Technology Advisor Blog

Each year Verizon publishes the much-anticipated Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR).  The report is built on real-world data from 41,686 security incidents and 2,013 data breaches provided by 73 data sources, both public and private entities, spanning 86 countries worldwide.    We'll cover some of the key take-aways in this post, and if you're interested in more information, we recommend checking out the full report.  

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This past month Ekaru hosted a lunch and learn with over 50 local business leaders.  Education and "the human firewall" are key components of any cybersecurity plan, and we're on a mission to educate our community.  Here's a re-cap of the event.

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The IRS has issued a reminder to all practitioners that all "Professional Tax Preparers" must create a written data security plan to protect clients.  

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Every Employee Matters
Whether your name is on the sign out front, or you're in a leadership role, or you're just an entry-level employee, the success of the business is in your hands. In that role, you know that each department feeds into the overall health of the business, and you need to ensure everyone, and everything is operating at maximum wellness.

Most of these divisions, or departments, within your business are affected first by the employees who are working within them. By getting all employees on board with security awareness you can address a multitude of threats and risks to your success.

It Takes a Village
Strong leadership helps create a culture where each employee and department feels that they are relevant and part of the company’s success. Part of that success means avoiding the threat of a breach which could very likely destroy your business’s future. Asking for their buy-in means making them feel relevant and valued as not just a risk, but as a part of the success. Today's threats are automated and indiscriminate. Employees need to know that it isn’t just high-level executives who are targets for a data breach. Their level of access or knowledge can be used as a gateway to obtaining any information within a company. Everyone matters – and unfortunately, that makes everyone a target.  Turn the conversation around and show how everyone can help!

This can help to facilitate a team environment where no man left behind becomes part of the culture. There is a tendency to look out for each other when you know that one of you is not dispensable. Create and cultivate that culture.  This is more important than ever when considering cyber threats, as the weakest link will become the point of attack.

Get on the Train
We have fire drills and other emergency training sessions that give our team a heads up on how to react in such a situation, but do you take the same precaution when it comes to cybersecurity? Probably not. We need to change that. Look for ways that are engaging and create team building. You can have contests for security awards, ongoing tallies of scores that unify internal divisions to succeed and band together. Individuals can be nominated and rewarded for reinforcing behavior or actions. Regardless of the method you use, make it fun.

Security awareness is as essential to the success and growth of your company as good leadership and solid decision making are. You cannot avoid facing the risk it poses in today’s business environment. What makes it different, is acknowledging that leadership is not solely responsible for taking on the burden it brings to a business. It is a company-wide risk that leadership needs to acknowledge and ensure that everyone knows their value within both the company and avoiding a cyber crime. Read More

Yesterday we hosted a Cybersecurity Awareness Webinar focused on explaining some of the key impacts to SMBs in plain English. 

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Are you still running Windows 7 or Server 2008 in your office?   Microsoft will be ending support for Windows 7 and Server 2008 on January 14, 2020. Microsoft made a commitment to provide 10 years of product support for Windows 7 when it was released on October 22, 2009. When this 10-year period ends, Microsoft will discontinue Windows 7 support so that they can focus their investment on supporting newer technologies.

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Last week, Ekaru hosted a Cybersecurity Awareness Training session at the Cameron Senior Center in Westford, MA.  It's part of our mission to raise cybersecurity awareness for EVERYONE.  

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A screenshot is an image of whatever's on your screen.  Simply pressing the PrtSc button will save the image of your screen to your clipboard.  If you then go into a document or email, you can hit "paste", or Ctrl+V to insert the image.  Pretty simple!  This is a great short cut when you need to show someone something on your screen or perhaps provide instructions to someone.

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Microsoft will be ending support for Windows 7 and Server 2008 on January 14, 2020. Microsoft made a commitment to provide 10 years of product support for Windows 7 when it was released on October 22, 2009. When this 10-year period ends, Microsoft will discontinue Windows 7 support so that they can focus their investment on supporting newer technologies. This is a standard part of their product life cycle.

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Big businesses make the headlines but small businesses are NOT immune to Cyber Attacks!  

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