Despite its undeniable value, data is incredibly fragile. The loss of critical information can spell disaster for a company, making data backup a paramount concern. In this article, we’ll explore why data backup is so important for businesses and why it should be at the forefront of every organization’s IT strategy.
It’s borderline impossible to conduct any business online without seeing potential threats abound. It also doesn’t help that threats tend to disguise themselves to avoid being detected. Today, we want to share a social media threat that one of our employees discovered while going about their day, and we think even a cautious user could have been fooled by it.
The cloud is an amazing tool for just about any business, allowing for countless benefits that span endless possibilities. However, because it involves the Internet and hosting data in an online environment, there are security challenges that naturally come about as a result of utilizing it. Let’s consider some of the security mistakes that businesses can experience while using the cloud.
Microsoft Excel is a powerful tool for organizing and analyzing data, and its ceiling for mastery is incredibly high. Thankfully, you don’t need to know every little thing about Excel to get value out of it, and thanks to built-in features like Auto Filter, you can still get plenty of value out of it even if you’re not a power user. Let’s go over how you can use Auto Filter to more effectively navigate spreadsheets filled with data.
In today’s interconnected world, an organization dedicated to fraud protection like the United States Federal Trade Commission is vital, especially when you consider how advanced digital technology has become and continues to grow. The FTC works to ensure consumer data stays protected by the businesses to which they entrust it. Let’s look at the Safeguards Rule and what your business should know about it.
Many individuals were skeptical about foldable phones when they were first introduced, all thanks to higher prices and stories about how fragile they are. That said, those who have stuck with the concept have contributed to the excitement and built it up to be a legitimate option that actually makes sense.
Windows 10 has been an integral part of many users’ digital lives for several years. Microsoft has recently announced the end of support for Windows 10, however, which has raised concerns and questions among its many users. This week, we will delve into the details of Windows 10’s end of support, its implications, and what steps you can take to ensure a smooth transition.
Businesses today deal in contracts. Every agreement has a proverbial paper trail. Traditional paper-based contracts are not only time-consuming, but they also involve manual efforts and can be prone to errors. This is where eSignature tools come into play, offering numerous benefits that revolutionize the way we handle and sign documents. This week, we explore the key advantages of eSignature tools and how they can positively impact businesses of all sizes. Enhanced Efficiency eSignature tools eliminate the need for printing, scanning, and physically mailing documents, saving valuable time and resources. With just a few clicks, documents can be prepared, sent, and signed electronically, significantly reducing the turnaround time of legal agreements. Whether it\’s contracts, agreements, or invoices, eSignature tools streamline the entire signing process, enabling businesses to operate smoothly. Cost Savings By adopting eSignature tools, businesses can experience substantial cost savings. Traditional paper-based processes involve expenses more than paper and ink. With eSignature tools, any costs incurred by the organization are significantly reduced, as everything is handled digitally. Improved Accuracy and Security Paper documents can easily be misplaced, damaged, or tampered with, leading to potential legal and financial risks. eSignature tools provide a secure and reliable way to handle sensitive information. They offer various security features such as encryption and authentication, ensuring the integrity and authenticity of signed documents. With eSignature tools, businesses can have peace of mind knowing that their documents are protected and legitimate. Convenient Collaboration eSignature tools facilitate seamless collaboration among multiple parties, regardless of their location. In a traditional signing process, coordinating meetings and obtaining physical signatures from all involved parties can be a logistical nightmare. By using eSignature tools, businesses can effortlessly collaborate with customers and employees, alike, enabling efficient document sharing, tracking, and signing. This seamless collaboration enhances communication and expedites decision-making processes. Enhanced Customer Experience Your customers expect prompt and hassle-free interactions. eSignature tools provide a convenient and efficient way for businesses to interact with their customers. By enabling customers to electronically sign documents from anywhere, at any time, businesses can deliver a seamless and personalized experience. This not only improves customer satisfaction but also strengthens the overall brand image. eSignature tools offer a wide range of benefits that can transform the way businesses handle document workflows. If you would like to learn more about how to get eSignature tools that would allow you to conduct business digitally and gain all the benefits of doing so, give our IT experts a call today at (336) 790-1000.
We have not been shy about expounding upon the benefits of the cloud for businesses, as these benefits are both considerable and accessible. That being said, not even the cloud is completely perfect, and there are security errors that can easily be made. Let’s go through these security errors to see if any sound familiar to your situation. Missing Access Controls and No Multi-Factor Authentication Here’s the thing: if your cloud resources are open to anyone, nothing in them can be considered secure. This is why proper access controls—ideally supported by multi-factor authentication—are so important to have. The data and processes that the cloud can help you support are valuable to your business. Frankly, they’re critical. Leaving them exposed thereby puts your business at risk. Implementing access controls to limit access to your cloud resources to only the team members that actively need them is therefore necessary—and this access should also require multi-factor authentication requirements (identify authentication measures that go beyond just the username and password combination) to be met before it is granted. You Have No Backups Today’s businesses have various options available to them, in terms of how they put the cloud to use. Many will elect to utilize public cloud resources that are maintained and managed by an external provider, many will host and maintain their own cloud infrastructure within their business, and many will use a hybrid model that incorporates both for different purposes. Regardless of the type of cloud you use, it is important that you don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Remember, the cloud is just another server that you are able to access remotely. What if something were to happen to the cloud infrastructure you were relying on? This is precisely why it is important that you have backups for all of your cloud data—especially for that which you use a private, self-hosted cloud to store. And while it is true that most reputable cloud providers will actively store your data in numerous physical locations as a form of protective redundancy, it is always best to get this in writing in case the worst winds up happening. Cloud Data is Left Unencrypted Of course, backups are just one element of keeping your data safe. Again, while most public cloud providers are relatively very secure, data leaks and theft are not unheard of. Furthermore, data needs to travel back and forth between the user’s endpoint device and the cloud infrastructure, giving an enterprising cybercriminal the chance to take a peek while said data is in transit. In this context, avoiding a breach will require you to keep your cloud data encrypted, which scrambles it to anyone who tries viewing it without the proper decryption key. This measure is actually required by many regulations that businesses of assorted kinds must abide by, including the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) and the UK’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), making noncompliance a direct detriment to your business in general. We Can Help You Ensure Your Use of the Cloud is Secure, While Remaining Beneficial to Your Business In fact, we can say the same for all of your business’ critical technology. Here to provide Greensboro with the best that the managed services model of technology support has to offer, we’re hoping to […]
Whether we want to admit it or not, the future can be scary, and even the most powerful technology out there is not enough to keep today’s data preserved while it’s in storage. Decades from now, or perhaps even a century, are you confident that your data will be available and ready to use? We’re here today to discuss why you shouldn’t be extremely confident in your hard drives.