to protect your business is with services like Data Protection solutions like we provide to our clients.  We can also help with protecting your network and many other aspects with our Proven Technology Services specifically out Network Services.

Mirrored Storage | Secure CLOUD Solutions for Business | mirroredstorage.com
Mirrored Storage provides cloud backup, cloud storage and a full range of Information Technology services to businesses in Dallas, Fort Worth and surrounding area.
By John Neibel | mirroredstorage.com

Ford Cancels Mexico Plant, CEO Says It Wasn’t Due to Trump

Video of the day!  Watch this video.  It was a great highlight, but the underlying message is not what it seems.

I predict more media manipulation on steroids for the next few years!

Mirrored Storage | Secure CLOUD Solutions for Business | mirroredstorage.com
Mirrored Storage provides cloud backup, cloud storage and a full range of Information Technology services to businesses in Dallas, Fort Worth and surrounding area.
By John Neibel | mirroredstorage.com

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