Technology Advisor Blog

2020 has been a challenging year for all, especially small businesses.  Did you know that there are over 31 million small businesses in the United States?  At Ekaru, our mission from the start has been to provide enterprise class IT services to small business.  During the past several months, working closely with our small business community has reinforced how much small business means to all of us.

Each year the National Cyber Security Alliance promotes Cybersecurity Awareness Month during the Month of October.  It's estimated that over 90% of breaches occur as the result of user error, so developing a culture of cybersecurity in your organization is more important than ever.  Each day in October we posted a Myth or a Tip on our social media, and as much as a month of increased awareness helps, Cybersecurity is really an ongoing effort.

Cyber criminals can use data leaked in big breaches to cause more harm to you with phishing emails.  Data from big breaches, which have almost become commonplace, wind up on the Dark Web quite quickly.  After they have your info via the Dark Web, they can craft some very convincing emails to you.  They can use identifiable information to customize the email to make it look legit.

Ransomware threats are on the rise in recent years, and new threats are accelerating.  This type of malware is extremely destructive as it encrypts the files of infected users and locks you out of your own data unless you pay the ransom, typically in the form of Bitcoin cryptocurrency, which enables criminals to hide.  Its a big money maker for criminals, and as long as victims continue to pay the ransom, the threats will continue. 

This year’s initiative highlights the importance of empowering individuals and organizations to better protect their part of cyberspace in an increasingly connected world

This week we hosted another business leader in our Pandemic "Lunch and Learn" small business technology series.  Frank Correira, Senior Channel Manager at LogMeIn spoke to the Ekaru business community about "unified communications" - Voice / Video / Text. 

We all know what we "should" do about passwords, but reality is quite a bit different as a recent report by LogMeIn shows, in collaboration with the National Cybersecurity Alliance.  At Ekaru we're on a mission to help Small Businesses stay strong in the face of cyber threats.  The more you know about the threats you face, the better your chances of keeping your data safe an your name out of the headlines.

As countries, states, and cities begin to ease lock-down restrictions, this checklist for reopening businesses can help you jump-start your return.

These are challenging times for all, and 2020 hasn't gone as planned for anyone.  But there are still seven months left to the year!  This week we hosted a guest speaker at our webinar to help our community step up to the challenge and do our best in 2020.  Herb Cogliano of Aspire Growth Advisors walked us through the Scaling Up methodology, based on the best-selling books Scaling Up and The Rockefeller Habits, by Verne Harnish, to get refocused on 2020.  Herb is a former INC 5000 CEO, multi-year recipient of the Boston and South Florida business Journal Best Places to Work award, and serves on the Carroll School of Management Board of Advisors at Boston College.

For those fortunate enough to be able to make the move to work from home during the pandemic, the rapid change has been a lot to handle.  Cybersecurity threats increased sharply while users are adjusting to a new way of work.  Last week we hosted security expert Jay Ryerse, CISSP, of Connectwise to speak to our community about the impact on small business.  Ekaru wants the cybersecurity culture of our community to transcend the office walls to protect you, your family, and your business.