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Budgeting for Technology in the New Year

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How to squeeze the most out of your IT and save your business money

With the New Year in full swing you’re probably preparing to implement your updated information technology (IT) plan. As a business owner or leader, you probably have many questions such as, “How much should my business budget?” You may also be wondering if you’re making the most of the IT you already have in place. In this blog, we break down what every business should be budgeting at the very least as well steps for ensuring your business has the technology it needs and that your network is as secure as possible.

Cloud Computing
If your business has not yet migrated to the cloud for your email and other services, now is the time to do so. There are several reasons it is best for businesses to move to the cloud. From saving money to better data security, cloud computing offers a ton of benefits to modern businesses.

To begin, establishing and maintaining your own data storage is expensive. Not only do you need to purchase the right hardware and software, but you have to hire people to install it and set it up. Cloud computing allows you to pay for just the services you use and can reduce your IT costs. It is so affordable that is was estimated in research by McAfee that nearly one-third of worldwide enterprises would be using software-as-a-service (SaaS) by the end of 2018. Cloud providers typically charge based on the features you choose, storage used, and number of users. Most also charge for time and memory space. This means you get to select the package that best suits your IT budget.

Cloud computing also allows you both flexibility and scalability. Cloud computing lets your employees work from anywhere they have internet access through virtualization. Giving employees the option to work remotely means you can cut the number of workspaces at the office further reducing your costs. In addition, scaling Cloud computing services is a cinch. You don’t have to spend a ton of money on new servers, storage, and licenses as your business grows. With the cloud, you just sign up for additional storage space or features as your business needs them.

If you store your own data, a breach or disaster such as a fire could devastate your business’s valuable information. With the cloud, your data will always be available as long as users have internet access. Many businesses use the cloud specifically for backup and disaster recovery for this very reason.

Data security is also a top priority in this day and age of hacks, breaches, and ransomware. Email is the lifeblood of most businesses to ensuring it is secure should be a top priority. Storing data and using email on the cloud is often more secure than storing it or hosting on physical servers and data centers in your office. Laptops and desktops can be stolen as can other hardware. Data on the cloud can be deleted remotely or moved to a different account and hackers face a greater challenge in breaching cloud platforms so your data is simply more secure. As a matter of fact, 85 percent of enterprises keep sensitive data in the cloud according to Vormetric.

Finally, cloud computing is one of the most effective ways to promote collaboration and it gives you a wide variety of service options to choose from. Your employees will be able to easily share data, collaborate on projects, and provide updates in real time from the field. Time wasted on repetitive tasks such as data entry are no longer an issue and you get to choose the services your business really needs whether it is abundant storage or software from a wide range of providers.

Leveraging Your Existing IT
Hardware and software can be hugely expensive investments for many businesses. Your business needs to get the most out of every bit of IT it has invested in. For example, you may already be using Office 365 for email but is your business using it for file sharing or collaboration between teams? A network assessment and IT audit can tell you where you have room for improvement, opportunities for growth, and options for cost savings.

A study by Bank of America in 2017 revealed small business owners found the greatest barrier to achieving a balance between work and their personal life involved administrative tasks. Perhaps you have software that can help you automate administrative tasks to help your business free up time. For example, Intuit’s QuickBooks Self-Employed software has an expense management system built right into it. An independent IT auditor can show you how to best use what you already have to meet your organization’s needs without spending more money unnecessarily.

Hardware Replacement
Most businesses cannot afford to replace their desktops and laptops all at once. This is especially true when the average lifespan of a desktop today is between three and five years according to a piece by Chron, an online news source.

“Of course, this number is just a generalization and a number of factors play into lifespan, ranging from the computer’s quality, care, and room for upgrades,” according to the blog, “What is the Life Span of the Average PC?” “For small business owners, every new computer is an expense and an investment, one whose worth over time largely depends on how you use it and care for it.”

Laptops are also a typical expense for most businesses. According to a blog by TechGuided, the lifespan of a laptop will depend on the quality of the product you purchase, how often it is used, and how it is maintained. “A mid-range laptop should probably last around four to five years, though, give or take a year or two depending on how you use it,” advises the piece.

To make such updating of your IT more affordable, we recommend making replacements in quarterly cycles rather than all at once. Your IT personnel or your IT auditor can make recommendations as to which hardware needs to be replaced immediately, which can hold off for a few months, and which pieces still have a good life ahead of them. Based on these recommendations, you can schedule a plan for cycling out old hardware each quarter on a regular basis. This serves to level out your IT spending rather than investing a ton of money all at once.

According to an article by Business.org, businesses should “expect to pay between $400 for a basic model with limited storage space to $3,500 for a top of the line desktop with a large hard drive. Desktops also range in price based on operating system as well. For example, models that run Windows may be less expensive than Apple models. Apple desktops vary in cost from $1,500-$3,500, depending on which features you need.”

The same piece also stated that laptops “range from $300 for the most basic models to $3,000 for high-speed models with large storage capacity. Similar to desktops, laptops also vary in cost depending on which operating system you prefer. Apple laptops tend to fall towards the middle of the price scale, ranging in cost from $1,000 to $2,500. Laptops that run Windows have a wider price range, and cost depends mostly on features and brand.”

The Latest Software
In addition to hardware, businesses will also need to consider the software they are using. When you purchase software, it is licensed to your business and may have an end date to your user agreement. Additionally, software changes over time and there may be upgrades that could benefit your company or even new software that is better than what you have.

This is where the IT audit can once again assist your business with saving money. Your IT auditor can evaluate your existing needs versus the software you have in place. They can determine if you have the latest software or if the software you have simply needs to be patched or updated. A real IT expert can educate you about software to help you achieve your business goals while saving you money. Based on their recommendations, you can choose to either use what you already have or purchase better software to save your business money over the long term.

Email Security
As we mentioned before, email is as critical to business continuity as breathing is to life. That means you need to have quality security for your email. Software such as Microsoft Office 365 and other programs can scan for threats, identify phishing attempts, and filter spam. Programs such as Mimecast offer many of the same advantages and can also aid employees when it comes to identifying websites as safe or unsafe to visit based on URL reputation. Anti-virus, anti-spam, and firewall software are also good to include in your IT plan.

The cost of software will vary by brand and product. For example, a one-year subscription to Office 365 Unlimited Professional is just $99.00 online. That cost covers up to five desktops, five tablets, and five mobile devices such as smartphones. There are also monthly subscriptions to Office 365 Business for as little as $8.25 a month. What you spend will ultimately depend on what software you purchase or subscribe to, how many devices you need to cover, and for what length of time.

Technology Awareness Program
All of the hardware and software in the world won’t protect your business if your employees are not technology savvy. Any IT expert will tell you that regularly-scheduled, ongoing employee education is the cornerstone of securing your business data. This is something that every business should budget for because it’s your employees that can make or break your business.

The cost of security awareness and end-user training will, again, vary from business to business. This is because most companies that handle Technology Awareness Training programs, such as Oram Corporate Advisors, base their rate on how many people are being trained, how in depth the training will be, and how frequently you host trainings. Ideally though, businesses should train every new employee as part of their onboarding process with all-staff training every six months to keep employees updated on the latest threats and how to avoid or combat them. This investment in training will pay off in dividends as each employee becomes more aware of the threats they face and their role in protecting your business.

At the end of the day, how much your business should budget for technology this year will depend on a variety of factors from how you store your data to what hardware and software you have as well as your business goals. If you would like more information about IT asset management, network assessments and IT auditing, or other IT support services, please contact Oram at (617) 933-5060 or visit us online. We can even schedule a free technology assessment to get your business started off on the right foot in 2019.

October is National Cyber Security Awareness Month

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A look at cyber awareness and tips for protecting yourself online

Whether you are turning on the television, checking the daily newsfeed online, or reading a magazine, you’re sure to hear about the breach of a major business such as Yahoo, a data leak by the government, or hackers attacking a local school. Over the last two decades, cybersecurity has been legislated to protect consumers, businesses, and the government alike. There’s a need for greater awareness of cyber security and how people can best protect themselves and their businesses. That is the purpose behind National Cyber Security Awareness Month (NCSAM) which has been celebrated every October for the last 15 years.

The History of NCSAM
Developed as a collaborative effort between industry and the U.S. government, the purpose of NCSAM is to ensure every American has the necessary resources to stay safer and more secure online as well as advance awareness of the threats we all face when we log on. Launched in 2003, NCSAM was conceived by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the National Cyber Security Alliance.

According to the National Cyber Security Alliance, the goal was to reach as many people and businesses as possible to educate them about cybersecurity. The target audience consists of consumers, small and medium-sized business, corporations, educational institutions and young people across the country.

STOP. THINK. CONNECT.
This year marks the 8th anniversary of the STOP. THINK. CONNECT.™ campaign used during NCSAM which offers tips and advice for everyone from the daily internet user to business owners.

The message to consumers of every age is clear. We are all warned to stop and think before connecting which means doing things to protect ourselves before we get online. We are warned to “Keep a Clean Machine,” “Protect Your Personal Information,” and “Connect with Care.” But what does all of this really mean?

Keep a Clean Machine
All of your internet-connected devices should be kept free of malware and other infections such as viruses as they can interrupt your connectivity at home and at work as well as spread to others. A dirty machine can also threaten your safety and the safety of others online. This is especially true when it comes to malware that connects your devices to botnets, which are networks of computers controlled by cybercriminals that can steal your information and make money from it.

There are several things you can do to keep a clean machine including:

  • Use the Latest Software– Ensure you have the newest security software, web browser and operating systems to offer the best defense against known viruses, malware, and other threats.
  • Automate Updates– Most software programs automatically update to defend against threats. Keep auto updates turned on and turn your computer off each night so updates will occur when you reboot.
  • Protect Every Device– In addition to computers, be sure to turn on auto updates for all devices including smartphones, laptops, and tablets.
  • Plug & Scan– External devices such as USBs can harbor viruses and malware. Use security to scan them before using.
  • Get Rid of Garbage– Delete links, emails, tweets, posts, etc. that look suspicious. These are ways cybercriminals compromise your computer. If it’s not from a trusted source, trash it. Don’t open it.
  • Hot Spot Smarts– Limit the business you conduct when away from your home or office. Be sure to adjust the security settings on your device to limit who can access it.
  • Act Fast– If you think your machine is infected, get help fast to remove viruses and malware before they can spread or cause more damage.

Protect Your Personal Information
Each one of us has the responsibility of protecting our personally identifiable information (PII) online. If your personal information ends up in the wrong hands, there could be serious consequences from a breach in your social media or theft from your business to your identity being stolen and your bank account being wiped out.

While you may have worked hard to protect that information, all of us must still assume our personal information has been leaked because hacks happen all of the time. Here are some tips for protecting your PII online from the New York Times:

  • Use Different Passwords– Across multiple sites from Facebook to your bank account, NEVER use the same password in more than one place. Doing this allows a hacker that gets your password in one place to use it in another. Password managers such as 1Password or LastPass can help you keep track of them all.
  • Never Your Social- Never use your social security number as a username or password. This is especially true in the face of the recent Equifax breach.
  • Be Suspicious- Treat everything online with an abundance of suspicion. Hackers send emails, notices, letters, etc. posing as people you know and businesses you solicit to gain information. Contact a business or individual requesting PII online by calling them directly before deleting the email as they may need it to press charges or stop the cybercriminal from targeting others.
  • Use Stronger Passwords- Sites such as LastPass can help you create unique passwords for each site you visit and save them for you in a protected database. If you create your own, be sure to use uppercase and lowercase letters, numerals, and special characters in each password.
  • Employ Extra Security- Passwords are not enough. If a site allows you to use secondary or two-factor authentication, enable those features. When you enter your password, you will receive a message with a one-time login code to allow you to finish logging in.

Connect with Care
Many web users are very quick to click whether it be on an email, a link, or an attachment. Slow down and take time to examine what it is you are about to click before you do so. Ensure you know who an email is from before opening it. If you don’t know the sender or aren’t expecting an email, delete it without opening it.

If you receive an email from a person or business you know and the email address looks familiar, feel free to open it. Once open, look at the email itself. Does it sound like it’s from the sender or does it seem odd? If the English is suddenly broken, the business logo is not right or is missing, or something else is off about the email, do not click on any links or attachments. Contact the person or business directly to see if they have sent you something via email.

Use care when connecting to public Wi-Fi. This is especially true if you are conducting business such as banking or shopping online. Use only trusted secure connections when using portable devices outside of the home or office.

Be Web Wise
Personal information about anyone is now easy to find online. This is especially true with the advent and use of social media. That means we all have to be wise when it comes to using the web. The first thing you should know is how your information gets online. Here are some ways you may inadvertently be sharing your personal information:

  • Posting on social media
  • “Checking in” through social location sites such as Foursquare
  • Commenting on blogs or shopping sites
  • Creating online wish lists online at sites like Amazon or Pinterest
  • Sharing videos or photos online
  • Using online games
  • Giving location data when uploading photos online

If you are on social media, check to see if you can change your privacy settings to limit what others can see about you or who has access to your information. Be sure to read the privacy policy of any company before sharing your information with them to ensure they don’t sell it to third parties. You’ll also want to ensure that your data is backed up at home and at the office in the event of ransomware, other cyber attacks, or even a computer shutdown.

Be a Good Online Citizen
Being a good online citizen involves employing the Golden Rule of treating others online the way you would like to be treated and using common sense. Don’t visit unsecured sites and don’t forward emails from unknown sources to others.

Be aware of how the action of one person can damage an entire online community. For example, one employee surfing unsecured sites through your business network can open the door for malware, viruses, and cybercriminals. Have common expectations in your home and office about what is an acceptable use of the network and what types of sites should be avoided.

Report cybercrime and breaches immediately. These should be reported not only to your internal technology personnel but to law enforcement as well. By reporting such issues, you are helping others avoid becoming victims, too, and stopping cybercriminals in their tracks.

Own Your Online Presence
This means safeguarding your own personal information and activity. For example, data should be treated like money. It should be protected. This means everything from your birthdate and personal address to the names of your children and pets which are often used as passwords. It can be easy for a hacker to get into your accounts with such personal information floating around on the web.

Be careful about who you share information with. For example, you may get “friend” requests from people you don’t know on social media. Simply delete the request. This is not being rude, it’s being prudent. Also, don’t send login information via email. Email can easily be hacked without the proper, updated security in place. If you get a request for information from a business online, call them to see if the request was really from them and provide any data they may need that way.

Lock Down Your Login
One of the main points of the STOP. THINK. CONNECT.™ campaign is to Lock Down Your Login. There are several ways you can ensure your login information stays secure. Here are six tips to get you there:

  • Protect accounts with strong authentication
  • Keep security software updated
  • Avoid phishing by thinking before clicking
  • Use unique passwords for every site
  • Protect your mobile devices
  • Employ trusted security tools

Our Responsibility
Staying safe online and protecting those we are connected with is everyone’s responsibility. Because the world has become so digital, we are more interconnected than ever before. From our desktops to our tablets, phones to laptops, we find ourselves working, playing, learning, and living online. That means all of us has a responsibility to try to stay as safe as possible by adhering to the advice of cyber experts.

National Cyber Security Awareness Month is a chance for us all to become more aware of the threats we face online and ways to protect ourselves and others. For more information, safety tips, and ways to get involved in NCSAM, visit the National Cyber Security Alliance online or contact Oram at (617) 933-5060.

Ransomware: A Guide for Protecting Todays Businesses

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Ransomware has become one of the top threats to businesses in today’s global and digital society. It has become such a danger in fact that a late 2017 report from Cybersecurity Ventures predicted that the global cost of cybercrime would reach $6 trillion by 2021 with ransomware playing a major role in that total. Furthermore, Cisco’s 2017 Annual Cybersecurity Report showed ransomware is increasing by 350 percent each year and a business falls victim to a ransomware attack every 40 seconds. Last year’s worldwide attack in May 2017 of the WannaCry ransomware caused complete and utter chaos around the globe and begged the question of what’s next.

So what is a business owner to do? For starters, you must know what you’re up against. Next, there are steps for preventing the threat from opening the door to your business. Here’s your guide to ransomware and how to stop it before it stops your business.

What Ransomware Is
Ransomware is a malicious malware that targets the private files of your business. While malware can cause some annoying problems or create more malicious issues such as reformatting a disk or deleting files, ransomware is different. Ransomware is a malware that infects computers and restricts access to files, stopping businesses in their tracks.

When you run into ransomware, you will know it because it will notify a system’s user that it has been attacked. The notification will come after the damage has been done and your information is already encrypted. A cybercriminal will use the ransomware to demand a ransom, typically money or cryptocurrency, in exchange for the safe return of files. If the funds are not paid, the cybercriminal responsible may delete or publish your private business files. If you do pay, you may still not get your data back anyway as the hacker responsible can simply take the money and run.

Like a virus that can attack the body, ransomware can attack an entire network. And like viruses, ransomware can morph and adapt from the way they spread to the way they encrypt data. This means a business must approach protection on a multitude of fronts and be ready to adapt to new protections as they are developed.

Means of Protection
Your IT provider should offer you protection through at least six areas. By securing a variety of entryways and providing layers of protection, your business will be safer from all threats including ransomware. At Oram, we take a six-step approach to protecting our clients against ransomware and other cyber threats.

Patching
The most basic layer of security is to monitor and patch all computers and applications on an ongoing basis. We address all known operating system security vulnerabilities with the latest patches. This measure is the first step in protecting your operating system particularly when a flaw has been uncovered. Your company’s outside business IT partner or in-house professionals should be providing the latest patches to ensure your operating systems are running at peak performance while ensuring any system vulnerabilities are addressed.

Anti-Virus and Network Monitoring
Businesses are being targeted every day through a plethora of avenues: email, ad networks, mobile applications, etc. This is why the second part of a best-in-class security network employs both anti-virus and network monitoring. These two pieces of the security puzzle examine all traffic on your business network and all files. The anti-virus employs a filter to protect them from all known threats. Your anti-virus should be updated regularly in order to identify the latest viral threats.

Backup and Disaster Recovery
One of the things cybercriminals bank on is that your business didn’t think ahead in terms of implementing backup and disaster recovery. That’s why this step is a must, especially where ransomware is concerned. There can sometimes be gaps between when a threat is introduced to your network and remediation of the full system.

To ensure that your data is safe, it’s best to have a full system backup in place to protect your back-office systems. This will enable your business to stay on top of things if and when an attack occurs and it provides a recovery option for unknown threats. In the event of a catastrophic failure or a ransomware attack, a good backup can get your business back online fast.

Endpoint Backup
Though backup and disaster recovery provides a layer of protection for your back-office systems, businesses should also have backup and recovery of data for all devices. Devices such as laptops and tablets create, share, and store business data. Should a device become lost or a cybercriminal capture your proprietary data and sensitive information from these devices, your business will still be covered. This can have a significant impact on your business productivity and profitability. Your endpoint program should offer real-time data backup on such endpoint devices to prevent the compromise of business-critical information and keep your organization moving full-steam ahead.

Secure File Sync and Share
In today’s global society, being able to work remotely, collaboratively, and securely from any device anywhere is a modern business necessity. With the proper software in place, your employees can securely collaborate from any location on any device including their smartphones and tablets. Such a system can allow you to grant access and editing controls for specific documents including those in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Such software also allows you to recover documents employees may have accidentally deleted or that have been lost due to malicious activity.

Education and Awareness
One of the best steps you can take in protecting your business against ransomware or other digital threats is to educate and train your employees. With proper cybersecurity awareness training, you can turn your employees into your most important layer of defense. They should be trained and provided with educational materials about cybersecurity risks, new ransomware strains, and the best practices for spotting phishing attempts, suspicious emails, and other security risks. Additionally, they should be provided a simple and quick way to report any suspicious activity. By empowering your employees with such training, they can become proactive in the fight against cyber threats to your business.

Small ransoms are just the beginning of the ransomware threat and it is only expected to get increasingly worse. This is why it is so imperative for businesses to stay ahead of cybercriminals when it comes to security. While such protection may seem overwhelming, it’s nothing when compared with the downtime, stress, and financial cost of dealing with a ransomware attack. If you need assistance in protecting your business against ransomware, contact Oram Corporate Advisors today for a free consultation at (617) 933-5060.