Jun 13, 2023 | SMB Technology, SMB Technology, SMB Technology, SMB Technology, Technology News
Now that Generative AI (e.g. ChatGPT) is here, phishing attacks may increase both in number and sophistication. How do businesses protect themselves? Awareness is a good first step, but gathering data using a security information and event management system (SIEM) is even better. Read on to learn how SIEM along with education and awareness training can reinforce your company’s efforts to prevent phishing attacks and resulting malware. What is SIEM? Security information and event management (SIEM) combines two separate systems to not only gather information but develop rules to help analysts understand what occurs in your company’s network. Security information management involves the gathering, monitoring and analysis of security-related information across different computer logs–including email applications. Security event management is involved in helping respond to incidents. SIEM brings the two functions together – the strong log-keeping functions of SIM with the response capabilities of SEM. The information is put together in a standard format, then aggregated and analyzed, helping IT professionals prioritize their threat response. Since SIEM can be outsourced to managed service providers (MSPs), it is possible for small to medium-sized businesses to afford it and not have to hire extra staff. SIEM and Phishing Attacks The security operations center of an average organization can receive tens of thousands of threats, and some can receive ten times more. What’s a small or medium-sized business to do? How do they know they are victims of a ransomware attack until the damage is already done? Security information and event management has the capacity to gather and analyze information about user authentication attempts, separating normal logins...
Jun 7, 2023 | SMB Technology, SMB Technology, SMB Technology, SMB Technology, Technology News
Any technology brings benefits as well as possible challenges, and Generative AI (e.g. ChatGPT) is no exception. ChatGPT is a type of artificial intelligence language model (“GPT” stands for generative pre-trained transformer) that carries potential for business uses. Whatever challenges this prevents in terms of cybersecurity will become apparent. No matter what the technology, safeguards will still revolve around people, processes and technology. Read on to learn more about ChatGPT, its potential uses, and the challenges it may bring. What ChatGPT is, and Why it Matters ChatGPT, a product from Open AI, is a Large Language Model (LLM) built on datasets from the Internet and pre-trained to give responses to questions, generate content, and make user interfaces more personal and interactive. Predictive text is already prevalent in email applications, wherein the application tries to guess the next few words or next sentence. All the user has to do is click the tab button to accept or continue typing to override the suggestion. Similarly, the artificial intelligence powering ChatGPT can help generate text by prompting the writer with suggestions based on Internet data. Organizations can save time and improve customer service, content creation, research and even automate customer service analytics. Generative artificial intelligence is the enabling technology for ChatGPT, and uses are probably limited only to the human imagination. Artificial intelligence puts together information from the Internet, but it’s up to the user to judge the content’s usefulness and accuracy. Early Adoption of ChatGPT Progresses Quickly While not yet audited for bias and accuracy, ChatGPT has still become popular, and will probably become even more so,...
May 9, 2023 | SMB Technology, SMB Technology, SMB Technology, SMB Technology, Technology News
Like rock and roll, remote work is here to stay. Customers have numerous ways to reach your business, but not until the advent of communications and collaboration software have these methods been integrated. Read on to learn more about this way of connecting multiple touchpoints. The Benefits of Communications and Collaboration Anyone who has used Zoom phone and videoconferencing or Microsoft Teams over the past few years has learned how easy collaboration and communication is between coworkers and customers. Such integration can help workers collaborate online and on video along with sharing files and customer information, anytime and anywhere. What’s more, customers can choose how they communicate with you, switching easily from one channel to another. On the customer-facing side, providing customers with their favorite way of communicating gives them a positive experience with your company. Integrating communications and collaboration applications, more than having them available separately, allows a customer to stay connected from voice mail, to phone, to video, without missing a beat. This positive Customer Experience (CX) can help you not just please customers but stand out from the competition. Using Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software can expedite calls, allowing workers to serve customers more quickly. Justifying the Investment in Customer Experience While such flexible and fluid communication sounds ideal, your company still has a budget. How, then, can you justify the omnichannel investment? According to a trends article by CompTIA, a third of channel firms report they will seek workers with experience in communications and collaboration (including social media) approaches to customer communications. An earlier article reports that companies using an integrated...
May 2, 2023 | SMB Technology, SMB Technology, SMB Technology, SMB Technology, Technology News
As shown by recent wild weather, one never knows when a natural disaster – or for that matter, a man-made one – might strike. How can you prepare your business to stay running and have access to data in case of such an event? Read on to learn more about using cloud backup to safeguard critical data. Importance of Data Backup Backing up your data is obviously necessary, but where to put it? Keep it on premises and risk having it inaccessible if a disaster disrupts your business? What if your business is closed for weeks or even months? One rule, the 3-2-1 rule, advises having copies of your data in multiple locations. Loss of critical data can result in interruptions to business operations, loss of trust of customers and other stakeholders, and even penalties for failing to comply with data protection regulations. What if one of the locations for data backup and storage is the cloud, with your data managed by a cloud service provider? Benefits of Cloud Backup to Protect Data Simply put, cloud backup is making copies of your data to store in the cloud, with the cloud provider supervising its security and integrity. Your business will have access to data in case of a minor or even major disaster, whether a power outage of a couple hours or a longer disruption. Your IT team can send copies of your data to the CSP for storage and backup, allowing workers to access it anywhere. With the CSP furnishing the infrastructure, as well as providing monitoring and reporting services, data remains safe from...
Apr 13, 2023 | SMB Technology, SMB Technology, SMB Technology, SMB Technology, Technology News
What if, instead of being limited to an in-office phone system with its possibly rough connection and dropped calls, you could experience seamless communication via the cloud? This is possible with Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP, for short), an Internet-based unified communications solution. Read on to learn more about VoIP’s benefits and considerations, and about looking for a potential provider. Benefits of Unified Communications Telephone technology has come a long way since the time calls were transmitted over copper wires. Nowadays, with VoiceOver IP, users can call each other using an Internet-based cloud solution. With this different interface, the provider handles back-end infrastructure and all the customer needs is the internet connection. This technology is flexible and scalable, and can be integrated with your company’s applications to help speed business processes. Lines can be added easily via your company’s internet router to accommodate more remote workers, and they can access your network and its applications. Like with other cloud offerings, VoIP can convert the capital expense of phone sets to a flexible internet-based subscription model. Preparing Your Network for Unified Communications No matter your company’s needs, considerations remain when considering cloud-based phone technology. First, is your company’s network strong enough, with sufficient bandwidth, to support more traffic? Does your network and all connected devices have the most current antivirus and anti-malware definitions? Another question to answer: have you considered what features of a provider’s plan would best align with business goals? Considerations When Choosing a Provider Numerous providers exist, and offer internet telephony packages with varying features. Some can furnish you with things...
Apr 5, 2023 | SMB Technology, SMB Technology, SMB Technology, SMB Technology, Technology News
Cyber attacks, including phishing attacks, seem to always be in the news these days. Ransomware, malware, data breaches, all are on the rise, with several high-profile attacks in recent years. Even more recently, the failure of the Silicon Valley Bank might promote spoofed bank websites and bank communications as attempts to gain access to company networks and personally identifiable information. Read on to learn more about the dangers of phishing attacks as well as how to recognize and prevent them. The Consequences of Phishing According to a 2021 CISCO report, many cyber attacks happen by way of fraudulent emails (and sometimes texts) wherein malicious actors masquerade as legitimate individuals or entities to get confidential information or to infect networks with malware. The sender of the email seems to be a legitimate sender, perhaps from a well-known company, or business the company has interacted with before. They may include an attachment appearing to be a PDF, or a URL in the body of the email. According to CISCO, nearly 90% of data breaches stem from phishing attacks, the majority of these attacks coming via email. Losses from these attacks are expected to reach $10.5 trillion by 2025–and the losses are not only financial. In addition to penalties for failing to comply with data protection regulations and loss of money through theft, reputational loss is a serious consequence. People’s dependence on technology for conveniences like e-commerce and gathering information online makes it easier for phishers to craft an email that appears genuine. How do you recognize what a phishing email looks like, and train your workers to...
