fbpx

Don’t wait any longer. Get started today!

 
 

Directive Blogs

Directive has been serving the Oneonta area since 1993, providing IT Support such as technical helpdesk support, computer support, and consulting to small and medium-sized businesses.

It’s World Cloud Security Day! How Secure is Your Business’ Cloud?

The cloud is a cornerstone in modern business processes, repeatedly proving its worth. However, the cloud must be properly secured against threats like any aspect of your business' technology.

That’s the purpose of today, World Cloud Security Day: to remind you of how important this security is and to evaluate your use of the cloud to examine where your business could improve.

Continue reading

How to Keep BYOD from Impacting Security

Bring Your Own Device, or BYOD, is a common approach for businesses that want to take advantage of mobile technology to kickstart productivity. Instead of supplying each individual employee with company-owned devices, businesses allow employees to use their own devices for work-related purposes. While this is great on the budget, it’s only really effective (and safe) if the employee prioritizes security on their devices; otherwise, it’s a liability.

Continue reading

Your Antivirus Crash Course (Implement Security Solutions Today)

Antivirus is a staple security solution for businesses and everyday PC users, but have you ever considered how it works? By thinking through some of the details, you might gain a greater understanding of how antivirus works, what it does, and why you need to keep it updated. Today, we’re going to discuss just that, starting from square one.

Continue reading

How to Choose the Right Security Cameras for Your Business

So, you’re thinking about adding to your business’ security with a camera system. This is an excellent course of action for any business to take—provided that it is approached thoughtfully and with discretion. There are many, many options out there, after all, which only makes it more challenging to make the right choice. 

Continue reading

Password Managers Have Become Essential Tools for Individuals and Businesses

Absolutely nobody likes dealing with passwords. They’re annoying, hard to remember, and yet, somehow, hackers seem to have no problem cracking them. That’s where password managers come in. They take the stress out of remembering a hundred different logins while keeping your business secure. If you’re still relying on sticky notes or using the same password for everything so you can remember it, it’s time to make the switch.

Continue reading

Don’t Apologize for a Data Breach (Do This Instead)

It should come as no surprise that cybersecurity is a big challenge for businesses and individuals alike. The problem: life pretty much revolves around being online these days, so there’s no avoiding it. Therefore, it’s your responsibility to ensure that any data you collect from your customers, employees, and other key stakeholders in your business is well-protected, otherwise you will face severe consequences.

Continue reading

“Security Guard” Needs to Be Part of Everyone’s Job Description

We will always reinforce how critical it is for everyone in any workplace to have a grasp of cybersecurity best practices, regardless of their role or responsibilities. However, based on a survey conducted by UK-based cybersecurity firm Ramsac, this baseline is not being met by a long shot.

Why do we say this? Simple: this survey revealed that one in three adults failed a cybersecurity test designed for 11-year-olds.

Continue reading

How Does CAPTCHA Work?

We’ve all had to confirm we’re not a computer when attempting to log into an account. This is the core purpose of what once was called CAPTCHA… the Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart. However, it seems surprising that computers don’t easily overcome these simple-seeming tests.

Let’s dig into why these simple tests actually are effective at differentiating between human users and automated bots.

Continue reading

Staying Safe on Social Media Boils Down to These Three Things

You don’t want to get spammed; nobody does. Unfortunately, it happens to EVERYONE, and it’s just getting worse. All this unwelcome correspondence happens over the phone, through email, and especially on social media. In today’s blog, we’ll talk a little bit about how social media puts users at risk and what you can do to keep that risk from becoming a problem for you. 

Continue reading

Tax Season Brings Scammers Out of the Woodwork

In the United States, tax season is prime time for hackers to take advantage of law-abiding, tax-paying citizens. They do this through all kinds of nefarious activities, such as phishing attacks conducted through text messages and emails claiming to be from the Internal Revenue Service. If you want to avoid getting scammed this tax season, be sure to keep the following tips in mind to stay safe while you conduct your typical tax routines.

Continue reading

The Definitive Guide for Getting Your Passwords In Order, Once and for All

Normally, we try to keep the focus on business technology, but this guide is geared toward the typical home user, who may not be that high-tech.

These days, nearly all human beings are wrapped up in a little technology, and there isn’t a huge divide between protecting yourself as an employee at a company versus protecting yourself as an individual—at least as far as cybersecurity habits go. Even if you feel like you are pretty low-tech, you still have to worry about protecting your identity, financial information, and personally identifiable information online.

Continue reading

Three Reasons Phishing Works and What You Need to Do About It

Phishing is a common trick where hackers pretend to be someone you trust to steal your personal information. For example, they might send an email that looks like it's from your bank, asking you to verify your account details. Here's why it's so effective.

Continue reading

Don’t Forget These Three Non-Negotiable Remote Work Security Rules

With remote work remaining popular, employees can benefit from flexibility and work-life balance, but at the cost of certain challenges on the business side. The big one is security, as your network ends up spread out across multiple locations rather than siloed in-house. Here are three rules you should consider when planning out how to approach remote work.

Continue reading

Ransomware Payments are Less Frequent, But It Isn’t All Good News

Despite some of the headlines that we saw last year, it wasn’t all bad news regarding ransomware. Critically, 2024 saw ransomware payments plummet by hundreds of millions of dollars… despite many large-scale attacks and one record-breaking whaling payment of $75 million by one victim.

This is undeniably great to hear… but with that in mind, we cannot let ourselves slip into complacency.

Continue reading

There are Plenty of Reasons the Cloud is So Popular Amongst Businesses

Think about the apps you use daily—Google Drive, Netflix, Spotify, even Instagram. All of these run on cloud-based services, which basically means they store and process everything online instead of relying on one physical device. Businesses, big and small, are making the same shift because, honestly, it just makes sense. Let’s take a look at why you should be looking to use cloud services in your business.

Continue reading

Yes, That Text is Probably a Scam… Here’s How to Deal with It

Text messages are great. They’re a quick and effective means for us all to communicate. 

Unfortunately, this does bring some downsides, too… namely, they’re a relatively simple means for a scammer to spread their attacks. Let’s discuss why this is so dangerous and how you can identify and avoid these threats.

Continue reading

3 Common-Sense Security Measures You Can Implement Today

Running a business is already confusing enough without worrying about security at all times. Whether you’re a small business owner or a multi-level enterprise, security is just as important for all the same reasons. Today, we want to share a couple of security strategies you can implement today to feel better about the current state of your infrastructure moving forward.

Continue reading

You Need to Be Able to Spot Scams Before They Sink You

The Internet is a fantastic place to shop, connect, and learn, but people also have to deal with the minefield of scams—especially in 2025, where opportunists are getting even craftier with AI and other high-tech tricks. This month, we take a look at four simple ways you can spot an Internet scam before it drains your wallet or your personal data.

Continue reading

Building a Plan for Business Mobility

It’s undeniable that the smartphone has transformed computing. In fact, not only is more computing done on mobile devices, they are by far the most purchased computers in the world. Well over 90 percent of people own some type of smartphone. So how do you use these devices for productivity? This month, we will discuss some ways to make this happen.

Continue reading

Android Phones Have a Handy Anti-Theft Feature You Should Use

Mobile device security is critical for modern businesses, especially as they play a more prominent and significant role in daily operations. However, data loss is also a problem, regardless of the source… including if a device is wiped via a reset.

While Apple has offered a feature to prevent this for the past year or so, Android 15 now provides the same, referred to as Identity Check. Let’s explore how it works, and how to enable it for yourself.

Continue reading

Three Reasons Why You’re Falling for the Phishing Schemes in Your Inbox

Phishing is the most common way hackers “get you,” so /to speak, but have you ever wondered why it’s so effective? Today, we want to explore the reasons why phishing schemes are so enticing to even the most security-conscious individuals out there. You might be surprised to know that even security professionals can fall prey to these types of attacks, and for very good reasons.

Continue reading

The Dark Web is No Place for Your Data

When hackers steal data, they don't just sit on it. Sometimes they delete it, but most of the time, they sell it or use it for illegal activities. A lot of this stolen data ends up on the Dark Web, a hidden part of the Internet where people do shady things. That's why it's so important to keep an eye on the Dark Web to protect your business.

Continue reading

Tip of the Week: Stop Apps from Invading Your Privacy

Earlier this year, a location data broker called Gravy Analytics suffered a huge data breach that compromised a dataset with 30 million points from devices all over the world. With this data, hackers can track users and their movements through healthcare, government, and military facilities.

Continue reading

10 Common Security Mistakes That Can Sink Your Network

b2ap3_thumbnail_mobile_security_400.jpgMost companies have to have a workforce, generally one of considerable size. Unfortunately, the more users you have, the more potential risks you run into. Of course, your workforce doesn’t collectively intend to be a security risk, but the digital world is a complicated place, with threats around every corner and malicious programs just waiting for your employed end-users to slip up. Here are ten such honest slip-ups to watch out for:

Continue reading

Tip of the Week: Stop Location Data Collection on Your Mobile Device

At the beginning of this year, a massive data breach struck a location data broker called Gravy Analytics and took possession of a dataset with 30 million points from devices worldwide. This data could potentially be used to track individuals and their movements, tellingly, through healthcare, government, and military facilities. 

Unfortunately, nothing can be done about data that has already been breached, but preventative steps can and should be taken to protect your business. Let’s discuss how to prevent your applications from tracking your movements.

Continue reading

Data Privacy Day: 5 Steps to Better Take Charge of Your Data

Every January 28th, with cyberthreats on the rise and consumer trust more vital than ever, Data Privacy Day is your perfect reminder that you have the power to take charge of your data. Whether you’re a small business owner or an executive in a larger organization, safeguarding sensitive information is not just a legal and ethical responsibility—it’s a strategic investment in your company’s future.

Continue reading

Let’s Brush Up On Phishing Attack Responses

Did you know that phishing is, by far, the most common security risk to your business? Just think, any of your employees could become the target of a phishing attack, and all it would take is downloading the wrong file or clicking on the wrong link to expose your organization to security threats. Today, we want to offer a refresher on the throwaway signs of a phishing attack and how to protect yourself and your team from harm.

Continue reading

Your Cool New Gadgets Could Make Problems for Your Personal Data

So you got a new computer for a holiday gift. That’s great! We’re excited that you’re excited. But you also need to consider how you are going to dispose of your old device and how to do so in a safe way. Today, we want to discuss how you can safely discard, or potentially even reuse, your old device so you don’t put your data at risk.

Continue reading

Email Encryption: Of Course You Need It!

Have you ever suspected that a hacker could silently observe your email interactions with your clients and your staff? If you manage your own email infrastructure, we want to highlight the importance of email encryption. Encryption keeps your business’ email communications secure and compliant so you can worry less about security and privacy to focus more on running your business.

Continue reading

Explaining the Threat of SS7 Mobile Attacks

The Internet is full of threats, but one of the most alarming ones making headlines lately is called an SS7 attack. It’s severe enough to have the U.S. Department of Homeland Security scrambling to find solutions. Let’s break down what SS7 attacks are, how they work, and why they’re so dangerous.

Continue reading

Five Password Practices for More Secure Accounts

Passwords are one of the best ways to protect your online accounts and information. Strong passwords are especially important for small businesses because weak ones can cause significant problems, like security breaches. Let’s break down how to create and manage passwords the right way.

Continue reading

Why Data Privacy is Important and How You Can Make It a Priority

Since so much of the world is now online, businesses and organizations interact with people online now more than ever. This means they also collect people’s information, a practice they do for various reasons. Individuals need to consider their own data privacy and how it might be affected by business practices.

Continue reading

Don’t Believe Everything You Hear About Krampus…

Most people are familiar with Santa Claus, the jolly gift-giver who delivers presents to all the children who have kept the Christmas spirit in their hearts all year. Lately, many people have also become aware of Krampus, Santa’s dark shadow who—as the legend goes—takes a similar trip to visit the naughty children and turn the worst into a midnight snack.

However, one has to wonder: what about all the adults who might also be naughty?

Continue reading

What Does the State of Cybersecurity Look Like for 2025?

Businesses have seen an increase in cyberattacks, and this trend is not slowing down in 2025. Today, we want to explore what the future could hold so you can take these insights and apply them to your cybersecurity initiatives in the coming year.

Continue reading

Cybersecurity Predictions for 2025

Cybercrime and cybersecurity threats targeting businesses have increased consistently over the last several years, so it makes sense that it won’t slow down in 2025. Let’s take a look at a few insights so you know what to be ready for.

Continue reading

5 Simple Mistakes That Hurt Your Cybersecurity

Technology is a big part of how businesses run today, but that also makes them prime targets for cyberattacks. These attacks can shut down operations and steal sensitive data. Let’s look at five common cybersecurity issues businesses deal with:

Continue reading

Six Cybersecurity Basics Your Business Needs to Follow

Protecting your business isn’t just about having the right tools; it’s about making sure you and your team know how to stay safe online. Here are some key tips to help you get started:

Continue reading

3 Traits You Want a Business Data Backup to Have

To keep your business running smoothly, even if something goes wrong—like a power outage, cyberattack, or other disaster—you need a reliable way to protect your data. That’s where data backup comes in. It’s important to make sure your backup is thorough and trustworthy so you can recover if things go south.

Continue reading

How to Prioritize Individual Data Privacy in a World Where It’s Not Respected

How seriously does your business take data privacy? Can you back up your answer with concrete examples of what you do to prioritize that notion? Today, we face a serious threat to both individual and consumer data privacy, so we want to take the time to cover how you can make data privacy a priority in your own life.

Continue reading

Don’t Just Allow Everyone to Access All of Your Data

Imagine giving every single person you work with a key to your house. Would you do it? Probably not, right? What if someone lost their key or had it stolen? You wouldn’t want to take that risk.

So, it stands to reason that if you can’t trust the people you work with every day with a key to your house, you wouldn’t want them to have access to all of your data; or your business’.

Continue reading

Why Do Businesses Have Such a Hard Time Identifying Threats?

Cybersecurity is intensely important, so a business owner would think implementing every security feature and defense would be a good idea. However, as research has shown, this can be counterproductive, as only 67% of surveyed security leaders know what led to cybersecurity incidents in their businesses over the past year. 

Continue reading

Five Cybersecurity Red Flags That Are Often Missed

Every business relies on technology to function. Some wouldn’t be able to deliver any value to their customers without it, while others would be severely hindered if they suffered a data breach. For this reason, cybersecurity has to be a priority. In today’s blog, we will discuss five issues that business owners run into that can muddle their cybersecurity efforts.

Continue reading

Don’t Trust, Verify: How John Kindervag Shifted Our Approach to Security

Businesses of every size need to prioritize their security. This fact has not changed and will not change anytime soon. What has changed, however, are the recommended ways to approach this security.

Today, we wanted to review the history of today’s predominant cybersecurity advice and explore how the zero-trust security model applies.

Continue reading

The Latest Moral We Can Learn from Disney: Manage Permissions Better

The Disney brand has long cultivated an image of magic and wonder. However, this image has yet to materialize any magical effects in reality. For example, people still suffer from food allergies while visiting Disney’s various parks.

This makes it especially dangerous that a former Disney employee was allegedly still able to access a specialized menu-planning app and make alterations, like changing prices, adding language that Disney certainly would not approve of, switching text to the unintelligible “Wingdings” font, and worst of all… changing menu information.

Continue reading

Even the NSA Recommends Rebooting Your Devices, But Not for the Reason You Suspect

Rebooting your device presents several benefits. If you ever experience an issue with your device, rebooting it will likely improve it. Heck, even the National Security Agency (NSA) recommends you do this… but why?

Continue reading

An Up-to-Date Operating System is a Mandatory Piece of Software

Operating systems are the backbone of any computer or device. Whether it’s your phone, a tablet, or a computer, the operating system controls how the device works, allowing you to run apps, browse the web, and complete tasks. For businesses, having up-to-date operating systems is especially important. Let's look at why this is critical and what can happen if businesses don’t keep up!

Continue reading

Tip of the Month: Create Better Passwords

Think about how many online accounts you have. With so many accounts, it’s important to make sure they’re secure. Creating strong passwords is one of the best ways to protect your accounts from hackers. Here’s how you can create passwords that are hard to crack and keep all your online accounts safe.

Continue reading

How Business Email Compromise Puts Your Business at Risk

Can you tell the difference between your colleagues and a scammer with access to their email account? This is essentially what a business email compromise attack involves—a scammer initiates a phishing scheme using an internal mode of communication. These scams are also observed in schools, making them dangerous in the education sector.

Continue reading

Did You Trade Your Data for a DVD Rental?

In June of this year, publisher Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment, best known for its book series of the same name, filed for Chapter 7 and Chapter 11 bankruptcy and had many of its assets liquidated. One of these assets was the movie rental service Redbox and its eponymous scarlet rental kiosks, rendering the service defunct.

However, many kiosks remain standing outside businesses even now, which makes us wonder… what about all the data they collected while they were in use?

Continue reading

Zero-Trust Needs to Be the Goal for Every Business’ Security

Would you feel safe staying at a hotel that, instead of unique locks, each door used the same key as all of the others? Probably not—because if someone got in, they could take whatever they wanted. That’s similar to how old-school cybersecurity worked. Once someone got into a company’s network, they could access almost everything, making it easy for hackers to steal information. But today, many businesses use a better security framework called zero-trust security. In today’s blog, we discuss what zero-trust security is and why it’s safer.

Continue reading

Of Vice and Vulnerability, Episode 1: Ransomware

Let’s have a little fun today. Today’s blog post is written in the format of a daytime soap opera. Please make sure you read all of the dialogue as if being whispered by extremely attractive television stars and starlets!

Life goes on in the small town of Oak Falls, deep woods surrounding the little hamlet nestled on the coast of Cape Seguridad. Let’s follow the lives of some of the residents, their lives Of Vice… and Vulnerability.

Continue reading

The NIST Recommends This 5-Stage Cybersecurity Framework

If there’s one thing that helps businesses establish consistent policies and strategy, it’s a good framework. You can use a framework for anything, including network security. Today, we want to walk you through the cybersecurity protection standards as they are outlined by the National Institute of Standards and Technology so you can better protect your business.

Continue reading

What is Zero-Trust, and How Can My Business Achieve It?

Let me ask you something: would you trust a bank that locked its doors for the night but left all its cash in a big pile in the middle of the floor? Probably not—after all, if someone managed to get through the doors, nothing would stop them from helping themselves to the funds inside.

This is effectively how cybersecurity once worked, with the presumption that if someone had access to a network, they had permission to access any data on it. Fortunately, many businesses have made the switch to a better approach, known as zero-trust security.

Continue reading

How to Keep Your Employees from Being a Cybersecurity Problem

Cybersecurity has to be a big deal for any business that uses IT, and today, who doesn’t? When your employees don’t follow cybersecurity rules, it can put your business in danger, like getting hacked or losing money. The first step is to figure out why employees aren’t following the rules. This could happen because they don’t know the rules, haven’t been trained enough, or think the rules are too hard or take too much time. 

Continue reading

Cover Your Security Bases with These Four Best Practices

Over 25 percent of data breaches target small businesses, and the impact can be huge. To protect your business, you need the right technology and smart strategies. In today’s blog, we go through some key steps to help safeguard your business from digital threats.

Continue reading

Securing Cloud Resources is More Critical than Ever

Cloud computing as a whole has been one of the most transformative technologies for businesses. With so many companies (upward of 90 percent of modern businesses) using some type of cloud computing, more companies than ever are really leaning into the technology and use it for mission critical business processes. Let’s take a look at some of the ways businesses can secure their cloud resources. 

Continue reading

Pig Butchering is a Serious, Growing Problem

Over the past few years, huge scamming operations have operated in Southeast Asia, and now they are spreading. These scams—known as pig butchering scams—cause serious harm, as in an estimated $75 billion worldwide in 2023.

With these sorts of operations spreading, let’s go over what pig butchering is. 

Continue reading

These IT Services Help You Compete with the Big Guys

Small businesses today are in a prime position to thrive, thanks to a surge in innovative technologies that are affordable and work to boost efficiency. In the past, access to cutting-edge technology was often reserved for large corporations, but today small businesses can now gain quick access to these technologies and can have a real positive effect on the way they go about doing business. Let’s take a look at some of the best technologies small businesses can use to try and compete with the big boys.

Tags:
Continue reading

Two-Factor Authentication is a Must Have

Two-factor authentication (2FA) has become a critical security measure in the digital age, providing an additional layer of protection against unauthorized access. As cyber threats grow more sophisticated, relying solely on passwords is no longer enough. 

Continue reading

4 Stupid-Simple Ways to Be More Careful with Your Network Security

Technology is central to most businesses, which means that security is, by proxy, central to them as well. With cyberattacks on the rise, it’s more important than ever for you and your employees to be on the same page regarding cybersecurity. Today, we are looking at four ways you can ensure sound cybersecurity practices that even the most belligerent employees can follow… with the right support in place.

Continue reading

Tip of the Week: How to Spot and Avoid Email Spoofing

b2ap3_thumbnail_email_spoofing_400.jpgLet’s say you get an email from a close friend. It looks like it’s legitimate, until you check the contents of the message. It’s an advertisement, or it’s trying to get you to click on a link to see something “important.” Regardless of what the content of the message is, you should probably slap that bad boy in the Spam section of your email inbox. You’ve just been the target of email spoofing, and it’s more common than you might think.

Continue reading

Password Managers are an Office Worker’s Best Friend

Protecting your business’ accounts is something we will advocate for on repeat. You’ll hear us tell you about complex and unique passwords and multi-factor authentication until you’re sick of hearing it. But one tool that our clients sometimes forget is the password manager—an equally useful tool that can help your business keep passwords safe and secure.

Continue reading

It Pays to Invest in Security Awareness Training… Here’s What to Include

Security awareness training is a critical process for modern businesses to undergo to have any chance of success. Unfortunately, as much as security software or policy can help, it can only do so much. You also need your team members to be on board, knowledgeable about what they need to do, and motivated to do it. 

In light of this, let’s talk about security awareness training and what it needs to involve.

Continue reading

Sextortion Scammers are Going So Far as to Show You Your House

Sextortion scams are scary. The scammer contacts the victim, claiming to have gotten access to their computer and captured video footage of their target partaking in some private and decidedly adult activities, as well as the content that was onscreen at the time. The threat: pay up, or I send the footage to all of your contacts.

Lately, however, hackers have added another layer of “proof” to these claims, now referring to victims by name and including pictures of their homes. Let’s walk through what one of these scams looks like and what you should do if one appears in your inbox.

Continue reading

Keep an Eye Out for the Hallmarks of Malware

Malware is everywhere on the Internet and you don’t want it. From spyware and adware to ransomware there is never anything good that comes from this malicious code. Today, we will outline a few ways you can tell that your computer, workstation, or mobile device has some form of malware on it.

Continue reading

Five of the Largest Data Breaches of 2024 Thus Far

Data breaches remain a constant threat, capable of causing serious disruptions for businesses and potentially creating widespread issues for customers. In today’s blog, we’ll highlight some of the largest and most impactful breaches of 2024.

Continue reading

Three Security Innovations Designed to Keep Business Networks Secure

Organizational cybersecurity is more important than ever, with an increasing number of threats requiring constant vigilance. To stay ahead of these dangers, cybersecurity experts and network administrators are continuously developing new solutions. This month, we’ll highlight three key innovations that are helping businesses navigate the evolving cybersecurity landscape.

Continue reading

The Passphrase is Better than the Password

Network security is a major issue for any business that relies on password-protected systems—and who doesn’t? With so much at stake, it’s important that every user uses passwords that are not only complex and secure but also easy to remember. This month, we will discuss how the passphrase is the answer to keeping your password-protected accounts secure. 

Continue reading

Tip of the Week: Signs that You are Probably Being Scammed

Being scammed—in either the professional or personal sense—is a scary thought. To avoid this outcome, we must be vigilant all the time now.

Of course, it also helps to know what to look for.

Let’s take a few minutes to go over a few warning signs and red flags that something is likely a scam.

Continue reading

You Can Embrace Remote Operations Without Sacrificing Cybersecurity… It Just Needs to Be Done Right

Remote work has proven incredibly useful over the past few years despite many employers having various concerns about its implementation. While these concerns vary, one prevalent one is how remote operations impact cybersecurity.

If you’re utilizing remote operations to any degree and aren’t concerned about cybersecurity, you must adjust this mindset and correct your approach.

Continue reading

Efficient and Secure File Sharing a Must for Today’s Businesses

Today’s business needs to be able to share files and data securely and efficiently. This process may seem straightforward, but there are a lot of options that the business owner or manager needs to understand. In today’s blog, we look at some steps that will help you create a strong and secure file-sharing system.

Continue reading

Make a Complex Password with This Catchy Trick

You should always use strong passwords for each and every account. Cybercriminals don’t need to put much effort into cracking a password these days—it only takes a little software and standard computer hardware to crack millions of passwords in just a second or two.

The more complex and random a password is, the more secure it is.

But coming up with (and memorizing) complex passwords is really difficult. This trick should make it a whole lot easier.

Continue reading

ALERT: Every Social Security Number Stolen by Hackers

We’re still getting more information on this, but at the time of writing this, every American can assume that their social security number has been stolen. Let’s share what we know so far.

Continue reading

Three Best Practices to Avoid Getting Hacked

Data breaches can cripple companies and can come from a lot of different directions. They can be the result of phishing attacks where your staff unwittingly gives hackers access to your business’ resources. It can come from a brute force attack where hackers use innovative tools to break into your network. It can even be the work of disgruntled employees who use their access to steal company data. This month, we want to outline the top three things you can do to keep your business from being hacked. 

Continue reading

Phishing: What It Is, and How to Avoid It

Potential data breaches are increasingly problematic for organizations, and the most common way that data is stolen is through phishing attacks. Phishing attacks are currently one of the most pervasive threats on the Internet, and you need to understand them to thwart their effectiveness against your users. Let’s explore what exactly a phishing attack consists of and some best practices you can use to defend your network against them.

Continue reading

Network Security Made Simple in 3 Easy Ways

Network security is hard. That’s why so many businesses struggle to implement the solutions they so desperately need to stay safe and relevant. Today, we want to demystify some of these components and lay out in clear terms what your highest priorities should be for your business’ network security.

Continue reading

Cybersecurity Isn’t a Product, It’s a Strategy

Modern businesses—just like yours—cannot and should not operate without robust cybersecurity protections. This is a point we will emphasize at every opportunity. Let’s explore why security is so crucial and what steps you need to take to safeguard your business.

Continue reading

Please, Please, PLEASE Don’t Include Sensitive Info in Your Emails

Email is a great communication tool. However, certain things are just unsafe to communicate via email.

Let’s go through a list of such things. Better safe than sorry, after all.

Continue reading

The Starter Guide for Business Compliance

A business’ compliance with the regulations it operates under is a huge issue that many inside your organization won’t understand but has to draw some attention. Let’s look at some of the variables that go into compliance to outline just how important it is.

Continue reading

The Office Printer: Your Overlooked Cybersecurity Risk

When it comes to cybersecurity, office printers often fly under the radar. They're seen as simple, innocuous devices. It’s easy to have the mindset that there’s not much at risk—what, are the hackers going to waste some of my paper?

But here's the truth: your office printer is a potential cybersecurity risk, and a serious one at that.

Just like your computers and smartphones, printers are connected to your network. This makes them vulnerable to the same cyberthreats.

An unsecured printer can be an open door for hackers. They can use it to sneak into your business network.

In this article, we'll shed light on the overlooked aspect of office printer security. We'll also provide actionable advice on how to fortify your office printers against cyberthreats.

So, let's dive in and explore the world of office printer cybersecurity.

Continue reading

Social Engineering is Not a Risk to Underestimate

Cybercriminals will do anything they can to get what they want. They will lie and cheat to break into an organization’s network and siphon off the data or gain control. One of the most utilized tactics that cybercriminals use today is called social engineering. This month, we will discuss social engineering and how it puts everything you work for in jeopardy. 

Continue reading

Let’s Remind Ourselves How Meta’s Security Has Failed

Facebook remains one of the most visited places on the Internet. Meta (the parent company to Facebook) also features WhatsApp and Instagram on their roster and has faced numerous security and privacy failings over the years. In this week’s blog, we’ll take a brief look at some of the most noteworthy.

Continue reading

Microsoft Defender: An Example of Why Consumer-Grade Security is Not Enough

Windows Defender is Microsoft’s own antivirus solution, and it comes bundled with Windows, so it’s confusing to think that a business would need to pay for it, right? Well, there are actually two separate products called Defender, with a big difference between them.

Continue reading

Staying Safe on Social Media in 2024

You can do everything in your power to secure your social media accounts and lock down your privacy settings. Still, at the end of the day, social media users expose themselves to a torrent of information and content every time they log on. As a civilization, we’ve never really had something like this before. These platforms curate content that the user wants to see to keep the user coming back and staying longer. It’s inherently designed to be enticing and addicting, which is dangerous for certain individuals.

Then, there are scams and an endless stream of grifts that pose a wide range of additional problems for users.

Let’s talk about ways you and those you care about can be safer on social media.

Continue reading

If Your Business’ Technology Isn’t Working, Your Business Isn’t Either

Most businesses rely on their technology. However, a failure to manage that technology can lead to significant financial waste and operational inefficiencies. One major way a business can waste money is through over-investment in unnecessary or overly complex IT infrastructure. Let’s briefly examine how companies waste their money on technology and how to identify if technology is working for your business. 

Continue reading

Protecting Your Identity and Privacy on Social Media in 2024

Social media is constantly evolving, and if the big social networks had it their way, it would be the only place people go when they log onto the Internet. Whether you have strong feelings for or against social media, or perhaps you are indifferent, it’s important to understand how to protect yourself when using social media.

Continue reading

Encryption is One of the Most Valuable Tools Against Hackers

Encryption is a powerful weapon against hackers that can prevent them from stealing your data and leveraging it against you. Encryption, in its most basic textbook definition, converts your readable data into an indecipherable jumble that can only be reassembled through the use of an encryption key. Small businesses absolutely must utilize encryption to protect customer information, financial records, and other important or sensitive business data. This ensures that it is as protected as possible against those that might do you harm.

Continue reading

This Cybersecurity Professional is Out to Scam the Scammers

Scammers look to take advantage of someone else for their own gain, but there are some scammers out there who are trying to scam the scammers to teach them a lesson. One such individual is “Kitboga,” a content creator who calls themselves a “scam baiter.”

Continue reading

It’s a Bad Time for Central NY Businesses to Be Lax on Cybersecurity

Local small and medium-sized organizations are commonly targeted by cybercriminals simply because they let their guard down. A lot of local business owners seem to think “Hey, I’m just an accountant in Oneonta, or I’m just an insurance company in Sidney, or I’m just a realtor in Cooperstown, why would hackers want to target me?”

And the answer is right there. On top of that, the sheer number of avenues that cybercriminals have to cause damage to a business is staggering. Let’s take a look at some of the more recent threats we’ve been seeing over the past two months.

Continue reading

How to Minimize Cybersecurity Sprawl

Obviously, we won’t tell you to cut down on your cybersecurity. That said, it can be easy to overinvest and overreach if you aren’t careful about what you’re implementing. This phenomenon is known as cybersecurity sprawl, and if not prevented, it can easily have serious consequences for your business. Let’s go into how to avoid this sprawl.

Continue reading

This Guy Scams the Scammers for a Living

When you think of a scammer, you probably think of someone looking to take advantage of someone for their own gain. While this isn’t wholly inaccurate, another variety exists to acknowledge… those who aim to scam the scammers. Let’s consider one such white-hat scammer, or “scam baiter,” a content creator who uses the alias “Kitboga,” Kit for short.

Continue reading

Ticketmaster Suffers Major Data Breach

The world’s largest ticket retailer is in hot water after their parent company, Live Nation Entertainment filed an 8-K filing with the Security and Exchange commission admitting that they had been hacked to the tune of 1.3 terabytes of information. That amounts to 560 million customers’ personal information that has been stolen from the company’s servers. Today, we take a look at the hack and what it means for consumers.

Continue reading

These IT Threats Can Ruin Your Business

Technology is a major part of today’s business. It’s fair to say anyone that works in business today is at least semi-proficient with the technology needed to complete their tasks. Unfortunately, for many people, however, the fact that their business requires complicated technology is problematic. This is because at any given moment there are people looking to undermine their job, seeking access to accounts that will allow them to siphon money and data from organizations. 

Continue reading

So, Your Business Project Failed… How Can You Learn from It?

It can be challenging to deal with failure in any context, but in the case of your workplace projects and other efforts, it can be particularly harsh. This makes it all the more important to frame such failures as opportunities to grow in the future.

Let’s discuss six reasons an initiative may fail and the lessons that can be learned from these situations.

Continue reading

IT Security Concerns and How to Confront Them

Cyberthreats are increasingly sophisticated, and businesses have to do what they can to address these issues. Since cyberattacks can have a massively negative impact on your business, it stands to reason that you need a platform in place to enhance your employees’ awareness of Internet-based threats. This month we look at the top three IT security concerns businesses face and what should be done to confront them.

Continue reading

Research Shows Many New Cybersecurity Professionals are Doomed to Make Blunders

Unfortunately, cyberattacks will only continue in the weeks, months, and years to come, making it increasingly essential that businesses have access to cybersecurity expertise. Even more unfortunately, professionals with this level of expertise are becoming harder to find. Globally, we’re short almost four million people, and those we have are prone to make mistakes in their first few years. This comes from a report by Kaspersky, entitled “The Portrait of Modern Information Security Professional,” Let’s review what the cybersecurity developer found and what we can take away from these findings.

Continue reading

With a Massive Botnet Recently Disrupted, Let’s Review What a Botnet Is

It was very recently revealed that a global law enforcement effort took down a massive botnet that was in action for almost a decade. In light of this, we wanted to review what a botnet is and how it works, drawing from these events for some context.

Continue reading

The Impact Ransomware Has on All of Us

We’ve spent the last few weeks discussing ransomware's impacts on different subsets. First, we discussed how a ransomware attack impacts the customers of the infected business, and then we touched on the infected business itself. To end, we want to touch on ransomware's impacts on society, specifically regarding economic health and geopolitical security, known as third-order harms.

Continue reading

You May Not Think You’re Popular, but Your Data Certainly Is

Data is extremely important in the way that most businesses conduct themselves. This results in other people wanting that information, too. Today’s blog will look at how seemingly everyone online is out for your data. 

Continue reading

A Man-in-the-Middle Attack is Not to Be Underestimated

Have you ever heard of the “man-in-the-middle” attack or MitM? It’s a situation where your data is stolen by an onlooker who situates themselves in the right place at the right time. Data interception is a very real thing that your business should be prepared to fight against. Let’s discuss some strategies you can use to counter these sneaky attacks.

Continue reading