Dark Web is a term that has surfaced in recent years in connection to cybercrime and cyber security. Identity theft is an unfortunate occurrence that is all too familiar with most business owners, but do those individuals know where the compromised data will end up? Often, these business owners are unaware of the virtual marketplace where stolen data is purchased and sold by cybercriminals; a place known as the Dark Web. An article on Lexology explores what the Dark Web is, what information is available for purchase there and how it impacts small businesses.
What is the Dark Web?
The Dark Web, which is not accessible through traditional search engines is often associated with a place used for illegal criminal activity. While cybercriminals tend to use the Dark Web as a place to buy and sell stolen information, there are also sites within it that do not engage in criminal activity. For many, the most appealing aspect of the Dark Web is its anonymity.
What is for sale on the Dark Web?
Information sold on the Dark Web varies, and includes items such as stolen credit cards, stolen account information from financial institutions, forged real-estate documents, stolen credentials and compromised medical records. Even more alarming, the Dark Web contains subcategories allowing a criminal to search for a specific brand of credit card as well a specific location associated with that card. Not only can these criminals find individual stolen items on the Dark Web, but in some cases, entire “wallets” of compromised information are available for purchase, containing items such as a driver’s license, social security number, birth certificate and credit card information.
What is stolen personal information used for?
When stolen information is obtained by criminals, it can be used for countless activities like securing credit, mortgages, loans and tax refunds. It is also possible that a criminal could create a “synthetic identity” using stolen information and combining it with fictitious information, thus creating a new, difficult to discover identity.
Why are stolen credentials so valuable?
Stolen user names and passwords are becoming increasing popular among cybercriminals, but why? Identity thieves will often hire “account checkers” who take stolen credentials and attempt to break into various accounts across the web using those user names and passwords. The idea here is that many individuals have poor password practices and are using the same user name and password across various accounts, including business account such as banking and eCommerce. If the “account checker” is successful, the identity thief suddenly has access to multiple accounts, in some cases allowing them the opportunity to open additional accounts across financial and business-horizons.
Why should small businesses be concerned about the Dark Web?
Since the Dark Web is a marketplace for stolen data, most personal information stolen from small businesses will end up there, creating major cause for concern. With the media so often publicizing large- scale corporate data breaches, small businesses often think they are not a target for cybercriminals, however that is not the case. Cybercriminals are far less concerned about the size of a business than they are with how vulnerable their target is. Small businesses often lack resources to effectively mitigate the risks of a cyberattack, making them a prime target for identity theft as well as other cybercrime.
At a recent Federal Trade Commission (FTC) conference, privacy specialists noted that information available for purchase on the Dark Web was up to twenty times more likely to come from a company who suffered a data breach that was not reported to the media. The FTC also announced at the conference that the majority of breaches investigated by the U.S. Secret Service involved small businesses rather than large corporations.
How can you reduce the risk for your small business?
To reduce the risks of a cybercriminal gaining access to your company’s information/network, you must ensure you have proper security measures in place. The FTC has a webpage that can assist with security options for businesses of any size. In addition, it is crucial that your employees are properly trained on security, including appropriate password practices. There is also talk of a government-led cyberthreat sharing program which would help enhance security across all industries by sharing cyberthreat data.
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Gartner predicts that 20.4 billion Wi-Fi connected “things” will be in use by 2020. With all of these devices, businesses and homes are likely going to need a more robust wireless solution.
The majority of users are now using a Wave 1 wireless connection. And don’t get us wrong, that’s not bad. Actually, it’s pretty good. Unless the majority of your organization is using its Wi-Fi network for gaming, streaming, and the processing of large files, Wave 1 is perfectly fine. However, as more devices begin joining wireless networks, the need for a more powerful solution will increase.
In the interest of comparing capabilities, we’ve put together a list of the three areas in which Wave 2 Wireless has a larger advantage than Wave 1.
Speed
Wave 2 Wireless is, without a doubt, much faster than Wave 1. The newer solution has speeds up to 6Gbps, far outpacing Wave 1’s max speeds of 1.3Gbps. Additionally, Wave 2 has four spatial streams compared to Wave 1’s three. Device speeds are proportional to the number of spatial streams they have, meaning Wave 2 is much faster. Higher speeds mean that end users can process large files and access data more quickly, increasing productivity and eliminating lag time.
Bandwidth
Bandwidth essentially means the rate at which data passes between two devices. The larger your bandwidth, the faster you’ll be able to download or stream larger files. Wave 1 Wireless uses 20, 40, and 80-MHz bonded channels in 5-GHz bandwidth, while Wave 2 Wireless uses 160-MHz on the same bandwidth, supporting additional bonded channels. For large organizations, larger bandwidth means that more devices are supported with better overall Wi-Fi performance. Think of adding more bandwidth like adding extra lanes on a highway. The more lanes (or in Wi-Fi’s case, channels) there are, the more people can get where they need to go.
Device Support
Wave 1 Wireless (otherwise known as the first version of 802.11ac) was created largely with laptops in mind. It uses SU-MIMO, which means that multiple streams of data can only be sent or received between one device at a time.
Wave 2, on the other hand, is more suitable for the demands of mobile devices as it has multi-user MIMO capabilities. This is an advantage because a wireless connection can be used to support dozens of devices all needing a high-bandwidth connection. These devices will also be able to get on and off of the wireless network more easily. Those advantages are especially useful in a business or university setting.
Next Steps
There are many advantages of switching to Wave 2 Wi-Fi: faster speeds, increased bandwidth, the ability to use more devices on a single network. All of these perks will allow your company to be more productive and host more end users on its wireless network, maximizing your ROI.
If these sound like benefits that you’re interested in, please reach out. We can help you determine if this solution is right for your business, and make the switch if it is.
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Whenever you think technology couldn’t possibly get better, it does. Let’s look at the development of the internet as an example. Specifically, wireless solutions.
Since its original creation at Xerox Parc 40 years ago, Ethernet has been the primary method of communication in the business field. However, as more and more technologies have been developed, the speed, freedom, and accessibility of internet is improving, and wireless communication has come into the picture. Today, we are interacting with wireless solutions daily. From radio, GPS, wireless USB or Bluetooth, mobile phones, laptops, wireless mouse, headphones, keyboards, printers, WiFi, satellite television, and more, the capabilities of wireless solutions have been recognized and used for years. In fact, at the end of 2015, carriers had invested over $177billion into the wireless industry. With this in mind, it’s clear to see that the plug-in ethernet practice is losing its dominance. All these advancements and refinements have led up to the latest and greatest wireless upgrade: 802.11ac – also known as Wave 2 Wireless.
You haven’t experienced internet speed like this before.
Speed
Wave 2 Wireless is a supercharged version of its highly successful precursor, 802.11n. 802.11n was successful because it had provided businesses with the wireless connectivity speeds they needed to embrace Wi-Fi in their day-to-day operations. It let workers use wireless as their primary network medium of choice, and ultimately spurred the modern office wireless movement.
Wave 2 Wireless has not only aided in that process but made it even better. Wave 2 delivers speeds ranging from 433 Mbps (megabits per second) up to several (2.5!) gigabits per second. In order to do this, it works exclusively in the 5GHz band and uses plenty of bandwidth (80 or 160 MHz). It also operates in up to eight spatial streams (MIMO), and according to Wi-Fi Alliance, “Device speeds are proportional to the number of spatial streams.” So, with more streams and larger bandwidth, overall performance is much better. With all of this, you could regularly achieve the top upload/download speed allowed by your Internet provider.
Wave 2 Also Offers Freedom and Flexibility
This topic is a huge one. To begin, Wave 2 employs a kind of technology called beamforming that sends signals directly to client devices. As mentioned briefly in the previous paragraph, Wave 2 also supports multiple inputs and multiple outputs, known by the acronym MIMO. This means that the spectrum of multiple connected devices is much wider, and more and more devices can get on and off of the network. MIMO also greatly reduces the chances for interference and balances out speeds for all connected users.
What does this mean? It means you can have more and more access points. If you have multiple wireless access points, remote installations can spread over wide areas and into those hard to reach locations, contributing to the modern office wireless movement. A mobile work culture offers many, many benefits to modern companies. In contrast, traditionally wired infrastructures would be more complicated, expensive, and difficult to employ and maintain.
With the ability to easily support indoor and outdoor access points, you can sit outside or change locations and still remain connected to the internet. And, as mentioned before, Wave 2 supports additional 5 GHz channels. According to the Wi-Fi Alliance, 65% of devices are now dual-band, so that means they can operate in both the 2.4 and 5GHz frequencies. So this means more devices in more places! And don’t worry, Wave 2 has much stronger security protocols, so you don’t have to worry about your data or devices getting attacked from the outside.
The Future of Wireless
In the upcoming future, more and more of our daily work lives will rely on and operate through a Wi-Fi signal. Automatic doors are already getting there, and technology in healthcare is a rapidly expanding field, so it’s only a matter of time before anything that requires wired or manual assistance is run wirelessly. In fact, Gartner (an American research and advisory firm providing information technology-related insight for IT and other business leaders) predicts that 25 billion things will be connected by wireless by the year 2020.
Wireless solutions have had the potential to revolutionize industries by adding flexibility and capability. With these advancements and the convenience that comes with them, it will not be far into the future when wireless becomes as widely adopted as traditional wired networks. And eventually, it may replace them completely!
Don’t let your business fall behind – make the switch.
Cognoscape is here to help you do just that. We will provide you with a custom IT roadmap, which we will tailor to help you succeed. We will keep you up-to-date on all the latest IT trends in various sectors of the industry (like network security, relocation, regulatory compliance, and cloud computing), especially wireless solutions. If you want your business ahead of the global pace, you need to set your company up with Wave 2 wireless, so contact the best IT security and IT support in Dallas, Texas and we’ll get you there!
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Wireless is commonplace for both businesses and homes alike. Essentially, it lets you ditch wires and connect to the internet anywhere within your router’s range. This means greater flexibility and freedom, which in turn boosts productivity. While these benefits alone are awesome, there are some other pretty neat things you can do with a solid wireless connection. Here’s are seven of them:
1. Listen to Music
You’re probably thinking, yeah… I can listen to music without wireless. Come on. And you know what? You can. BUT, you can’t listen to music anywhere on just about any device without wireless. With Bluetooth, you can stream your jams through high-quality, portable speakers on a camping trip, a hike, a day at the lake, and pretty much anywhere else.
2. Transfer Photos
While it’s not SUPER time consuming, it can be annoying to put your SD card into your computer’s card reader and wait for your photos to transfer. Even more annoying? When you forget the card in your machine and don’t have a backup on you. Looks like you won’t be capturing awesome sunset pics with your DSLR tonight, after all. Good news, there are now SD cards that have wireless technology built in so you don’t even need to take them out of your camera to transfer those pics, saving time and an “oh crap” moments later.
3. Stream Media
You could have a giant collection of DVDs (that’s a pain to sort through every time you want to watch a movie) and rely on your DVR to keep up with TV shows and hope to the network gods that your DVR box doesn’t run out of space halfway through recording your favorite show. OR, you could get with the 21st century and get a subscription to a streaming service like Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon Prime! Once you do that, your super fast wireless will allow you to stream thousands of shows and movies over Wi-Fi to a variety of devices. Score.
4. Boost Security
Wi-Fi can help you boost your at-home or business security. You can set up a basic security camera on a wireless network to detect motion (check out the YawCam app). With an app like Growl, you can set it to send you text or email alerts when it detects motion.
5. Game Without Delays
Possibly the most obvious thing you can do with crazy fast wireless is getting your online game on. Gamers typically use an ethernet connection to the internet because, in the past, wireless has been slow and unreliable. It’s no fun to be in the middle of a raid or fighting off a group of angry fire elementals and have your connection crap out. Newer routers, with higher transmission speeds, minimize connection loss and let you game on, sans unnecessary interruptions.
6. Monitor Spaces
A wireless security camera isn’t exactly a replacement for in-person child supervision (please, please do not leave your young child unattended). But, you COULD use a wireless security camera to keep an eye on your sleeping baby after you put them to bed. Or to figure out who’s been eating all of those midnight snacks. Your choice.
7. Livestream Yourself
The internet combined with Wi-Fi enabled recording devices has created a boom in live streaming. Today, anyone with a smartphone can live stream themselves doing just about anything. Not to say everyone’s going to want to watch, but they might! 81% of people watched more live video in 2016 than 2015, and that number is continuing to climb. Live streaming is also a great move for companies, as 82% of people would rather watch a live video from a brand than scroll through their social posts. Looks like live video is here to stay.
If you’re interested in learning how to optimize your company’s wireless connectivity, give us a shout. We’d be happy to show you how updating your wireless solution can boost your organization’s speed, freedom, and flexibility.
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There’s no doubt about it, wireless technology is mainstream. The number of people making the switch to wireless is increasing every day. By 2020, it’s there will be over 50 billion Wi-Fi connected devices worldwide. That’s a lot of radio waves!
There are many reasons why people are converting to wireless. This blog post is going to explore some of the best ones.
Less Hassle
Let’s be real. Wires are cumbersome, to say the least. They are messy, you trip on them, breakable, never long enough, and tangle easily. They’re essentially the worst thing about technology.
Going wireless means that you can greatly cut down on the use of wires in your business. Everything from mice, keyboards, printers, speakers, headphones, and phones are now wireless. Not only that, but they’re easy to use and many are hold a charge for a long time.
Mobility
Ever wanted to move to a quieter area of the office while continuing a call with a client but you couldn’t because you were wired-in? How about wanting to take your laptop outside and enjoy the sun while typing up a report only to be stopped by lack of a wireless connection?
Fact is, wires limit how you use your devices. Going wireless allows you to roam without losing your connection while working from a variety of locations.
Another way to increase mobility in your office (and beyond) is to ditch the on-premise server and switch to the cloud. According to North Bridge, “90% of organizations use the cloud in some way, with 50% using cloud service as their preferred solution.” Adopting a cloud solution is cost-effective and increases collaboration among employees. Now, combining wireless connectivity with the power of applications and data delivered via the cloud takes mobility to the next level, and that’s a win-win-win.
Flexibility
Going wireless makes it so much easier to reconfigure the office or set-up work areas when new employees join the team. It’s a hassle to move wired devices around and the possibility of mixing up wires or breaking them is always there.
Being a wireless office means that you’re, quite literally, no longer tied down. Thus, you can use the valuable time you’d spend untangling, unplugging and plugging back in on more important projects.
Guest Access
Going wireless allows you to give secure guest network access to customers and business partners visiting your workplace. Gone are the days where the only place you could get an available wireless connection was a coffee shop. Customers these days expect many businesses to offer a free, stable wireless connection for the purposes of convenience and productivity.
Bonus. If you do offer wireless, customers consider this a value-add and another reason to do business with you over your competitors.
Next Steps
No matter what industry you’re in, you can enjoy the benefits of going wireless. In a world with so many wireless devices and solutions, it just makes sense.
If you’re interested in learning more about how your company can take advantage of wireless technology, reach out to us. We’d love to talk to you about how we can improve your organization’s productivity by helping you go wireless!
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As a business professional, you need to protect your data. Your clients and employees depend on you to keep their sensitive information safe, so data loss prevention is a key element of customer confidence. Luckily, there are ways to be proactive in protecting all your company’s valuable data. Here are four of our favorites:
Archive Files
It feels good to empty your recycle bin. Getting rid of an unneeded document means you’ve checked another project off your list. However, once a file has been permanently deleted, it can be nearly impossible to recover.
Good news. There’s an easy way to avoid the horrible, sinking feeling of being unable to find an important file: archive your documents instead of deleting them. Simply create an archive file on your server and put documents you’d usually send to the recycle bin here. Then, if you find yourself needing that one report from six months ago, it’ll be available for reference or compliance checks or even an account question. Not lost in oblivion.
Back It Up
As wonderful as technology is, it does grow old. You can’t always foresee a hard drive or server dying. Even if you take better care of your hardware than you do of yourself, you can’t always prevent a server’s demise. It can and often will fail without any advance notice.
But you can prevent data loss when your hardware kicks the can. That’s why it’s imperative to keep your sensitive information backed up in multiple places. Following the 3-2-1 backup rule is a good place to start. Have three copies of your data located on two different kinds of storage solutions with one stored offsite. Performing this kind of backup every couple of weeks is a good habit to establish. It also doesn’t hurt to be proactive and replace or upgrade your hard drives every few years.
Secure Your Network
In a world where “50% of small SMBs reported suffering at least one cyber attack in the last year,” it’s essential to make network security a top priority. Ransomware, malware, viruses, trojan horses, and the like are all potential data loss disasters waiting to happen.
As the saying goes, the best defense is a good offense. Establishing a rock-solid security strategy is critical in protecting your data from outside intruders looking to steal it. Installing data loss prevention software, establishing user role and policy management, encrypting your data, frequently updating your passwords, and setting up a strong firewall will help prevent your data from being lost, stolen or compromised.
Educate your Employees
Accidents happen. That’s a fact of life. In a hectic and mobile business environment, it’s important to be aware of the risks, learn from other’s mishaps and work together to prevent them from becoming your own.
According to a survey done by Haystax,“74% of organizations feel vulnerable to insider threats,” while “60% of companies felt that a lack of employee training and expertise were obstacles in managing these kinds of threats.”
The solution is simple: adopt protocols proven to reduce insider data leaks and train employees how to correctly follow them. Revisit this training periodically as a refresher, when new threats arise or when procedures change.
Threats to your data come from outside and within. It’s not always possible to avoid them, but these four guidelines will help you become proactive in their prevention. To learn more about protecting your data, contact us. We’d love to show you more ways to safeguard your company’s sensitive information.
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No one wants their data lost, stolen, breached, or corrupted … especially if this data incorporates sensitive information.
Like social security numbers.
In this case, the data loss would be less than ideal.
But after the latest round of massive data breaches, most people have almost become desensitized to data loss. After that Equifax breach, it can’t really get any worse, now can it?
Maybe. Maybe not.
However, as a business professional, it’s still your responsibility to protect your company’s data — whether data loss is considered normal or not. And it’s not just breaches you have to worry about. In the Equifax breach, data was simply “exposed.” The data is still there; it’s just also in other places. Nonetheless, the majority of people will lump it into a “data loss” category.
On top of breaches, however, a company needs to worry about cyber attacks that actually take your data (not just expose it). This could be something like ransomware — a threat that encrypts all of your data. Or a run-of-the-mill virus that corrupts your data and makes it indecipherable.
But again, cyber threats aren’t the only things on the data loss block. You also have to think about accidents, natural disasters, hardware malfunctions, and software issues. Each situation is more than capable of taking your data and making it look like it never even existed.
Here are 5 real-life examples of data loss nightmares.
Daily Mail
Daily Mail repeatedly reports on companies that lose data. They detail the events and criticize from afar. So when Daily Mail’s publisher, Associated Newspapers, lost a laptop that contained the sensitive, personal information of thousands of staff members, it was their turn to be criticized.
While the laptop was password-protected, this doesn’t mean the laptop would have been impossible to crack. In the right hands, the names, addresses, and banking information of the affected staffers would have been more than accessible. In fact, to this day, there’s no saying that someone can’t log into the missing computer and maliciously use the information contained on the device.
At the end of the day, a lost device is considered a form of data loss. And in some cases, data loss that stems from a lost or stolen device can be hard to recover from. Imagine if that laptop contained data that was not backed up and hard to replicate.
T-Mobile’s Sidekick
Hardware malfunctions are not fun, especially if those malfunctions have anything to do with your server. At this point, it can quickly go from not fun to reputation damaging, and in 2009 T-Mobile was unlucky enough to feel the sting of a server malfunction.
Back then, Danger was a company owned by Microsoft. It was responsible for making the once popular Sidekicks for T-Mobile. Sidekick data was not stored locally and instead, was stored in the cloud on Microsoft’s servers.
Apparently, a server malfunctioned, which resulted in massive data loss. As a consequence, the majority of Sidekick users lost photos, contacts, calendar entries, and more. It was a dire situation for T-Mobile, especially once it was brought to everyone’s attention that T-Mobile did not have a redundant backup solution.
They were forced to release an embarrassing public apology that gave Sidekick users absolutely no hope for recovery. Instead, they provided helpful tips to “help you rebuild your personal content.”
Ashley Madison
Data breaches don’t always occur for the sake of money. Sometimes, it’s just people looking to stir up some drama — which happened with Ashley Madison back in 2015.
This website isn’t known for anything particularly good. In fact, its tagline is, “Life is short. Have an affair.” It’s not exactly a company that people will openly admit to being involved with. But nonetheless, Ashley Madison users weren’t given very much choice in the matter when hackers discovered a vulnerability in the way login information was stored.
After this vulnerability was discovered and the hackers dumped the personal information of Ashley Madison users on the internet, people were not happy and the company itself was not in a good position.
As a result of the multiple data dumps, people lost their jobs, and others started looking for someone to sue.
National Archives and Records Administration
Daily Mail wasn’t the only business to suffer from data loss as the result of lost or stolen hardware. In 2009, the NARA (National Archives and Records Administration) also suffered the same fate.
But instead of a laptop, an external hard drive went missing. This specific hard drive contained the personal information of people who may have worked or visited the White House during the Clinton administration.
The NARA had to send out more than 15,000 letters to the individuals who may have been affected by the missing hard drive. They notified them of the data breach and offered one year of free credit monitoring services — a service that could definitely get expensive, especially when you’re talking about tens of thousands of people.
And things get even more expensive when you think of the manhours it took to rebuild that lost data (if that was even possible).
The England Prison System
A few years back, a prison in England sent the records of 84,000 prisoners to a consultant firm they had partnered with. Afterwards, an employee at the consultant firm decided it was a good idea to download all of those records onto a personal USB drive.
While this isn’t exactly the prison’s fault, it’s still considered their responsibility, and at the end of the day, the public blames the prison for the loss of data.
Ultimately, this should be a lesson — never partner with a company or person you can’t trust with your sensitive data.
These examples of everyday data loss should make it obvious that properly backing up your data is more important than ever. Data loss can happen for a variety of reasons, and no business or industry is immune to these reasons.
If you’re looking for help securing and backing up your data, then give us a call or send us a message today. Here at Cognoscape, we specialize in data backup and recovery, and we’d love to talk to your business about securing its data.
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Recently, we covered five real-life data loss nightmares. From online dating and government agencies to hardware manufacturers and news agencies, these five data loss examples span a variety of industries.
The consequences of the data loss that stemmed from these five examples were devastating, crippling reputations, pocketbooks, and futures. However, these examples still might not be enough to showcase the “everyday” reality of data loss for working professionals.
So let’s take a moment to discuss 4 everyday threats to your data.
Lost Devices
Like with the Daily Mail incident (a lost laptop) and even with the situation involving the English prison system (a lost USB drive), a lost (or stolen) device won’t just set you back financially. In reality, this is one of the simplest ways for your company to fall victim to data loss.
When you consider the number of employees using personal devices to access work data, this threat of potential data loss becomes even greater and in turn, even scarier. Lose the wrong device with the right data on it and your business could suffer from data loss that is either impossible to recover or that eventually exposes the sensitive information of partners, clients, employees, or all of the above.
(P.S., It’s not just devices you have to worry about losing. What happens if you misplace a sensitive document?)
Accidents
At the end of the day, losing a device is an accident. But that’s not the only type of accident that leads to data loss.
Have you ever accidentally deleted something? Maybe that time you were able to recover the lost data … but what about next time? Or the time after that?
Accidents are a leading cause of data loss in the professional world because you can’t always hunt down a deleted document in the Recycle Bin. In most cases, this data is dumped after a few months and overwritten by new data.
For example, what if someone unknowingly deletes a sensitive work document? Let’s say that a few months later, another person requires that deleted document for an important task. What happens then?
At this point, the data is already long gone and overwritten — which means that, unfortunately, that person is out of luck.
Hardware Malfunctions
Hardware isn’t always reliable. More specifically, hard drives stop working all the time, making loads of data inaccessible in the process.
In fact, malfunctioning hardware isn’t just a leading cause of data loss; it’s the leading cause of data loss. Because of this, keeping hardware healthy and in prime condition has become a necessity for many companies across the world.
This being said, hardware malfunctions can’t always be avoided. Some are inevitable and can be the direct result of a water leak, power outage, or even a tiny bump.
Malware and Hackers
While completely losing your data to hackers and malware isn’t exactly considered an “everyday” occurrence, having it breached is a different story. At this point, your data isn’t exactly lost, but it’s certainly been seen and handled by malicious actors — like it was a few years ago with Ashley Madison and like it currently is with Equifax.
But then again, we now have ransomware to consider. Now this is a form of malware that will take your data and make it inaccessible, resulting in true-to-form data loss. Sure, if you pay the fine, you might get your data thing — but that’s not a definite reality. It could be gone forever.
If you’d like to learn more about data loss and it how happens to businesses, then check out our report on 5 Data Loss Nightmares. You’ll pick up some interesting facts and learn how to better protect your data in the process.
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Over the years, working on the go has become the norm for business professionals everywhere. But at this point, it’s more than just the norm … it’s critical to success.
If your team isn’t mobile, then everything from productivity and employee morale to customer service and efficiency will suffer.
And ultimately, this suffering will only hurt your competitive edge and damage your company’s reputation.
This being said, mobility doesn’t come free of risk. In fact, the more mobile you are, the more at risk you are of data loss, security breaches, and cyber threats. Which means you have a major dilemma on your hands.
So naturally, the question becomes: How can you successfully secure mobile data when you’re on the move?
Let’s break it down, shall we?
Lock thy device
First and foremost, lock your devices. And this doesn’t just mean your cell phone. This includes your tablet, laptop, and yes … even your home computer.
No device should ever be left wide-open, and no passerby should ever have the ability to open your device and immediately start snooping. You must make it as hard as possible for criminals to get into your devices — because remember: the easier it is to get into your devices, the easier it is for criminals to snatch your mobile data.
However, just because logging into your computer might feel significantly different than logging into your online banking account or email, this doesn’t mean you should drop traditional password-building strategies.
While your phone or tablet may have limitations, your computer and laptop usually don’t. Keep these passwords just as strong as any other password you would create.
Public vs. Private
Unfortunately for every coffee shop-loving person out there, public connections aren’t always the safest things on the Wi-Fi block. In fact, there is such a thing as a fake Wi-Fi hotspot. If you hop onto a connection like this, you might be infected with a nasty virus.
Or worse … a criminal may have the ability to track everything you type and everywhere you go. And if you’re worried about the security of your mobile data, then this is one thing you should probably avoid.
If connecting to public Wi-Fi can’t be avoided, just make sure you aren’t accessing anything sensitive. And keep in mind, this doesn’t just involve sensitive business data … this should also account for personal messages, banking information, and things of that nature.
2FA is where it’s at
Wherever possible, consider using 2FA for your online accounts (otherwise known as two-factor authentication, two-step authentication, or multi-factor authentication). 2FA is especially critical for apps or sites that directly (or even indirectly) include banking, health, legal, or communication information.
2FA is typically very simple to implement, and the added security it provides makes the “second factor” worth it. This second step may include an email asking you to verify the login (which may only be sent to you if it’s an unrecognized browser) or it could be a password and a security question.
Usually, 2FA involves: something you know (like a password or question),something you have (like an email or text message), or something you are(like a fingerprint).
An expert knows best
That’s right. You can’t do everything alone — especially when it comes to business security.
Adding features like these to your traditional security solution can mean the difference between a completely secure business and one littered with vulnerabilities and holes.
These tips are only just the beginning. Securing your on-the-go data requires dedication and an ever-evolving security solution. If you’d like to learn more about securing your mobile data, then give us a call or send us a message today. We’d love to chat.
https://www.cognoscape.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Blog2.jpg266702Export/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Cognoscape-300x137.pngExport2017-09-28 18:00:442019-12-06 15:49:234 simple ways to secure mobile data when you’re on the go
At this point, file sharing has become a bit of a necessity for businesses. It doesn’t matter how large or small the business is; every company has some relative need to share files between employees, partners, and clients.
This being said, not every file-sharing service is creating equal.
Many are considered “consumer-grade” and pose potential risks for companies (especially those companies working with sensitive information). Because of this, it’s important to track down a business-grade, file-sharing service that can provide your team with all the benefits of a consumer-grade service — but with none of the risks.
Here are four reasons to shoot for a business-grade file-sharing solution.
Access files from anywhere
Anywhere, anytime access is a huge benefit of file sharing. With the ability to access files no matter where you are or what you’re doing, your business stands to benefit from greater productivity and, as a result, a larger competitive edge.
But productivity isn’t the only perk.
Since you aren’t limited by the equipment sitting on your desk at the office, you can customize the way you work — in other words, you can seamlessly jump from phone to tablet to laptop. And ultimately, this will only help your team achieve an even greater level of efficiency.
However, with all this jumping, it’s important to maintain privacy, security, and some sense of control. And with a file-sharing service like CognoSYNC, this is more than possible; it’s automatic.
Share files securely
Jumping isn’t the only thing file-sharing services specialize in. They also allow you to share files — hence the term, file-sharing services.
But that much is obvious. However, what might not be as obvious is the difference between a consumer-grade solution and a business-grade solution like CognoSYNC.
A solution designed for businesses should allow you to do things like track downloads and set expiration dates on shared files. Because of this, you’ll have greater visibility into what’s going on inside your company. You’ll always have the ability to check who accesses what and when — which is a feature every business can benefit from.
Control your data
For business-grade solutions, this control should go above and beyond knowing who accesses what and when.
For example, CognoSYNC goes a step further by allowing you to track all user activity — whether that activity involves an edited, added, or deleted document.
This type of solution also gives you the ability to restore a document to an older version or to restore a document deleted too soon. For any company (especially companies heavily involved in collaboration), this feature is a critical one. It can mean the difference between two minutes of wasted manhours or two days of wasted manhours.
Collaborate with ease
Sending and receiving files doesn’t guarantee collaboration. Sure, it makes things easier — but what happens if these files aren’t updated in real time? At this point, everyone would be working from different versions of the same files … resulting in double the work and a whole lot of confusion.
Again, with a business-grade solution like CognoSYNC, files are updated in real time. Your team can collaborate inside of Team Share and receive instant access to the most up-to-date versions of files. Ultimately, this will keep everyone on the same page and communicating with ease.
If you’re looking for a business-grade file-sharing service for your business, take a look at CognoSync or give us a call today. We’d love to talk.
https://www.cognoscape.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Blog2-23.jpg266702Export/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Cognoscape-300x137.pngExport2017-09-14 18:54:372019-12-06 15:49:234 reasons to choose a business-grade file sharing service for your team
Dark Web, How Does it Impact Small Businesses?
/in Blog, Cybersecurity, Data Protection, Information Security, IT Security, Network Security /by ExportDark Web is a term that has surfaced in recent years in connection to cybercrime and cyber security. Identity theft is an unfortunate occurrence that is all too familiar with most business owners, but do those individuals know where the compromised data will end up? Often, these business owners are unaware of the virtual marketplace where stolen data is purchased and sold by cybercriminals; a place known as the Dark Web. An article on Lexology explores what the Dark Web is, what information is available for purchase there and how it impacts small businesses.
What is the Dark Web?
The Dark Web, which is not accessible through traditional search engines is often associated with a place used for illegal criminal activity. While cybercriminals tend to use the Dark Web as a place to buy and sell stolen information, there are also sites within it that do not engage in criminal activity. For many, the most appealing aspect of the Dark Web is its anonymity.
What is for sale on the Dark Web?
Information sold on the Dark Web varies, and includes items such as stolen credit cards, stolen account information from financial institutions, forged real-estate documents, stolen credentials and compromised medical records. Even more alarming, the Dark Web contains subcategories allowing a criminal to search for a specific brand of credit card as well a specific location associated with that card. Not only can these criminals find individual stolen items on the Dark Web, but in some cases, entire “wallets” of compromised information are available for purchase, containing items such as a driver’s license, social security number, birth certificate and credit card information.
What is stolen personal information used for?
When stolen information is obtained by criminals, it can be used for countless activities like securing credit, mortgages, loans and tax refunds. It is also possible that a criminal could create a “synthetic identity” using stolen information and combining it with fictitious information, thus creating a new, difficult to discover identity.
Why are stolen credentials so valuable?
Stolen user names and passwords are becoming increasing popular among cybercriminals, but why? Identity thieves will often hire “account checkers” who take stolen credentials and attempt to break into various accounts across the web using those user names and passwords. The idea here is that many individuals have poor password practices and are using the same user name and password across various accounts, including business account such as banking and eCommerce. If the “account checker” is successful, the identity thief suddenly has access to multiple accounts, in some cases allowing them the opportunity to open additional accounts across financial and business-horizons.
Why should small businesses be concerned about the Dark Web?
Since the Dark Web is a marketplace for stolen data, most personal information stolen from small businesses will end up there, creating major cause for concern. With the media so often publicizing large- scale corporate data breaches, small businesses often think they are not a target for cybercriminals, however that is not the case. Cybercriminals are far less concerned about the size of a business than they are with how vulnerable their target is. Small businesses often lack resources to effectively mitigate the risks of a cyberattack, making them a prime target for identity theft as well as other cybercrime.
At a recent Federal Trade Commission (FTC) conference, privacy specialists noted that information available for purchase on the Dark Web was up to twenty times more likely to come from a company who suffered a data breach that was not reported to the media. The FTC also announced at the conference that the majority of breaches investigated by the U.S. Secret Service involved small businesses rather than large corporations.
How can you reduce the risk for your small business?
To reduce the risks of a cybercriminal gaining access to your company’s information/network, you must ensure you have proper security measures in place. The FTC has a webpage that can assist with security options for businesses of any size. In addition, it is crucial that your employees are properly trained on security, including appropriate password practices. There is also talk of a government-led cyberthreat sharing program which would help enhance security across all industries by sharing cyberthreat data.
Wave 1 and Wave 2 Wireless: A Comparison
/in Blog /by ExportGartner predicts that 20.4 billion Wi-Fi connected “things” will be in use by 2020. With all of these devices, businesses and homes are likely going to need a more robust wireless solution.
The majority of users are now using a Wave 1 wireless connection. And don’t get us wrong, that’s not bad. Actually, it’s pretty good. Unless the majority of your organization is using its Wi-Fi network for gaming, streaming, and the processing of large files, Wave 1 is perfectly fine. However, as more devices begin joining wireless networks, the need for a more powerful solution will increase.
In the interest of comparing capabilities, we’ve put together a list of the three areas in which Wave 2 Wireless has a larger advantage than Wave 1.
Speed
Wave 2 Wireless is, without a doubt, much faster than Wave 1. The newer solution has speeds up to 6Gbps, far outpacing Wave 1’s max speeds of 1.3Gbps. Additionally, Wave 2 has four spatial streams compared to Wave 1’s three. Device speeds are proportional to the number of spatial streams they have, meaning Wave 2 is much faster. Higher speeds mean that end users can process large files and access data more quickly, increasing productivity and eliminating lag time.
Bandwidth
Bandwidth essentially means the rate at which data passes between two devices. The larger your bandwidth, the faster you’ll be able to download or stream larger files. Wave 1 Wireless uses 20, 40, and 80-MHz bonded channels in 5-GHz bandwidth, while Wave 2 Wireless uses 160-MHz on the same bandwidth, supporting additional bonded channels. For large organizations, larger bandwidth means that more devices are supported with better overall Wi-Fi performance. Think of adding more bandwidth like adding extra lanes on a highway. The more lanes (or in Wi-Fi’s case, channels) there are, the more people can get where they need to go.
Device Support
Wave 1 Wireless (otherwise known as the first version of 802.11ac) was created largely with laptops in mind. It uses SU-MIMO, which means that multiple streams of data can only be sent or received between one device at a time.
Wave 2, on the other hand, is more suitable for the demands of mobile devices as it has multi-user MIMO capabilities. This is an advantage because a wireless connection can be used to support dozens of devices all needing a high-bandwidth connection. These devices will also be able to get on and off of the wireless network more easily. Those advantages are especially useful in a business or university setting.
Next Steps
There are many advantages of switching to Wave 2 Wi-Fi: faster speeds, increased bandwidth, the ability to use more devices on a single network. All of these perks will allow your company to be more productive and host more end users on its wireless network, maximizing your ROI.
If these sound like benefits that you’re interested in, please reach out. We can help you determine if this solution is right for your business, and make the switch if it is.
Wireless Just Got Better with Wave 2
/in Whitepaper /by ExportWhenever you think technology couldn’t possibly get better, it does. Let’s look at the development of the internet as an example. Specifically, wireless solutions.
Since its original creation at Xerox Parc 40 years ago, Ethernet has been the primary method of communication in the business field. However, as more and more technologies have been developed, the speed, freedom, and accessibility of internet is improving, and wireless communication has come into the picture. Today, we are interacting with wireless solutions daily. From radio, GPS, wireless USB or Bluetooth, mobile phones, laptops, wireless mouse, headphones, keyboards, printers, WiFi, satellite television, and more, the capabilities of wireless solutions have been recognized and used for years. In fact, at the end of 2015, carriers had invested over $177 billion into the wireless industry. With this in mind, it’s clear to see that the plug-in ethernet practice is losing its dominance. All these advancements and refinements have led up to the latest and greatest wireless upgrade: 802.11ac – also known as Wave 2 Wireless.
You haven’t experienced internet speed like this before.
Speed
Wave 2 Wireless has not only aided in that process but made it even better. Wave 2 delivers speeds ranging from 433 Mbps (megabits per second) up to several (2.5!) gigabits per second. In order to do this, it works exclusively in the 5GHz band and uses plenty of bandwidth (80 or 160 MHz). It also operates in up to eight spatial streams (MIMO), and according to Wi-Fi Alliance, “Device speeds are proportional to the number of spatial streams.” So, with more streams and larger bandwidth, overall performance is much better. With all of this, you could regularly achieve the top upload/download speed allowed by your Internet provider.
Wave 2 Also Offers Freedom and Flexibility
This topic is a huge one. To begin, Wave 2 employs a kind of technology called beamforming that sends signals directly to client devices. As mentioned briefly in the previous paragraph, Wave 2 also supports multiple inputs and multiple outputs, known by the acronym MIMO. This means that the spectrum of multiple connected devices is much wider, and more and more devices can get on and off of the network. MIMO also greatly reduces the chances for interference and balances out speeds for all connected users.
What does this mean? It means you can have more and more access points. If you have multiple wireless access points, remote installations can spread over wide areas and into those hard to reach locations, contributing to the modern office wireless movement. A mobile work culture offers many, many benefits to modern companies. In contrast, traditionally wired infrastructures would be more complicated, expensive, and difficult to employ and maintain.
With the ability to easily support indoor and outdoor access points, you can sit outside or change locations and still remain connected to the internet. And, as mentioned before, Wave 2 supports additional 5 GHz channels. According to the Wi-Fi Alliance, 65% of devices are now dual-band, so that means they can operate in both the 2.4 and 5GHz frequencies. So this means more devices in more places! And don’t worry, Wave 2 has much stronger security protocols, so you don’t have to worry about your data or devices getting attacked from the outside.
The Future of Wireless
Wireless solutions have had the potential to revolutionize industries by adding flexibility and capability. With these advancements and the convenience that comes with them, it will not be far into the future when wireless becomes as widely adopted as traditional wired networks. And eventually, it may replace them completely!
Don’t let your business fall behind – make the switch.
Cognoscape is here to help you do just that. We will provide you with a custom IT roadmap, which we will tailor to help you succeed. We will keep you up-to-date on all the latest IT trends in various sectors of the industry (like network security, relocation, regulatory compliance, and cloud computing), especially wireless solutions. If you want your business ahead of the global pace, you need to set your company up with Wave 2 wireless, so contact the best IT security and IT support in Dallas, Texas and we’ll get you there!
7 Cool Things You Can Do with a Wireless Connection
/in Blog /by ExportWireless is commonplace for both businesses and homes alike. Essentially, it lets you ditch wires and connect to the internet anywhere within your router’s range. This means greater flexibility and freedom, which in turn boosts productivity. While these benefits alone are awesome, there are some other pretty neat things you can do with a solid wireless connection. Here’s are seven of them:
1. Listen to Music
You’re probably thinking, yeah… I can listen to music without wireless. Come on. And you know what? You can. BUT, you can’t listen to music anywhere on just about any device without wireless. With Bluetooth, you can stream your jams through high-quality, portable speakers on a camping trip, a hike, a day at the lake, and pretty much anywhere else.
2. Transfer Photos
While it’s not SUPER time consuming, it can be annoying to put your SD card into your computer’s card reader and wait for your photos to transfer. Even more annoying? When you forget the card in your machine and don’t have a backup on you. Looks like you won’t be capturing awesome sunset pics with your DSLR tonight, after all. Good news, there are now SD cards that have wireless technology built in so you don’t even need to take them out of your camera to transfer those pics, saving time and an “oh crap” moments later.
3. Stream Media
You could have a giant collection of DVDs (that’s a pain to sort through every time you want to watch a movie) and rely on your DVR to keep up with TV shows and hope to the network gods that your DVR box doesn’t run out of space halfway through recording your favorite show. OR, you could get with the 21st century and get a subscription to a streaming service like Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon Prime! Once you do that, your super fast wireless will allow you to stream thousands of shows and movies over Wi-Fi to a variety of devices. Score.
4. Boost Security
Wi-Fi can help you boost your at-home or business security. You can set up a basic security camera on a wireless network to detect motion (check out the YawCam app). With an app like Growl, you can set it to send you text or email alerts when it detects motion.
5. Game Without Delays
Possibly the most obvious thing you can do with crazy fast wireless is getting your online game on. Gamers typically use an ethernet connection to the internet because, in the past, wireless has been slow and unreliable. It’s no fun to be in the middle of a raid or fighting off a group of angry fire elementals and have your connection crap out. Newer routers, with higher transmission speeds, minimize connection loss and let you game on, sans unnecessary interruptions.
6. Monitor Spaces
A wireless security camera isn’t exactly a replacement for in-person child supervision (please, please do not leave your young child unattended). But, you COULD use a wireless security camera to keep an eye on your sleeping baby after you put them to bed. Or to figure out who’s been eating all of those midnight snacks. Your choice.
7. Livestream Yourself
The internet combined with Wi-Fi enabled recording devices has created a boom in live streaming. Today, anyone with a smartphone can live stream themselves doing just about anything. Not to say everyone’s going to want to watch, but they might! 81% of people watched more live video in 2016 than 2015, and that number is continuing to climb. Live streaming is also a great move for companies, as 82% of people would rather watch a live video from a brand than scroll through their social posts. Looks like live video is here to stay.
If you’re interested in learning how to optimize your company’s wireless connectivity, give us a shout. We’d be happy to show you how updating your wireless solution can boost your organization’s speed, freedom, and flexibility.
The Benefits of Going Wireless
/in Blog /by ExportThere’s no doubt about it, wireless technology is mainstream. The number of people making the switch to wireless is increasing every day. By 2020, it’s there will be over 50 billion Wi-Fi connected devices worldwide. That’s a lot of radio waves!
There are many reasons why people are converting to wireless. This blog post is going to explore some of the best ones.
Less Hassle
Let’s be real. Wires are cumbersome, to say the least. They are messy, you trip on them, breakable, never long enough, and tangle easily. They’re essentially the worst thing about technology.
Going wireless means that you can greatly cut down on the use of wires in your business. Everything from mice, keyboards, printers, speakers, headphones, and phones are now wireless. Not only that, but they’re easy to use and many are hold a charge for a long time.
Mobility
Ever wanted to move to a quieter area of the office while continuing a call with a client but you couldn’t because you were wired-in? How about wanting to take your laptop outside and enjoy the sun while typing up a report only to be stopped by lack of a wireless connection?
Fact is, wires limit how you use your devices. Going wireless allows you to roam without losing your connection while working from a variety of locations.
Another way to increase mobility in your office (and beyond) is to ditch the on-premise server and switch to the cloud. According to North Bridge, “90% of organizations use the cloud in some way, with 50% using cloud service as their preferred solution.” Adopting a cloud solution is cost-effective and increases collaboration among employees. Now, combining wireless connectivity with the power of applications and data delivered via the cloud takes mobility to the next level, and that’s a win-win-win.
Flexibility
Going wireless makes it so much easier to reconfigure the office or set-up work areas when new employees join the team. It’s a hassle to move wired devices around and the possibility of mixing up wires or breaking them is always there.
Being a wireless office means that you’re, quite literally, no longer tied down. Thus, you can use the valuable time you’d spend untangling, unplugging and plugging back in on more important projects.
Guest Access
Going wireless allows you to give secure guest network access to customers and business partners visiting your workplace. Gone are the days where the only place you could get an available wireless connection was a coffee shop. Customers these days expect many businesses to offer a free, stable wireless connection for the purposes of convenience and productivity.
Bonus. If you do offer wireless, customers consider this a value-add and another reason to do business with you over your competitors.
Next Steps
No matter what industry you’re in, you can enjoy the benefits of going wireless. In a world with so many wireless devices and solutions, it just makes sense.
If you’re interested in learning more about how your company can take advantage of wireless technology, reach out to us. We’d love to talk to you about how we can improve your organization’s productivity by helping you go wireless!
4 Simple Data Loss Prevention Tips
/in Blog /by ExportAs a business professional, you need to protect your data. Your clients and employees depend on you to keep their sensitive information safe, so data loss prevention is a key element of customer confidence. Luckily, there are ways to be proactive in protecting all your company’s valuable data. Here are four of our favorites:
Archive Files
It feels good to empty your recycle bin. Getting rid of an unneeded document means you’ve checked another project off your list. However, once a file has been permanently deleted, it can be nearly impossible to recover.
Good news. There’s an easy way to avoid the horrible, sinking feeling of being unable to find an important file: archive your documents instead of deleting them. Simply create an archive file on your server and put documents you’d usually send to the recycle bin here. Then, if you find yourself needing that one report from six months ago, it’ll be available for reference or compliance checks or even an account question. Not lost in oblivion.
Back It Up
As wonderful as technology is, it does grow old. You can’t always foresee a hard drive or server dying. Even if you take better care of your hardware than you do of yourself, you can’t always prevent a server’s demise. It can and often will fail without any advance notice.
But you can prevent data loss when your hardware kicks the can. That’s why it’s imperative to keep your sensitive information backed up in multiple places. Following the 3-2-1 backup rule is a good place to start. Have three copies of your data located on two different kinds of storage solutions with one stored offsite. Performing this kind of backup every couple of weeks is a good habit to establish. It also doesn’t hurt to be proactive and replace or upgrade your hard drives every few years.
Secure Your Network
In a world where “50% of small SMBs reported suffering at least one cyber attack in the last year,” it’s essential to make network security a top priority. Ransomware, malware, viruses, trojan horses, and the like are all potential data loss disasters waiting to happen.
As the saying goes, the best defense is a good offense. Establishing a rock-solid security strategy is critical in protecting your data from outside intruders looking to steal it. Installing data loss prevention software, establishing user role and policy management, encrypting your data, frequently updating your passwords, and setting up a strong firewall will help prevent your data from being lost, stolen or compromised.
Educate your Employees
Accidents happen. That’s a fact of life. In a hectic and mobile business environment, it’s important to be aware of the risks, learn from other’s mishaps and work together to prevent them from becoming your own.
According to a survey done by Haystax,“74% of organizations feel vulnerable to insider threats,” while “60% of companies felt that a lack of employee training and expertise were obstacles in managing these kinds of threats.”
The solution is simple: adopt protocols proven to reduce insider data leaks and train employees how to correctly follow them. Revisit this training periodically as a refresher, when new threats arise or when procedures change.
Threats to your data come from outside and within. It’s not always possible to avoid them, but these four guidelines will help you become proactive in their prevention. To learn more about protecting your data, contact us. We’d love to show you more ways to safeguard your company’s sensitive information.
5 data loss nightmares you can learn something from
/in Whitepaper /by ExportNo one wants their data lost, stolen, breached, or corrupted … especially if this data incorporates sensitive information.
Like social security numbers.
In this case, the data loss would be less than ideal.
But after the latest round of massive data breaches, most people have almost become desensitized to data loss. After that Equifax breach, it can’t really get any worse, now can it?
Maybe. Maybe not.
However, as a business professional, it’s still your responsibility to protect your company’s data — whether data loss is considered normal or not. And it’s not just breaches you have to worry about. In the Equifax breach, data was simply “exposed.” The data is still there; it’s just also in other places. Nonetheless, the majority of people will lump it into a “data loss” category.
On top of breaches, however, a company needs to worry about cyber attacks that actually take your data (not just expose it). This could be something like ransomware — a threat that encrypts all of your data. Or a run-of-the-mill virus that corrupts your data and makes it indecipherable.
But again, cyber threats aren’t the only things on the data loss block. You also have to think about accidents, natural disasters, hardware malfunctions, and software issues. Each situation is more than capable of taking your data and making it look like it never even existed.
Here are 5 real-life examples of data loss nightmares.
Daily Mail
Daily Mail repeatedly reports on companies that lose data. They detail the events and criticize from afar. So when Daily Mail’s publisher, Associated Newspapers, lost a laptop that contained the sensitive, personal information of thousands of staff members, it was their turn to be criticized.
While the laptop was password-protected, this doesn’t mean the laptop would have been impossible to crack. In the right hands, the names, addresses, and banking information of the affected staffers would have been more than accessible. In fact, to this day, there’s no saying that someone can’t log into the missing computer and maliciously use the information contained on the device.
At the end of the day, a lost device is considered a form of data loss. And in some cases, data loss that stems from a lost or stolen device can be hard to recover from. Imagine if that laptop contained data that was not backed up and hard to replicate.
T-Mobile’s Sidekick
Hardware malfunctions are not fun, especially if those malfunctions have anything to do with your server. At this point, it can quickly go from not fun to reputation damaging, and in 2009 T-Mobile was unlucky enough to feel the sting of a server malfunction.
Back then, Danger was a company owned by Microsoft. It was responsible for making the once popular Sidekicks for T-Mobile. Sidekick data was not stored locally and instead, was stored in the cloud on Microsoft’s servers.
Apparently, a server malfunctioned, which resulted in massive data loss. As a consequence, the majority of Sidekick users lost photos, contacts, calendar entries, and more. It was a dire situation for T-Mobile, especially once it was brought to everyone’s attention that T-Mobile did not have a redundant backup solution.
They were forced to release an embarrassing public apology that gave Sidekick users absolutely no hope for recovery. Instead, they provided helpful tips to “help you rebuild your personal content.”
Ashley Madison
Data breaches don’t always occur for the sake of money. Sometimes, it’s just people looking to stir up some drama — which happened with Ashley Madison back in 2015.
This website isn’t known for anything particularly good. In fact, its tagline is, “Life is short. Have an affair.” It’s not exactly a company that people will openly admit to being involved with. But nonetheless, Ashley Madison users weren’t given very much choice in the matter when hackers discovered a vulnerability in the way login information was stored.
After this vulnerability was discovered and the hackers dumped the personal information of Ashley Madison users on the internet, people were not happy and the company itself was not in a good position.
As a result of the multiple data dumps, people lost their jobs, and others started looking for someone to sue.
National Archives and Records Administration
Daily Mail wasn’t the only business to suffer from data loss as the result of lost or stolen hardware. In 2009, the NARA (National Archives and Records Administration) also suffered the same fate.
But instead of a laptop, an external hard drive went missing. This specific hard drive contained the personal information of people who may have worked or visited the White House during the Clinton administration.
The NARA had to send out more than 15,000 letters to the individuals who may have been affected by the missing hard drive. They notified them of the data breach and offered one year of free credit monitoring services — a service that could definitely get expensive, especially when you’re talking about tens of thousands of people.
And things get even more expensive when you think of the manhours it took to rebuild that lost data (if that was even possible).
The England Prison System
A few years back, a prison in England sent the records of 84,000 prisoners to a consultant firm they had partnered with. Afterwards, an employee at the consultant firm decided it was a good idea to download all of those records onto a personal USB drive.
And of course, that USB drive was lost a few days later.
While this isn’t exactly the prison’s fault, it’s still considered their responsibility, and at the end of the day, the public blames the prison for the loss of data.
Ultimately, this should be a lesson — never partner with a company or person you can’t trust with your sensitive data.
These examples of everyday data loss should make it obvious that properly backing up your data is more important than ever. Data loss can happen for a variety of reasons, and no business or industry is immune to these reasons.
If you’re looking for help securing and backing up your data, then give us a call or send us a message today. Here at Cognoscape, we specialize in data backup and recovery, and we’d love to talk to your business about securing its data.
Data Loss Examples: 4 everyday threats to your data
/in Blog /by ExportRecently, we covered five real-life data loss nightmares. From online dating and government agencies to hardware manufacturers and news agencies, these five data loss examples span a variety of industries.
The consequences of the data loss that stemmed from these five examples were devastating, crippling reputations, pocketbooks, and futures. However, these examples still might not be enough to showcase the “everyday” reality of data loss for working professionals.
So let’s take a moment to discuss 4 everyday threats to your data.
Lost Devices
Like with the Daily Mail incident (a lost laptop) and even with the situation involving the English prison system (a lost USB drive), a lost (or stolen) device won’t just set you back financially. In reality, this is one of the simplest ways for your company to fall victim to data loss.
When you consider the number of employees using personal devices to access work data, this threat of potential data loss becomes even greater and in turn, even scarier. Lose the wrong device with the right data on it and your business could suffer from data loss that is either impossible to recover or that eventually exposes the sensitive information of partners, clients, employees, or all of the above.
(P.S., It’s not just devices you have to worry about losing. What happens if you misplace a sensitive document?)
Accidents
At the end of the day, losing a device is an accident. But that’s not the only type of accident that leads to data loss.
Have you ever accidentally deleted something? Maybe that time you were able to recover the lost data … but what about next time? Or the time after that?
Accidents are a leading cause of data loss in the professional world because you can’t always hunt down a deleted document in the Recycle Bin. In most cases, this data is dumped after a few months and overwritten by new data.
For example, what if someone unknowingly deletes a sensitive work document? Let’s say that a few months later, another person requires that deleted document for an important task. What happens then?
At this point, the data is already long gone and overwritten — which means that, unfortunately, that person is out of luck.
Hardware Malfunctions
Hardware isn’t always reliable. More specifically, hard drives stop working all the time, making loads of data inaccessible in the process.
In fact, malfunctioning hardware isn’t just a leading cause of data loss; it’s the leading cause of data loss. Because of this, keeping hardware healthy and in prime condition has become a necessity for many companies across the world.
This being said, hardware malfunctions can’t always be avoided. Some are inevitable and can be the direct result of a water leak, power outage, or even a tiny bump.
Malware and Hackers
While completely losing your data to hackers and malware isn’t exactly considered an “everyday” occurrence, having it breached is a different story. At this point, your data isn’t exactly lost, but it’s certainly been seen and handled by malicious actors — like it was a few years ago with Ashley Madison and like it currently is with Equifax.
But then again, we now have ransomware to consider. Now this is a form of malware that will take your data and make it inaccessible, resulting in true-to-form data loss. Sure, if you pay the fine, you might get your data thing — but that’s not a definite reality. It could be gone forever.
If you’d like to learn more about data loss and it how happens to businesses, then check out our report on 5 Data Loss Nightmares. You’ll pick up some interesting facts and learn how to better protect your data in the process.
4 simple ways to secure mobile data when you’re on the go
/in Blog /by ExportOver the years, working on the go has become the norm for business professionals everywhere. But at this point, it’s more than just the norm … it’s critical to success.
If your team isn’t mobile, then everything from productivity and employee morale to customer service and efficiency will suffer.
And ultimately, this suffering will only hurt your competitive edge and damage your company’s reputation.
This being said, mobility doesn’t come free of risk. In fact, the more mobile you are, the more at risk you are of data loss, security breaches, and cyber threats. Which means you have a major dilemma on your hands.
So naturally, the question becomes: How can you successfully secure mobile data when you’re on the move?
Let’s break it down, shall we?
Lock thy device
First and foremost, lock your devices. And this doesn’t just mean your cell phone. This includes your tablet, laptop, and yes … even your home computer.
No device should ever be left wide-open, and no passerby should ever have the ability to open your device and immediately start snooping. You must make it as hard as possible for criminals to get into your devices — because remember: the easier it is to get into your devices, the easier it is for criminals to snatch your mobile data.
However, just because logging into your computer might feel significantly different than logging into your online banking account or email, this doesn’t mean you should drop traditional password-building strategies.
While your phone or tablet may have limitations, your computer and laptop usually don’t. Keep these passwords just as strong as any other password you would create.
Public vs. Private
Unfortunately for every coffee shop-loving person out there, public connections aren’t always the safest things on the Wi-Fi block. In fact, there is such a thing as a fake Wi-Fi hotspot. If you hop onto a connection like this, you might be infected with a nasty virus.
Or worse … a criminal may have the ability to track everything you type and everywhere you go. And if you’re worried about the security of your mobile data, then this is one thing you should probably avoid.
If connecting to public Wi-Fi can’t be avoided, just make sure you aren’t accessing anything sensitive. And keep in mind, this doesn’t just involve sensitive business data … this should also account for personal messages, banking information, and things of that nature.
2FA is where it’s at
Wherever possible, consider using 2FA for your online accounts (otherwise known as two-factor authentication, two-step authentication, or multi-factor authentication). 2FA is especially critical for apps or sites that directly (or even indirectly) include banking, health, legal, or communication information.
2FA is typically very simple to implement, and the added security it provides makes the “second factor” worth it. This second step may include an email asking you to verify the login (which may only be sent to you if it’s an unrecognized browser) or it could be a password and a security question.
Usually, 2FA involves: something you know (like a password or question), something you have (like an email or text message), or something you are (like a fingerprint).
An expert knows best
That’s right. You can’t do everything alone — especially when it comes to business security.
These days, the majority of Managed Service Providers offer some form of on-the-go data protection. They can help you manage mobile devices or provide your company with a business-grade solution for file-sharing.
Adding features like these to your traditional security solution can mean the difference between a completely secure business and one littered with vulnerabilities and holes.
These tips are only just the beginning. Securing your on-the-go data requires dedication and an ever-evolving security solution. If you’d like to learn more about securing your mobile data, then give us a call or send us a message today. We’d love to chat.
4 reasons to choose a business-grade file sharing service for your team
/in IT Services /by ExportAt this point, file sharing has become a bit of a necessity for businesses. It doesn’t matter how large or small the business is; every company has some relative need to share files between employees, partners, and clients.
This being said, not every file-sharing service is creating equal.
Many are considered “consumer-grade” and pose potential risks for companies (especially those companies working with sensitive information). Because of this, it’s important to track down a business-grade, file-sharing service that can provide your team with all the benefits of a consumer-grade service — but with none of the risks.
Here are four reasons to shoot for a business-grade file-sharing solution.
Access files from anywhere
Anywhere, anytime access is a huge benefit of file sharing. With the ability to access files no matter where you are or what you’re doing, your business stands to benefit from greater productivity and, as a result, a larger competitive edge.
But productivity isn’t the only perk.
Since you aren’t limited by the equipment sitting on your desk at the office, you can customize the way you work — in other words, you can seamlessly jump from phone to tablet to laptop. And ultimately, this will only help your team achieve an even greater level of efficiency.
However, with all this jumping, it’s important to maintain privacy, security, and some sense of control. And with a file-sharing service like CognoSYNC, this is more than possible; it’s automatic.
Share files securely
Jumping isn’t the only thing file-sharing services specialize in. They also allow you to share files — hence the term, file-sharing services.
But that much is obvious. However, what might not be as obvious is the difference between a consumer-grade solution and a business-grade solution like CognoSYNC.
A solution designed for businesses should allow you to do things like track downloads and set expiration dates on shared files. Because of this, you’ll have greater visibility into what’s going on inside your company. You’ll always have the ability to check who accesses what and when — which is a feature every business can benefit from.
Control your data
For business-grade solutions, this control should go above and beyond knowing who accesses what and when.
For example, CognoSYNC goes a step further by allowing you to track all user activity — whether that activity involves an edited, added, or deleted document.
This type of solution also gives you the ability to restore a document to an older version or to restore a document deleted too soon. For any company (especially companies heavily involved in collaboration), this feature is a critical one. It can mean the difference between two minutes of wasted manhours or two days of wasted manhours.
Collaborate with ease
Sending and receiving files doesn’t guarantee collaboration. Sure, it makes things easier — but what happens if these files aren’t updated in real time? At this point, everyone would be working from different versions of the same files … resulting in double the work and a whole lot of confusion.
Again, with a business-grade solution like CognoSYNC, files are updated in real time. Your team can collaborate inside of Team Share and receive instant access to the most up-to-date versions of files. Ultimately, this will keep everyone on the same page and communicating with ease.
If you’re looking for a business-grade file-sharing service for your business, take a look at CognoSync or give us a call today. We’d love to talk.