Change Management Basics for Technology Refreshes

 
Once you've completed a technology audit and prioritized the order in which you'll close gaps in your infrastructure, it's critical to remember that there are actions you must take prior to implementation for change to be successful and well-received by your team.

 
Change produces stress in technology environments and among those who implement or are affected by the change. This is why change management is so critical for successful implementation.

 
Change management is an approach that deals with the change or transformation of organizational processes, objectives and technologies. The goal of change management is to find strategies to implement and govern transformation while also assisting people in getting accustomed to it.

 
Applying change management best practices can enable your organization, regardless of size or industry, to scale and adapt to changing market conditions without losing key team players.

 

Five elements of effective change management for technology refreshes

 

1. Identify

 
Most change management strategies recognize that identifying what to improve creates a solid foundation for clarity, ease of execution and success.

 
Since most changes are made to improve a process, a technology or a result, identifying the objective and clarifying goals is crucial. This also involves selecting the resources and individuals capable of facilitating and leading the initiative.

 
Start by asking the following questions to gain a better understanding of your core mission:

 

• What are you changing?
• Why is this change occurring?
• Which systems and processes might be affected?
• How would this affect employees, customers and others?

 

2. Evaluate

 
Change evaluation attempts to analyze crucial transformations before letting those changes integrate into usual operations.

 
Here are a few suggestions for the evaluation stage:

 

• Examine technology mapping and dependencies to ensure you understand the implications of pulling specific systems offline for updates.
• If the failover* operation isn't an option, assess peak usage for all affected users to ensure that system downtime isn't scheduled during peak usage times.
• Determine the processes that need to be modified as well as the individuals who oversee them.
• Define how various internal and external user groups will be affected.

 
* The capability to switch to a reliable backup system instantly and seamlessly is known as failover.

 

3. Manage

 
These are the areas that require your attention:

 

• Seek an executive sponsor to propel your project forward and hold you accountable for deviation from your objectives.
• Before detailing your change management strategy, meet with appropriate team leaders to discuss your plan and solicit their views.
• List and connect with relevant process owners and provide them with implementation deadlines.
• Know which platforms and technologies will be affected by upcoming changes. Remember to gather emergency contacts to tackle unforeseen mishaps.

 

4. Create

 
After completing the previous steps, create a change management strategy and draft an expected implementation timeframe.

 
The change management strategy you create must be comprehensive to act as a roadmap defining the concrete steps your organization will have to take to implement the change management process. This is crucial to avoid disrupting workflows and assist your team in navigating this change.

 

5. Implement

 
Once all key stakeholders have approved the change management strategy, it’s time to put the changes into effect. This frequently requires cross-team collaboration and, on occasion, the support of third parties such as technology suppliers, consultants or a managed service provider (MSP).

 

Collaborate for success

 
There’s no way around it — dealing with change is hard. Without a defined strategy in place, avoidable inconsistencies are more likely to occur and you risk disrupting essential operations and losing valuable team members due to exhaustion. Working with a specialist MSP can help you reduce organizational stress while updating your technology ecosystem.

 
An expert like us can take a significant burden off your shoulders, allowing you to focus on other critical business matters. Contact us to develop a change management strategy for your upcoming technology infrastructure refresh.

 
 
 

Change Management Basics for Technology Refreshes

 
Once you've completed a technology audit and prioritized the order in which you'll close gaps in your infrastructure, it's critical to remember that there are actions you must take prior to implementation for change to be successful and well-received by your team.

 
Change produces stress in technology environments and among those who implement or are affected by the change. This is why change management is so critical for successful implementation.

 
Change management is an approach that deals with the change or transformation of organizational processes, objectives and technologies. The goal of change management is to find strategies to implement and govern transformation while also assisting people in getting accustomed to it.

 
Applying change management best practices can enable your organization, regardless of size or industry, to scale and adapt to changing market conditions without losing key team players.

 

Five elements of effective change management for technology refreshes

 

1. Identify

 
Most change management strategies recognize that identifying what to improve creates a solid foundation for clarity, ease of execution and success.

 
Since most changes are made to improve a process, a technology or a result, identifying the objective and clarifying goals is crucial. This also involves selecting the resources and individuals capable of facilitating and leading the initiative.

 
Start by asking the following questions to gain a better understanding of your core mission:

 

• What are you changing?
• Why is this change occurring?
• Which systems and processes might be affected?
• How would this affect employees, customers and others?

 

2. Evaluate

 
Change evaluation attempts to analyze crucial transformations before letting those changes integrate into usual operations.

 
Here are a few suggestions for the evaluation stage:

 

• Examine technology mapping and dependencies to ensure you understand the implications of pulling specific systems offline for updates.
• If the failover* operation isn't an option, assess peak usage for all affected users to ensure that system downtime isn't scheduled during peak usage times.
• Determine the processes that need to be modified as well as the individuals who oversee them.
• Define how various internal and external user groups will be affected.

 
* The capability to switch to a reliable backup system instantly and seamlessly is known as failover.

 

3. Manage

 
These are the areas that require your attention:

 

• Seek an executive sponsor to propel your project forward and hold you accountable for deviation from your objectives.
• Before detailing your change management strategy, meet with appropriate team leaders to discuss your plan and solicit their views.
• List and connect with relevant process owners and provide them with implementation deadlines.
• Know which platforms and technologies will be affected by upcoming changes. Remember to gather emergency contacts to tackle unforeseen mishaps.

 

4. Create

 
After completing the previous steps, create a change management strategy and draft an expected implementation timeframe.

 
The change management strategy you create must be comprehensive to act as a roadmap defining the concrete steps your organization will have to take to implement the change management process. This is crucial to avoid disrupting workflows and assist your team in navigating this change.

 

5. Implement

 
Once all key stakeholders have approved the change management strategy, it’s time to put the changes into effect. This frequently requires cross-team collaboration and, on occasion, the support of third parties such as technology suppliers, consultants or a managed service provider (MSP).

 

Collaborate for success

 
There’s no way around it — dealing with change is hard. Without a defined strategy in place, avoidable inconsistencies are more likely to occur and you risk disrupting essential operations and losing valuable team members due to exhaustion. Working with a specialist MSP can help you reduce organizational stress while updating your technology ecosystem.

 
An expert like us can take a significant burden off your shoulders, allowing you to focus on other critical business matters. Contact us to develop a change management strategy for your upcoming technology infrastructure refresh.

 
 
 

How to Prioritize Your Technology Gaps

 
Today's technology-based businesses must deal with multiple issues, including cyberthreats, head-to-head competition and regulatory compliance. Hence, keeping your technology infrastructure up to date is critical, and a technology audit is the best place to start.

 
A technology audit can assist you in better understanding and identifying gaps in your organization's security, compliance and backup. A thorough technology audit can assist you in answering the following key questions:

 

• Is your current IT infrastructure vulnerable or lacking in any areas?
• Are there any unnecessary tools or processes that do not align with your goals and vision?
• Are you in compliance with applicable regulations, prepared to defend against security threats and capable of restoring business capabilities in the event of a system outage or data breach?
• What steps can you take to address the discovered vulnerabilities?

 
If you don't have an IT background, the results of a technology audit can be perplexing. You might be overwhelmed by the number of items that need to be refreshed or replaced, and you might be unsure where to begin. Prioritization and the stoplight approach are particularly useful in this situation. Having a managed service provider (MSP) on your side will allow you to seamlessly audit and remediate IT issues.

 

The stoplight approach

 
The stoplight method is a simple way of categorizing gaps or vulnerabilities into red, yellow and green groupings based on their severity.

 

RED: Address the highest risks and vulnerabilities first

 
Always have a clear idea of what to prioritize in order to prevent and deal with mishaps. Since most organizations cannot address all problems at once, it is critical to focus the most attention and resources on the most pressing issues first.

 
Any technological refresh should prioritize addressing the most severe infrastructure vulnerabilities. For example, if your company is dealing with a ransomware attack, updating or upgrading Microsoft 365 is a lower priority.

 
High-priority vulnerabilities that must be classified as RED include:

• Backups that do not work
• Unauthorized network users, including ex-employees and third parties
• Login attempts and successful logins by users identified as former employees or third parties
• Unsecured remote connectivity
• A lack of documented operating procedures

 

Yellow: Then focus on gaps that are not urgent

 
There will be gaps that must be kept under watch but can wait until the most crucial issues get resolved. Although these medium-priority gaps may be acceptable in the short term, consider them when planning and budgeting for future technology updates.

 
The following vulnerabilities fall into the YELLOW category and are of medium severity:

• Insufficient multifactor authentication
• Automated patching system failure
• Outdated antivirus software
• Failure to enable account lockout for some computers

Green: If your budget allows, address these non-critical suggestions

 
These are the lowest-priority vulnerabilities. Implement measures to close them gradually after fixing the high- and medium-priority issues first.

 
The following are some of the gaps that fall into the GREEN category:

• Accounts with passwords set to "never expire"
• Computers with operating systems that are nearing the end of their extended support period
• Persistent issues with on-premises syncing
• More administrative access than is required to perform essential duties

 

Importance of prioritizing gaps

 
You won't have to deal with a situation where money is spent unnecessarily on a less critical issue if you prioritize gaps and close them systematically based on severity. Simply put, prioritization is advantageous for budgets.

 
Furthermore, you can maintain uptime by prioritizing gaps before refreshing your IT infrastructure because not all components will be down at the same time. This also prevents productivity and customer service from being jeopardized.

 
Not sure where to begin? A managed service provider (MSP) like us can help you prioritize technology gaps so you can get the most out of your technology investment while also ensuring uptime and productivity. Contact us for a free consultation.

How to Prioritize Your Technology Gaps

  Today's technology-based businesses must deal with multiple issues, including cyberthreats, head-to-head competition and regulatory compliance. Hence, keeping your technology infrastructure up to date is critical, and a technology audit is the best place to start.

  A technology audit can assist you in better understanding and identifying gaps in your organization's security, compliance and backup. A thorough technology audit can assist you in answering the following key questions:

 

• Is your current IT infrastructure vulnerable or lacking in any areas?
• Are there any unnecessary tools or processes that do not align with your goals and vision?
• Are you in compliance with applicable regulations, prepared to defend against security threats and capable of restoring business capabilities in the event of a system outage or data breach?
• What steps can you take to address the discovered vulnerabilities?

  If you don't have an IT background, the results of a technology audit can be perplexing. You might be overwhelmed by the number of items that need to be refreshed or replaced, and you might be unsure where to begin. Prioritization and the stoplight approach are particularly useful in this situation. Having a managed service provider (MSP) on your side will allow you to seamlessly audit and remediate IT issues.

 

The stoplight approach

  The stoplight method is a simple way of categorizing gaps or vulnerabilities into red, yellow and green groupings based on their severity.

 

RED: Address the highest risks and vulnerabilities first

  Always have a clear idea of what to prioritize in order to prevent and deal with mishaps. Since most organizations cannot address all problems at once, it is critical to focus the most attention and resources on the most pressing issues first.

  Any technological refresh should prioritize addressing the most severe infrastructure vulnerabilities. For example, if your company is dealing with a ransomware attack, updating or upgrading Microsoft 365 is a lower priority.

  High-priority vulnerabilities that must be classified as RED include:

• Backups that do not work
• Unauthorized network users, including ex-employees and third parties
• Login attempts and successful logins by users identified as former employees or third parties
• Unsecured remote connectivity
• A lack of documented operating procedures

 

Yellow: Then focus on gaps that are not urgent

  There will be gaps that must be kept under watch but can wait until the most crucial issues get resolved. Although these medium-priority gaps may be acceptable in the short term, consider them when planning and budgeting for future technology updates.

  The following vulnerabilities fall into the YELLOW category and are of medium severity:

• Insufficient multifactor authentication
• Automated patching system failure
• Outdated antivirus software
• Failure to enable account lockout for some computers

Green: If your budget allows, address these non-critical suggestions

  These are the lowest-priority vulnerabilities. Implement measures to close them gradually after fixing the high- and medium-priority issues first.

  The following are some of the gaps that fall into the GREEN category:

• Accounts with passwords set to "never expire"
• Computers with operating systems that are nearing the end of their extended support period
• Persistent issues with on-premises syncing
• More administrative access than is required to perform essential duties

 

Importance of prioritizing gaps

  You won't have to deal with a situation where money is spent unnecessarily on a less critical issue if you prioritize gaps and close them systematically based on severity. Simply put, prioritization is advantageous for budgets.

  Furthermore, you can maintain uptime by prioritizing gaps before refreshing your IT infrastructure because not all components will be down at the same time. This also prevents productivity and customer service from being jeopardized.

  Not sure where to begin? A managed service provider (MSP) like us can help you prioritize technology gaps so you can get the most out of your technology investment while also ensuring uptime and productivity. Contact us for a free consultation.

Phishing is a social engineering attack used to obtain sensitive information, such as login credentials and payment details, from users. It happens when an attacker, posing as a trusted source, dupes a victim into clicking on a malicious link or downloading a spam file sent over email, text messages, phone calls or social media. If you fall into this trap, you could end up with malware, system slowdowns and sensitive data loss, among other things.

 
The term phishing is one of the most reviled in today’s digital landscape and is a significant concern for executives. It's no surprise that the word is frowned upon when the attack vector is responsible for more than 20% of data breaches.^*
 
These attacks can be severely damaging for people and businesses. While individuals are affected by illicit purchases, financial fraud or identity theft, a company that is the victim of such an attack, in most cases, suffers severe financial losses as well as a loss of market share, reputation and stakeholder trust.

 
An unfortunate reality regarding phishing is that the attack vector is becoming more sophisticated and frequent with each passing day.

 
Why phishing attacks are becoming more frequent

 

• Remote/hybrid workforce

Over the last year and a half, a significant number of organizations had to transition to remote/hybrid work models. While the switch allowed operations to continue without interruption, the scattered workforce and mobile endpoints brought their own set of challenges. One of the main problems was vulnerabilities becoming more visible to hackers, who quickly exploited them through phishing attacks.

 

• Organizational oversights

Many businesses, in efforts to stay afloat amid the global crisis, completely disregarded cybersecurity. This included decreased spending on security posture, a lack of employee training and much more. Such mistakes opened the door for cybercriminals.

 

• Constantly evolving cybercriminals

Keep in mind that hackers constantly strive to uncover and exploit even the tiniest flaws in your business. They're constantly shifting their strategy, so you're practically defending against a moving attacker.

 
Threat actors have recently targeted businesses via the website contact form, pretending to be legal authorities, saying that the company is not complying with the law and asking the organization to download a "report."

 

• Cheap phishing tools

Several low-cost phishing tools are available on the dark web, allowing even non-technical people to become hackers.

 

How can businesses stay safe?

 
To avoid falling victim to phishing, all small and midsize businesses (SMBs) must be constantly vigilant. To keep your business safe, you must:

 

• Facilitate regular security awareness training to ensure that everyone is on the same page and that employees strictly adhere to relevant security requirements.
• Ensure that your IT infrastructure is up to date so that hackers cannot exploit unpatched/non-updated systems.
• Enforce strong password policies and create a system that prohibits anyone from evading them.
• Try and isolate vital infrastructure components as much as possible, so that everything doesn't collapse like a house of cards after a breach.
• Conduct mock phishing drills to get data on your employees' degree of alertness.
• Deploy an automated phishing detection solution that is powered by artificial intelligence.

 
Trying to guard against phishing on your own takes a lot of effort and resources, especially if you're running a business. Collaborating with an expert like us relieves you of additional concern and responsibility. Contact us today to set up a consultation and we'll handle the heavy lifting for you.

 
 


 
 

Source:

*Verizon DBIR

Phishing is a social engineering attack used to obtain sensitive information, such as login credentials and payment details, from users. It happens when an attacker, posing as a trusted source, dupes a victim into clicking on a malicious link or downloading a spam file sent over email, text messages, phone calls or social media. If you fall into this trap, you could end up with malware, system slowdowns and sensitive data loss, among other things.

 
The term phishing is one of the most reviled in today’s digital landscape and is a significant concern for executives. It's no surprise that the word is frowned upon when the attack vector is responsible for more than 20% of data breaches.^*
 
These attacks can be severely damaging for people and businesses. While individuals are affected by illicit purchases, financial fraud or identity theft, a company that is the victim of such an attack, in most cases, suffers severe financial losses as well as a loss of market share, reputation and stakeholder trust.

 
An unfortunate reality regarding phishing is that the attack vector is becoming more sophisticated and frequent with each passing day.

 
Why phishing attacks are becoming more frequent

 

• Remote/hybrid workforce

Over the last year and a half, a significant number of organizations had to transition to remote/hybrid work models. While the switch allowed operations to continue without interruption, the scattered workforce and mobile endpoints brought their own set of challenges. One of the main problems was vulnerabilities becoming more visible to hackers, who quickly exploited them through phishing attacks.

 

• Organizational oversights

Many businesses, in efforts to stay afloat amid the global crisis, completely disregarded cybersecurity. This included decreased spending on security posture, a lack of employee training and much more. Such mistakes opened the door for cybercriminals.

 

• Constantly evolving cybercriminals

Keep in mind that hackers constantly strive to uncover and exploit even the tiniest flaws in your business. They're constantly shifting their strategy, so you're practically defending against a moving attacker.

 
Threat actors have recently targeted businesses via the website contact form, pretending to be legal authorities, saying that the company is not complying with the law and asking the organization to download a "report."

 

• Cheap phishing tools

Several low-cost phishing tools are available on the dark web, allowing even non-technical people to become hackers.

 

How can businesses stay safe?

 
To avoid falling victim to phishing, all small and midsize businesses (SMBs) must be constantly vigilant. To keep your business safe, you must:

 

• Facilitate regular security awareness training to ensure that everyone is on the same page and that employees strictly adhere to relevant security requirements.
• Ensure that your IT infrastructure is up to date so that hackers cannot exploit unpatched/non-updated systems.
• Enforce strong password policies and create a system that prohibits anyone from evading them.
• Try and isolate vital infrastructure components as much as possible, so that everything doesn't collapse like a house of cards after a breach.
• Conduct mock phishing drills to get data on your employees' degree of alertness.
• Deploy an automated phishing detection solution that is powered by artificial intelligence.

 
Trying to guard against phishing on your own takes a lot of effort and resources, especially if you're running a business. Collaborating with an expert like us relieves you of additional concern and responsibility. Contact us today to set up a consultation and we'll handle the heavy lifting for you.

 
 

---

 
 

Source:

*Verizon DBIR

When used strategically, technology can help small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) develop a more productive, efficient and innovative workforce. That’s why businesses that prioritize technology are three times more likely to exceed corporate goals.^* In a business world that’s evolving at a breakneck pace, your company may not be able to perform at its full potential if it lacks the necessary technology.

 

Technology can improve:

 

• Business communication
• Decision making
• Marketing
• Security
• Customer support
• Resource management
• Time and cost efficiency

 
However, even the most cutting-edge technology can experience the occasional hiccup and slow you down if you don't keep up with regular updates and support. Performing an annual technology refresh can help you avoid this altogether.

 
A technology refresh is the process of replacing technology components regularly by evaluating their ability to integrate with other infrastructure components and obsolescence, rather than waiting until the outdated element becomes the most significant impediment to achieving your company's vision.

 
A technology refresh is crucial because maintaining legacy infrastructure components comes at a cost. It exposes your systems to hackers, reduces overall productivity and may even drive your most valuable employees out the door because they are tired of dealing with outdated technology that makes it difficult to do their jobs. Additionally, as the costs of maintaining outdated IT components and the risks of failure continue to rise, day-to-day operations can be negatively impacted.

 

Warning Signs to Look Out For

 
Is it time to refresh your company's technology? Keep an eye out for the following six signs:

 

1. Systems are running slowly

Slow systems consume a significant amount of a company's valuable time. The slowness could be due to several factors including a failed integration, virus or lack of updates. It's critical to find and fix the problem as soon as possible to get back to optimal performance levels.

 

2. Experiencing suspicious pop-ups

Suspicious pop-ups typically warn users that their system is vulnerable to a security threat or has a technical problem. Cybercriminals then prey on worried users who want to make sure their system is secure by extorting money to fix issues and eliminate threats that do not exist. One of the best ways to keep such malicious players at bay is by immediately refreshing/updating legacy systems.

 

3. Random shutdowns

It's normal for systems to shut down to install critical updates. However, if the shutdowns are frequent and unpredictable, then there's a problem that needs to be addressed. While random shutdowns can be due to a range of factors, such as an unstable power supply, virus/malware or corrupted files, it could also be a warning sign that the system is due for an update/refresh.

 

4. Connection issues

Getting cut off from the internet in the middle of a crucial task or meeting occasionally can be inconvenient, but what if it happens regularly? It could be a sign that your system has a flaw that needs to be fixed. However, if software patching fails to resolve the issue, it may be time to refresh the system.

 

5. Lack of integration between your systems, software and technology

Integration is critical for today's firms because the current technology landscape is evolving rapidly, and businesses may have to depend on multiple vendors for different solutions. So, if any technology component in your company does not integrate with the rest of the infrastructure, it should be replaced immediately.

 

6. Your system acts possessed

You've probably seen situations where tabs open and close on their own, the mouse moves in the opposite direction, things open on your desktop at random and files get downloaded without your knowledge. In such cases, you should consider a system refresh before consulting an exorcist. Systems without proper patching and update history may exhibit strange behavior.

 

Collaboration Is the Best Way Forward

 
Technological roadblocks can be frustrating and attempting to overcome them on your own can be overwhelming. Get started on your path to a technology refresh with an experienced partner like us. Knowing that the process is in expert hands gives you peace of mind and allows you to focus on growing your business. Contact us now for a free consultation.

 
 


 
 

Source:

*Adobe Digital Trends Report

 

When used strategically, technology can help small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) develop a more productive, efficient and innovative workforce. That’s why businesses that prioritize technology are three times more likely to exceed corporate goals.^* In a business world that’s evolving at a breakneck pace, your company may not be able to perform at its full potential if it lacks the necessary technology.

 

Technology can improve:

 

• Business communication
• Decision making
• Marketing
• Security
• Customer support
• Resource management
• Time and cost efficiency

  However, even the most cutting-edge technology can experience the occasional hiccup and slow you down if you don't keep up with regular updates and support. Performing an annual technology refresh can help you avoid this altogether.

  A technology refresh is the process of replacing technology components regularly by evaluating their ability to integrate with other infrastructure components and obsolescence, rather than waiting until the outdated element becomes the most significant impediment to achieving your company's vision.

  A technology refresh is crucial because maintaining legacy infrastructure components comes at a cost. It exposes your systems to hackers, reduces overall productivity and may even drive your most valuable employees out the door because they are tired of dealing with outdated technology that makes it difficult to do their jobs. Additionally, as the costs of maintaining outdated IT components and the risks of failure continue to rise, day-to-day operations can be negatively impacted.

 

Warning Signs to Look Out For

  Is it time to refresh your company's technology? Keep an eye out for the following six signs:

 

1. Systems are running slowly

Slow systems consume a significant amount of a company's valuable time. The slowness could be due to several factors including a failed integration, virus or lack of updates. It's critical to find and fix the problem as soon as possible to get back to optimal performance levels.

 

2. Experiencing suspicious pop-ups

Suspicious pop-ups typically warn users that their system is vulnerable to a security threat or has a technical problem. Cybercriminals then prey on worried users who want to make sure their system is secure by extorting money to fix issues and eliminate threats that do not exist. One of the best ways to keep such malicious players at bay is by immediately refreshing/updating legacy systems.

 

3. Random shutdowns

It's normal for systems to shut down to install critical updates. However, if the shutdowns are frequent and unpredictable, then there's a problem that needs to be addressed. While random shutdowns can be due to a range of factors, such as an unstable power supply, virus/malware or corrupted files, it could also be a warning sign that the system is due for an update/refresh.

 

4. Connection issues

Getting cut off from the internet in the middle of a crucial task or meeting occasionally can be inconvenient, but what if it happens regularly? It could be a sign that your system has a flaw that needs to be fixed. However, if software patching fails to resolve the issue, it may be time to refresh the system.

 

5. Lack of integration between your systems, software and technology

Integration is critical for today's firms because the current technology landscape is evolving rapidly, and businesses may have to depend on multiple vendors for different solutions. So, if any technology component in your company does not integrate with the rest of the infrastructure, it should be replaced immediately.

 

6. Your system acts possessed

You've probably seen situations where tabs open and close on their own, the mouse moves in the opposite direction, things open on your desktop at random and files get downloaded without your knowledge. In such cases, you should consider a system refresh before consulting an exorcist. Systems without proper patching and update history may exhibit strange behavior.

 

Collaboration Is the Best Way Forward

  Technological roadblocks can be frustrating and attempting to overcome them on your own can be overwhelming. Get started on your path to a technology refresh with an experienced partner like us. Knowing that the process is in expert hands gives you peace of mind and allows you to focus on growing your business. Contact us now for a free consultation.

   

---

   

Source:

*Adobe Digital Trends Report

 

After the ups and downs of the last year and a half, the business world is making its way into 2022 with renewed optimism. Business executives are contemplating strategies to start the year with a strong quarter by adapting to the new normal. Do you have the best technology infrastructure to help you kick off the new year with a bang? If not, it's time to consider a technology refresh.

 
Every company wants to grow, but if you treat your technological infrastructure as an afterthought, you may be severely limiting your company's potential.

 
Remember that your IT infrastructure is a critical component of your business. An up-to-date and high-quality IT infrastructure is an asset that enables you to do business without falling prey to cyberthreats and helps you achieve your goals.

 
A technology refresh enables a company to analyze the current state of its IT infrastructure and weigh the merits of trying something better. For a company's long-term success, it's best to review the present IT infrastructure — hardware, software and other technology solutions — and determine what additional solutions are available that would better suit its needs.

 

Reasons Worth Considering Before Refreshing Your IT Infrastructure

 
The following are the top four reasons to refresh your technology infrastructure:

 

Increased Security

The threat landscape is constantly evolving. We know this because of the projected increase in the cybersecurity market size from around 217 billion in 2021 to about 240 billion in 2022.¹ If you want to keep cybercriminals out of your business, you must understand where your technology and security measures fall short, leaving you vulnerable.

 
Some of the threats that small and midsized business’ (SMBs) IT infrastructure must defend against are:

• Targeted ransomware attacks
• Phishing attacks
• Insider threats
• DDoS attacks

 

Assurance That You’re Meeting Compliance Requirements

Regardless of your industry, you're probably subject to compliance regulations that your company must follow. If you use outdated technology that no longer receives software patches and is no longer supported, you may jeopardize your compliance status. Finding these gaps in your infrastructure as early as possible allows you to close them, thereby avoiding reputational damage and getting into hot water with regulators.

 
Never take compliance lightly since failure to comply can result in:

 

• Hefty penalties
• Uninvited audits
• Criminal charges
• Denial of insurance claims
• Forced closure or even imprisonment

 

Reliable Backup

If you don't have a backup solution, you should find one that will work for your business because you could lose all your critical data in the blink of an eye. If you currently have a backup solution, you should check on it regularly to ensure that it is still functional. If it isn’t working, and your organization wants to access your backups, you’ll be in a tough spot.

 
In addition, some cyberattacks specifically target backups. As a result, it is critical to review and refresh your backup solution regularly.

 

Stay Competitive Using Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Other Emerging Technologies

According to Gartner, 33% of technology and service provider organizations intend to invest $1 million or more in AI over the next two years. AI and other emerging technologies are rapidly altering the landscape of every industry. If you want to stay ahead of your competitors, you must use the most up-to-date technology that is appropriate for your industry and goals. This could explain why around 60% of SMBs have invested in emerging technologies.²
 

Collaborate for Success

 
A timely technology refresh could act as an energy boost for your company, enabling it to be more resilient. Begin your IT infrastructure refresh journey with a partner like us. Knowing that the process is in expert hands gives you peace of mind and allows you to focus on building your business. Get in touch with us today.

 


 
 

Sources:

1. Statista
2. Adobe Digital Trends Report

 

After the ups and downs of the last year and a half, the business world is making its way into 2022 with renewed optimism. Business executives are contemplating strategies to start the year with a strong quarter by adapting to the new normal. Do you have the best technology infrastructure to help you kick off the new year with a bang? If not, it's time to consider a technology refresh.

  Every company wants to grow, but if you treat your technological infrastructure as an afterthought, you may be severely limiting your company's potential.

  Remember that your IT infrastructure is a critical component of your business. An up-to-date and high-quality IT infrastructure is an asset that enables you to do business without falling prey to cyberthreats and helps you achieve your goals.

  A technology refresh enables a company to analyze the current state of its IT infrastructure and weigh the merits of trying something better. For a company's long-term success, it's best to review the present IT infrastructure — hardware, software and other technology solutions — and determine what additional solutions are available that would better suit its needs.

 

Reasons Worth Considering Before Refreshing Your IT Infrastructure

  The following are the top four reasons to refresh your technology infrastructure:

 

Increased Security

The threat landscape is constantly evolving. We know this because of the projected increase in the cybersecurity market size from around 217 billion in 2021 to about 240 billion in 2022.¹ If you want to keep cybercriminals out of your business, you must understand where your technology and security measures fall short, leaving you vulnerable.

  Some of the threats that small and midsized business’ (SMBs) IT infrastructure must defend against are:

• Targeted ransomware attacks
• Phishing attacks
• Insider threats
• DDoS attacks

 

Assurance That You’re Meeting Compliance Requirements

Regardless of your industry, you're probably subject to compliance regulations that your company must follow. If you use outdated technology that no longer receives software patches and is no longer supported, you may jeopardize your compliance status. Finding these gaps in your infrastructure as early as possible allows you to close them, thereby avoiding reputational damage and getting into hot water with regulators.

  Never take compliance lightly since failure to comply can result in:

 

• Hefty penalties
• Uninvited audits
• Criminal charges
• Denial of insurance claims
• Forced closure or even imprisonment

 

Reliable Backup

If you don't have a backup solution, you should find one that will work for your business because you could lose all your critical data in the blink of an eye. If you currently have a backup solution, you should check on it regularly to ensure that it is still functional. If it isn’t working, and your organization wants to access your backups, you’ll be in a tough spot.

  In addition, some cyberattacks specifically target backups. As a result, it is critical to review and refresh your backup solution regularly.

 

Stay Competitive Using Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Other Emerging Technologies

According to Gartner, 33% of technology and service provider organizations intend to invest $1 million or more in AI over the next two years. AI and other emerging technologies are rapidly altering the landscape of every industry. If you want to stay ahead of your competitors, you must use the most up-to-date technology that is appropriate for your industry and goals. This could explain why around 60% of SMBs have invested in emerging technologies.²  

Collaborate for Success

  A timely technology refresh could act as an energy boost for your company, enabling it to be more resilient. Begin your IT infrastructure refresh journey with a partner like us. Knowing that the process is in expert hands gives you peace of mind and allows you to focus on building your business. Get in touch with us today.

 

---

   

Sources:

1. Statista
2. Adobe Digital Trends Report

 

When was the last time you conducted a comprehensive technology audit? If it's been a while or hasn't happened at all, you're probably vulnerable to a cyberattack. Cybercrime shows no signs of slowing down and is expected to cost the world $10.5 trillion per year by 2025.^*
 
Are you confident that your organization is secure with the current remote and hybrid work environments? This is where a technology audit can give you peace of mind. An IT audit is a thorough analysis and assessment of an organization's IT infrastructure, policies and procedures.

 

Importance of Technology Audits

 
Here are some reasons why a technology audit is essential to organizational resilience and overall success:

 

• Detects security vulnerabilities
• Ensures that the organization is up to date on security measures
• Establishes the foundation for the organization's new security policies
• Prepares the organization to respond quickly and effectively in the event of a cyberattack
• Helps maintain compliance with various security regulations

 

Benefits of Technology Audits

 
Comprehensive technology audits have three key benefits:

 

1. No Surprises

IT components that we use and trust every day may have hidden threats that we can easily overlook. If not addressed early on, such threats can quickly escalate into a full-fledged data breach. An IT audit is extremely beneficial when it comes to addressing this particular concern.

 
A properly planned auditing process creates a map of your IT environment that helps you understand how everything connects and which areas expose you to threats. This allows you to focus your remediation efforts where they are needed the most.

 
Consider this: What if one of your top executives was secretly selling all your intellectual property ideas to your main competitor? That could sink your company or significantly reduce your profit potential. Unmapped and unaccounted-for technology landscapes can lead to similar outcomes.

 
To avoid this, regularly monitor, update, patch and clean up the proverbial dust in your infrastructure. You might soon discover that someone intentionally or unintentionally downloaded a piece of malicious code that's spreading like wildfire across your network, waiting for the perfect moment to demand a ransom or continue spying and stealing your best ideas.

 

2. Data-Driven Decision Making

A properly conducted audit will provide you with valuable data that you can use to make core business decisions. Its value extends to security budgeting as well. A data-driven approach to developing cybersecurity strategies can assist you in making more informed budget decisions. You'll have a better idea of where to spend your money.

 
An audit can also help you prioritize your goals based on what's most pressing, exposing vulnerabilities or what’s causing productivity loss.

 

3. A Vision for the Future

An audit can lay the groundwork for a SWOT analysis. A SWOT analysis is a technique for evaluating the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats of your business. It's a powerful tool that can assist you in determining what your company excels at right now and formulating an effective strategy for the future.

 
Armed with a thorough understanding of your technology's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, you can begin planning years in advance and share the vision with team members to keep them motivated.

 
Are you ready to start planning your technology audit? Contact us for a free assessment.

 


 

Source:

* Cybersecurity Ventures

 

When was the last time you conducted a comprehensive technology audit? If it's been a while or hasn't happened at all, you're probably vulnerable to a cyberattack. Cybercrime shows no signs of slowing down and is expected to cost the world $10.5 trillion per year by 2025.^*   Are you confident that your organization is secure with the current remote and hybrid work environments? This is where a technology audit can give you peace of mind. An IT audit is a thorough analysis and assessment of an organization's IT infrastructure, policies and procedures.

 

Importance of Technology Audits

  Here are some reasons why a technology audit is essential to organizational resilience and overall success:

 

• Detects security vulnerabilities
• Ensures that the organization is up to date on security measures
• Establishes the foundation for the organization's new security policies
• Prepares the organization to respond quickly and effectively in the event of a cyberattack
• Helps maintain compliance with various security regulations

 

Benefits of Technology Audits

  Comprehensive technology audits have three key benefits:

 

1. No Surprises

IT components that we use and trust every day may have hidden threats that we can easily overlook. If not addressed early on, such threats can quickly escalate into a full-fledged data breach. An IT audit is extremely beneficial when it comes to addressing this particular concern.

  A properly planned auditing process creates a map of your IT environment that helps you understand how everything connects and which areas expose you to threats. This allows you to focus your remediation efforts where they are needed the most.

  Consider this: What if one of your top executives was secretly selling all your intellectual property ideas to your main competitor? That could sink your company or significantly reduce your profit potential. Unmapped and unaccounted-for technology landscapes can lead to similar outcomes.

  To avoid this, regularly monitor, update, patch and clean up the proverbial dust in your infrastructure. You might soon discover that someone intentionally or unintentionally downloaded a piece of malicious code that's spreading like wildfire across your network, waiting for the perfect moment to demand a ransom or continue spying and stealing your best ideas.

 

2. Data-Driven Decision Making

A properly conducted audit will provide you with valuable data that you can use to make core business decisions. Its value extends to security budgeting as well. A data-driven approach to developing cybersecurity strategies can assist you in making more informed budget decisions. You'll have a better idea of where to spend your money.

  An audit can also help you prioritize your goals based on what's most pressing, exposing vulnerabilities or what’s causing productivity loss.

 

3. A Vision for the Future

An audit can lay the groundwork for a SWOT analysis. A SWOT analysis is a technique for evaluating the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats of your business. It's a powerful tool that can assist you in determining what your company excels at right now and formulating an effective strategy for the future.

  Armed with a thorough understanding of your technology's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, you can begin planning years in advance and share the vision with team members to keep them motivated.

  Are you ready to start planning your technology audit? Contact us for a free assessment.

 

---

 

Source:

* Cybersecurity Ventures

 

How to Become a Resilient Organization

 
The last year and a half have taught us that the world can experience a tremendous change in a short time. Whether it’s rapid technological advancements, cyberattacks, stalling economies or even a global pandemic, only resilient organizations can weather these storms.

 
That’s why the concept of organizational resilience is now more relevant than ever before. Organizational resilience is all about how well a company anticipates, plans for and responds to gradual change and unexpected disruptions in its business environment so that it can continue to operate and thrive.

 
Organizations and individuals that discovered meaningful ways to practice resilience in the face of change, from remote and hybrid working to digital acceleration, proved to have an enormous strategic advantage. Cultivate a resilient culture so that you aren’t caught off guard when disruptions occur.

 
Remember, if your people, processes and technologies aren’t resilient, your business will have a tough time recovering from setbacks such as downtime-induced financial loss as well as dissatisfied employees.

 

What Does a Resilient Organization Look Like?

 
Organizations that recover quickly from setbacks typically do the following:

 

Create an environment for innovation

An organization’s employees are among its most valuable assets. You can encourage innovation among your employees by creating a work culture that supports creative thinking and effective communication. This will empower them to contribute their knowledge, abilities and suggestions.

 
An innovative work culture ensures that everyone in the company works towards improving business practices, productivity and overall resilience. An innovative organization can quickly come up with multiple strategies to deal with a crisis.

 

Adapt to meet changing customer needs

Consumer demands and behavior are influenced by global events. With that in mind, if a customer-focused company wants to survive and prepare for the future, it must understand and adapt to changes.

 
Asking these three questions will provide organizations with perspective:

• What are our customers’ behaviors?
• Why do our customers behave that way?
• What do we need to alter to cater to a new set of demands and behaviors?

 

Overcome reputational and organizational setbacks

Almost every firm will face reputational or organizational setbacks at some point during its life span. Some businesses may crumble as a result of their inability to prepare for and recover from change and challenges. However, the resilient ones will do everything in their power to identify the source of the setback, rectify the damage caused and make communication with stakeholders transparent.

 

Rise to the challenge

While it’s impossible to control what challenges your business encounters, you can certainly control how you deal with them. A resilient organization will be better equipped to stand firm in the face of severe adversity and will have the means to recover as quickly as possible.

 

Tactics of Resilient Organizations

 
Prioritize the following tactics to nurture a resilient organization:

 

Proactive cybersecurity planning

This may require implementing guidelines from The International Standards Organization (ISO), The British Standards Institute (BSI) or the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Cyber Security Framework, depending on your industry and location.

 

Protection of intellectual property (IP)

This is more of a legal and operational task, and includes having the right employee, contractor and partnership agreements in place to avoid critical organizational IP from being disclosed.

 

Implementation of uptime safeguards

This requires being able to restore service via automatic failover or backup and recovery.

 

Contingency plan mapping

Build a business continuity and disaster recovery plan that lays out contingency plans for events like downtime, evacuations and so on, in order to be prepared for tricky situations.

 
Trying to build a resilient organization on your own is a massive commitment in terms of time and resources, especially while running a business. Partnering with an expert like us takes all the worry and responsibility off your shoulders. Contact us today to schedule a consultation and we’ll do the heavy lifting for you.

 

How to Become a Resilient Organization

 
The last year and a half have taught us that the world can experience a tremendous change in a short time. Whether it’s rapid technological advancements, cyberattacks, stalling economies or even a global pandemic, only resilient organizations can weather these storms.

 
That’s why the concept of organizational resilience is now more relevant than ever before. Organizational resilience is all about how well a company anticipates, plans for and responds to gradual change and unexpected disruptions in its business environment so that it can continue to operate and thrive.

 
Organizations and individuals that discovered meaningful ways to practice resilience in the face of change, from remote and hybrid working to digital acceleration, proved to have an enormous strategic advantage. Cultivate a resilient culture so that you aren’t caught off guard when disruptions occur.

 
Remember, if your people, processes and technologies aren’t resilient, your business will have a tough time recovering from setbacks such as downtime-induced financial loss as well as dissatisfied employees.

 

What Does a Resilient Organization Look Like?

 
Organizations that recover quickly from setbacks typically do the following:

 

Create an environment for innovation

An organization’s employees are among its most valuable assets. You can encourage innovation among your employees by creating a work culture that supports creative thinking and effective communication. This will empower them to contribute their knowledge, abilities and suggestions.

 
An innovative work culture ensures that everyone in the company works towards improving business practices, productivity and overall resilience. An innovative organization can quickly come up with multiple strategies to deal with a crisis.

 

Adapt to meet changing customer needs

Consumer demands and behavior are influenced by global events. With that in mind, if a customer-focused company wants to survive and prepare for the future, it must understand and adapt to changes.

 
Asking these three questions will provide organizations with perspective:

• What are our customers’ behaviors?
• Why do our customers behave that way?
• What do we need to alter to cater to a new set of demands and behaviors?

 

Overcome reputational and organizational setbacks

Almost every firm will face reputational or organizational setbacks at some point during its life span. Some businesses may crumble as a result of their inability to prepare for and recover from change and challenges. However, the resilient ones will do everything in their power to identify the source of the setback, rectify the damage caused and make communication with stakeholders transparent.

 

Rise to the challenge

While it’s impossible to control what challenges your business encounters, you can certainly control how you deal with them. A resilient organization will be better equipped to stand firm in the face of severe adversity and will have the means to recover as quickly as possible.

 

Tactics of Resilient Organizations

 
Prioritize the following tactics to nurture a resilient organization:

 

Proactive cybersecurity planning

This may require implementing guidelines from The International Standards Organization (ISO), The British Standards Institute (BSI) or the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Cyber Security Framework, depending on your industry and location.

 

Protection of intellectual property (IP)

This is more of a legal and operational task, and includes having the right employee, contractor and partnership agreements in place to avoid critical organizational IP from being disclosed.

 

Implementation of uptime safeguards

This requires being able to restore service via automatic failover or backup and recovery.

 

Contingency plan mapping

Build a business continuity and disaster recovery plan that lays out contingency plans for events like downtime, evacuations and so on, in order to be prepared for tricky situations.

 
Trying to build a resilient organization on your own is a massive commitment in terms of time and resources, especially while running a business. Partnering with an expert like us takes all the worry and responsibility off your shoulders. Contact us today to schedule a consultation and we’ll do the heavy lifting for you.

 

A Combo of Bad Employee Behavior and Dark Web Data Spells Trouble for Businesses

---

The struggle to get users to make good, strong, unique passwords and actually keep them secret is real for IT professionals. It can be hard to demonstrate to users just how dangerous their bad password can be to the entire company, even though an estimated 60% of data breaches involved the improper use of credentials in 2020. There’s no rhyme or reason to why employees create and handle passwords unsafely, no profile that IT teams can quickly look at to determine that someone might be an accidental credential compromise risk. Employees of every stripe are unfortunately drawn to making awful passwords and playing fast and loose with them – and that predilection doesn’t look like it’s going away anytime soon.

Everyone is Managing Too Many Passwords

The average adult has an estimated 100 passwords floating around that they’re using. That’s a bewildering tangle of passwords to manage. About 300 billion passwords are currently in use by humans and machines worldwide. The global pandemic helped put even more passwords into circulation as people on stay-at-home orders created an abundance of new online accounts. According to the conclusions of a global study conducted by Morning Consult for IBM, people worldwide created an average of 15 new online accounts per person during the main thrust of the pandemic.

Many of those logins were compromised from the start thanks to abundant dark web data. An estimated 15 billion unique logins are circulating on the dark web right now. In 2020 alone, security professionals had to contend with a 429% increase in the number of corporate login details with plaintext passwords exposed on the dark web. That dramatic increase in risk per user comes back to haunt businesses. The average organization is now likely to have about 17 sets of login details available on the dark web for malicious actors to enjoy. That number is only going to continue to grow thanks to events like this year’s giant influx of fresh passwords from the RockYou 2021 leak.

 

Employees Are Dedicated to Making Bad Passwords

Research by the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) shows that employees will choose memorability over security when making a password every time. Their analysts found that 15% of people have used their pet’s name as their password at some point, 14% have used the name of a family member,13% have used a significant date, such as a birthday or anniversary and another 6% have used information about their favorite sports team as their password. That makes cybercriminals’ jobs easy even if they’re trying to directly crack a single password. After all, those users have probably told them everything that they’d need to know to do the job in their social media profiles.

US companies aren’t any better off. In fact, their bad password problems are just a little bit worse. 59% of Americans use a person’s name or family birthday in their passwords, 33% include a pet’s name and 22% use their own name. We can’t chalk that blizzard of bad passwords up to ignorance of good password habits, because even employees who know better are slacking on password safety. Over 90% of participants in a password habits survey understood the risk of poor password hygiene, but 59% admitted to still engaging in unsafe password behaviors at work anyway.

 

Password Sharing Is Rampant

Worse yet, employees are also sharing their passwords with other people at an alarming rate, even if the people they’re sharing a password with don’t work at the same company. Over 30% of respondents in a Microsoft study admitted that their organization had experienced a cybersecurity incident as a result of compromised user credentials that had been shared with people outside their companies.

• 43% of survey respondents have shared their password with someone in their home
• 22% of employees surveyed have shared their email password for a streaming site
• 17% of employees surveyed have shared their email password for a social media platform
• 17% of employees surveyed have shared their email password for an online shopping account

Based on our analysis of the top 250 passwords that we found through the application of Dark Web ID’s dark web search function that uncovers exposed credentials, these categories of information were used to generate the weakest passwords in 2020 were: Names, Sports, Food, Places, Animals and Famous People/Characters. Here’s a breakdown of people’s dreadful passwords.

 
The Most Common Passwords Spotted by Dark Web ID by Category

• Names: maggie
• Sports: baseball
• Food: cookie
• Places: Newyork
• Animals: lemonfish
• Famous People/Characters: Tigger

 
Top 20 Most Common Passwords That Dark Web ID Found on The Dark Web in 2020

1. 123456
2. password
3. 12345678
4. 12341234
5. 1asdasdasdasd
6. Qwerty123
7. Password1
8. 123456789
9. Qwerty1
10. :12345678secret
11. Abc123
12. 111111
13. stratfor
14. lemonfish
15. sunshine
16. 123123123
17. 1234567890
18. Password123
19. 123123
20. 1234567

Every Organization in Every Industry is in Password Trouble

No industry is immune to the powerful lure of terrible password habits, especially that perennial favorite password recycling and iteration. In a study of password proclivities, researchers determined that some sectors did have a little more trouble with passwords than others though. The telecommunications sector had the highest average number of leaked employee credentials at 552,601 per company. The media industry had the highest password reuse rates at 85%, followed by household products (82%), hotels, restaurants & leisure (80%), and healthcare (79%).Security firms stacked with IT professionals don’t get off the hook any more easily than any other business – a staggering 97% of cybersecurity companies have had their passwords leaked on the dark web.

From SMBs to giant multinationals, it doesn’t matter how high-flying a company is either. Password problems will still plague them. A trove of exposed data about Fortune 1000 companies on the dark web was uncovered by researchers earlier this year, including passwords for 25.9 million Fortune 1000 corporate user accounts. Digging deeper, they also unearthed an estimated 543 million employee credentials from Fortune 1000 companies circulating on commonly used underground hacking forums, a 29% increase from 2020. Altogether, they were able to determine that 25,927,476 passwords that belong to employees at Fortune 1000 companies are hanging out on the dark web. That’s an estimated 25,927 exposed passwords per Fortune 1000 company, marking a 12% increase in password leaks from 2020.

 

Busted Credentials Are Plentiful on the Dark Web

If data is a currency on the dark web, then credentials are solid gold. Credentials were the top type of information stolen in data breaches worldwide in 2020, (personal information took second place just over financial data in third), and bad actors didn’t hesitate to grab batches of credentials from all over the world. Cybercriminals snatched them up in about 60% of North American breaches, 90% of APAC region breaches and 70% of EMEA breaches. Researchers disclosed that the average company experiences 5.3 credential compromises that originate from a common source like phishing every year, a number that should give every IT professional chills.

An abundance of records on the dark web has spawned an abundance of passwords for cybercriminals to harvest, and that’s bad news. Giant password dumps on the dark web like the 100GB text file dubbed RockYou2021 have ratcheted up risk too. That giant dump of of data is estimated to contain 8.4 billion passwords. Bad actors make use of that bounty quickly and effectively. In the aftermath an enormous 2020 hack, ShinyHunters breached the security of ten companies in the Asian region and brought more than 73 million user records to market on the dark web. A group like ShinyHunters will of course try to profit by selling that stolen data at first, but when the data has aged or there are no interested buyers, cybercriminals will just offload it in the vast data dumps of the dark web making it available for anyone to sift through.

 

A Combo of Bad Employee Behavior and Dark Web Data Spells Trouble for Businesses

---

The struggle to get users to make good, strong, unique passwords and actually keep them secret is real for IT professionals. It can be hard to demonstrate to users just how dangerous their bad password can be to the entire company, even though an estimated 60% of data breaches involved the improper use of credentials in 2020. There’s no rhyme or reason to why employees create and handle passwords unsafely, no profile that IT teams can quickly look at to determine that someone might be an accidental credential compromise risk. Employees of every stripe are unfortunately drawn to making awful passwords and playing fast and loose with them – and that predilection doesn’t look like it’s going away anytime soon.

Everyone is Managing Too Many Passwords

The average adult has an estimated 100 passwords floating around that they’re using. That’s a bewildering tangle of passwords to manage. About 300 billion passwords are currently in use by humans and machines worldwide. The global pandemic helped put even more passwords into circulation as people on stay-at-home orders created an abundance of new online accounts. According to the conclusions of a global study conducted by Morning Consult for IBM, people worldwide created an average of 15 new online accounts per person during the main thrust of the pandemic.

Many of those logins were compromised from the start thanks to abundant dark web data. An estimated 15 billion unique logins are circulating on the dark web right now. In 2020 alone, security professionals had to contend with a 429% increase in the number of corporate login details with plaintext passwords exposed on the dark web. That dramatic increase in risk per user comes back to haunt businesses. The average organization is now likely to have about 17 sets of login details available on the dark web for malicious actors to enjoy. That number is only going to continue to grow thanks to events like this year’s giant influx of fresh passwords from the RockYou 2021 leak.

 

Employees Are Dedicated to Making Bad Passwords

Research by the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) shows that employees will choose memorability over security when making a password every time. Their analysts found that 15% of people have used their pet’s name as their password at some point, 14% have used the name of a family member,13% have used a significant date, such as a birthday or anniversary and another 6% have used information about their favorite sports team as their password. That makes cybercriminals’ jobs easy even if they’re trying to directly crack a single password. After all, those users have probably told them everything that they’d need to know to do the job in their social media profiles.

US companies aren’t any better off. In fact, their bad password problems are just a little bit worse. 59% of Americans use a person’s name or family birthday in their passwords, 33% include a pet’s name and 22% use their own name. We can’t chalk that blizzard of bad passwords up to ignorance of good password habits, because even employees who know better are slacking on password safety. Over 90% of participants in a password habits survey understood the risk of poor password hygiene, but 59% admitted to still engaging in unsafe password behaviors at work anyway.

 

Password Sharing Is Rampant

Worse yet, employees are also sharing their passwords with other people at an alarming rate, even if the people they’re sharing a password with don’t work at the same company. Over 30% of respondents in a Microsoft study admitted that their organization had experienced a cybersecurity incident as a result of compromised user credentials that had been shared with people outside their companies.

• 43% of survey respondents have shared their password with someone in their home
• 22% of employees surveyed have shared their email password for a streaming site
• 17% of employees surveyed have shared their email password for a social media platform
• 17% of employees surveyed have shared their email password for an online shopping account

Based on our analysis of the top 250 passwords that we found through the application of Dark Web ID’s dark web search function that uncovers exposed credentials, these categories of information were used to generate the weakest passwords in 2020 were: Names, Sports, Food, Places, Animals and Famous People/Characters. Here’s a breakdown of people’s dreadful passwords.

  The Most Common Passwords Spotted by Dark Web ID by Category

• Names: maggie
• Sports: baseball
• Food: cookie
• Places: Newyork
• Animals: lemonfish
• Famous People/Characters: Tigger

  Top 20 Most Common Passwords That Dark Web ID Found on The Dark Web in 2020

1. 123456
2. password
3. 12345678
4. 12341234
5. 1asdasdasdasd
6. Qwerty123
7. Password1
8. 123456789
9. Qwerty1
10. :12345678secret
11. Abc123
12. 111111
13. stratfor
14. lemonfish
15. sunshine
16. 123123123
17. 1234567890
18. Password123
19. 123123
20. 1234567

Every Organization in Every Industry is in Password Trouble

No industry is immune to the powerful lure of terrible password habits, especially that perennial favorite password recycling and iteration. In a study of password proclivities, researchers determined that some sectors did have a little more trouble with passwords than others though. The telecommunications sector had the highest average number of leaked employee credentials at 552,601 per company. The media industry had the highest password reuse rates at 85%, followed by household products (82%), hotels, restaurants & leisure (80%), and healthcare (79%).Security firms stacked with IT professionals don’t get off the hook any more easily than any other business – a staggering 97% of cybersecurity companies have had their passwords leaked on the dark web.

From SMBs to giant multinationals, it doesn’t matter how high-flying a company is either. Password problems will still plague them. A trove of exposed data about Fortune 1000 companies on the dark web was uncovered by researchers earlier this year, including passwords for 25.9 million Fortune 1000 corporate user accounts. Digging deeper, they also unearthed an estimated 543 million employee credentials from Fortune 1000 companies circulating on commonly used underground hacking forums, a 29% increase from 2020. Altogether, they were able to determine that 25,927,476 passwords that belong to employees at Fortune 1000 companies are hanging out on the dark web. That’s an estimated 25,927 exposed passwords per Fortune 1000 company, marking a 12% increase in password leaks from 2020.

 

Busted Credentials Are Plentiful on the Dark Web

If data is a currency on the dark web, then credentials are solid gold. Credentials were the top type of information stolen in data breaches worldwide in 2020, (personal information took second place just over financial data in third), and bad actors didn’t hesitate to grab batches of credentials from all over the world. Cybercriminals snatched them up in about 60% of North American breaches, 90% of APAC region breaches and 70% of EMEA breaches. Researchers disclosed that the average company experiences 5.3 credential compromises that originate from a common source like phishing every year, a number that should give every IT professional chills.

An abundance of records on the dark web has spawned an abundance of passwords for cybercriminals to harvest, and that’s bad news. Giant password dumps on the dark web like the 100GB text file dubbed RockYou2021 have ratcheted up risk too. That giant dump of of data is estimated to contain 8.4 billion passwords. Bad actors make use of that bounty quickly and effectively. In the aftermath an enormous 2020 hack, ShinyHunters breached the security of ten companies in the Asian region and brought more than 73 million user records to market on the dark web. A group like ShinyHunters will of course try to profit by selling that stolen data at first, but when the data has aged or there are no interested buyers, cybercriminals will just offload it in the vast data dumps of the dark web making it available for anyone to sift through.

 

---

What to Include in Your Incident Response Plan

 
A security incident can topple an organization's reputation and revenue in a short amount of time. As billionaire Warren Buffet once said, "it takes 20 years to develop a reputation and five minutes to ruin it." Keeping that in mind, it’s ideal to have an incident response plan in place before a security breach occurs.

 
An incident response plan is a set of instructions intended to facilitate an organization in detecting, responding to and recovering from network security incidents such as cybercrime, data loss and service disruptions. Having a plan in place contributes to the development of cybersecurity as well as overall organizational resilience.

 
Since most small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) have limited resources and funds, incident response is usually given less attention. However, failing to respond swiftly and effectively when a cyberattack occurs can cost far more than putting an incident response plan in place.

 

Essential Elements of an Incident Response Plan

 
Every incident response plan should include the following five key elements in order to successfully address the wide range of security issues that an organization can face:

 

Incident Identification and Rapid Response

It’s critical to evaluate the threat effectively and decide whether to implement the incident response plan. This requires two prerequisites:

 

• An authorized person to initiate the plan
• An online/offline place for the incident response team to meet and discuss

 
The sooner the incident is detected and addressed, the less severe the impact.

 

Resources

 
In case of a cyber event, an incident response team will usually have emergency kits on hand and have the following resources to help navigate through the event:

 

• Tools to take all machines offline after forensic analysis
• Solutions to regulate access to the organization’s IT environment and keep hackers out of the network
• Measures to employ standby machines to ensure operational continuity

 

Roles and Responsibilities

 
An incident could occur in the middle of the night or at an unexpected time. That’s why it’s critical to establish the roles and responsibilities of your incident response team members. They could be called in at any time. You must also have a reserve team in case any of the primary contacts are unavailable.

 
In the event of a cyber incident, time is critical and everyone must know what to do.

 

Detection and Analysis

 
This is, without a doubt, one of the most crucial elements of an incident response plan. It emphasizes documenting everything, from how an incident is detected to how to report, analyze and contain the threat. The aim is to create a playbook that includes approaches for detecting and analyzing a wide range of risks.

 

Containment, Eradication and Recovery

 

• Containment specifies the methods for restricting the incident's scope. A ransomware attack, for example, must be tackled very differently compared to an insider threat.
• Eradication is all about techniques to eliminate a threat from all affected systems.
• Because incidents cannot always be prevented, recovery efforts concentrate on reducing potential harm and resuming operations as quickly as possible.

 

Considerations for an Incident Response Plan

 
An incident response plan must address any concerns that arise from an evolving threat landscape. Before you start crafting your plan, there are several considerations to be made, including:

 

• Building an incident response plan should not be a one-off exercise. It should be reviewed on a regular basis to ensure that it considers the most recent technical and environmental changes that may influence your organization.
• Your incident response plan and the team working on it must be supported and guided by top management.
• It's critical to document the contact information of key personnel for emergency communication.
• Every person in the incident response team must maintain accountability.
• Deploy the appropriate tools and procedures to improve the effectiveness of the incident response.
• Your security, backup and compliance postures must all be given the same attention.

 
We live in an era where only resilient organizations can navigate through all the complexities created by technological advancements and other unexpected external influences. That’s why having an incident response plan is essential.

 
Trying to develop and deploy an incident response plan on your own might be more than you can handle while running an organization. Partnering with a specialist like us can take the load off your shoulders and give you the advantage of having an expert on your side. Contact us today to schedule a no-obligation consultation.

What to Include in Your Incident Response Plan

  A security incident can topple an organization's reputation and revenue in a short amount of time. As billionaire Warren Buffet once said, "it takes 20 years to develop a reputation and five minutes to ruin it." Keeping that in mind, it’s ideal to have an incident response plan in place before a security breach occurs.

  An incident response plan is a set of instructions intended to facilitate an organization in detecting, responding to and recovering from network security incidents such as cybercrime, data loss and service disruptions. Having a plan in place contributes to the development of cybersecurity as well as overall organizational resilience.

  Since most small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) have limited resources and funds, incident response is usually given less attention. However, failing to respond swiftly and effectively when a cyberattack occurs can cost far more than putting an incident response plan in place.

 

Essential Elements of an Incident Response Plan

  Every incident response plan should include the following five key elements in order to successfully address the wide range of security issues that an organization can face:

 

Incident Identification and Rapid Response

It’s critical to evaluate the threat effectively and decide whether to implement the incident response plan. This requires two prerequisites:

 

• An authorized person to initiate the plan
• An online/offline place for the incident response team to meet and discuss

  The sooner the incident is detected and addressed, the less severe the impact.

 

Resources

  In case of a cyber event, an incident response team will usually have emergency kits on hand and have the following resources to help navigate through the event:

 

• Tools to take all machines offline after forensic analysis
• Solutions to regulate access to the organization’s IT environment and keep hackers out of the network
• Measures to employ standby machines to ensure operational continuity

 

Roles and Responsibilities

  An incident could occur in the middle of the night or at an unexpected time. That’s why it’s critical to establish the roles and responsibilities of your incident response team members. They could be called in at any time. You must also have a reserve team in case any of the primary contacts are unavailable.

  In the event of a cyber incident, time is critical and everyone must know what to do.

 

Detection and Analysis

  This is, without a doubt, one of the most crucial elements of an incident response plan. It emphasizes documenting everything, from how an incident is detected to how to report, analyze and contain the threat. The aim is to create a playbook that includes approaches for detecting and analyzing a wide range of risks.

 

Containment, Eradication and Recovery

 

• Containment specifies the methods for restricting the incident's scope. A ransomware attack, for example, must be tackled very differently compared to an insider threat.
• Eradication is all about techniques to eliminate a threat from all affected systems.
• Because incidents cannot always be prevented, recovery efforts concentrate on reducing potential harm and resuming operations as quickly as possible.

 

Considerations for an Incident Response Plan

  An incident response plan must address any concerns that arise from an evolving threat landscape. Before you start crafting your plan, there are several considerations to be made, including:

 

• Building an incident response plan should not be a one-off exercise. It should be reviewed on a regular basis to ensure that it considers the most recent technical and environmental changes that may influence your organization.
• Your incident response plan and the team working on it must be supported and guided by top management.
• It's critical to document the contact information of key personnel for emergency communication.
• Every person in the incident response team must maintain accountability.
• Deploy the appropriate tools and procedures to improve the effectiveness of the incident response.
• Your security, backup and compliance postures must all be given the same attention.

  We live in an era where only resilient organizations can navigate through all the complexities created by technological advancements and other unexpected external influences. That’s why having an incident response plan is essential.

  Trying to develop and deploy an incident response plan on your own might be more than you can handle while running an organization. Partnering with a specialist like us can take the load off your shoulders and give you the advantage of having an expert on your side. Contact us today to schedule a no-obligation consultation.

Is Your Supply Chain Resilient?

 
The major upheavals of the last couple of decades, such as the global recession and the COVID-19 pandemic, have demonstrated that firms will suffer severe setbacks if their supply chains are not resilient. An entire supply chain becomes vulnerable if one component is exposed to risk, just like a house of cards will topple if one section is out of balance.

 
Supply chain resilience refers to an organization's ability to use its resources to handle unanticipated supply network disruptions. In other words, it is the ability to respond to and recover from challenges without disrupting operations or deadlines.

 
These statistics from last year demonstrate why supply chain resilience is crucial:

 

• The financial impact of supply chain disruptions was substantial. Over 16% of organizations reported severe revenue loss.¹
• Over 10% of organizations stated that supply chain disruptions had affected their brand’s reputation.¹
• Nearly 10% of organizations lost their regular customers following a bad experience due to a broken supply chain.¹

 
Despite this, over 70% of organizations don’t have a business operations contingency plan to deal with disruptions lasting more than a few weeks.²
 

4 Core Elements of a Resilient Supply Chain

 
A resilient supply chain incorporates the following four essential elements, regardless of industry or geographic location:

 

1. End-to-End Monitoring

A resilient supply chain requires continual monitoring. However, today's organizations frequently lack awareness of what's going on with their vendors and consumers at different levels. Vendors that are critical to a company's success should always be closely monitored.

 
It's critical to identify issues before they become severe impediments, such as ransomware penetrating your network or a computer part being delayed in shipment. Knowing about issues as soon as they arise allows you to seek out other options and update customers quickly.

 

2. Sourcing Diversification

Even though eliminating single points of failure is a critical part of risk mitigation, many companies still rely on a single vendor, region or country in their supply chain portfolios. It's ideal to employ a mix of near-shore and offshore vendors for each component so that if one region/vendor goes down, suppliers from other locations can step in.

 

3. Incident Tolerance

Security, backup and compliance postures must be strengthened to ensure operations continue even if one of the vendors/regions gets affected. The goal must be to build incident tolerance or the ability to ensure that the supply chain keeps running, regardless of the nature or scope of an incident.

 

4. Agility

The most successful organizations operate with an agile mindset. They work hard to keep up with market trends as well as the latest technology developments. They use the best tools and strategies in the industry to gain insights, foresee opportunities and risks, and take aggressive action ahead of their competitors.

 

The Key Enablers of Supply Chain Resilience

 
People, processes and technology are the three key enablers of a robust supply chain resilience strategy.

 

People

When it comes to the supply chain, a crisis management team comprised of the most skilled and resilient people must be established.

 
By relying on organizational insights, the team must draft a response playbook and acquire appropriate technologies. Additionally, to prepare the entire organization for disruptions, the team must develop and run mock drills.

 

Processes

Employees perform at their best when efficient and reliable processes support them. As a result, digitizing as many processes as possible is highly recommended. This allows organizations to access large amounts of data and information in real time, which they can utilize to make decisions regarding crucial competencies required to navigate a crisis.

 

Technology

Technology can fine-tune the processes within an organization accurately. Using proper technologies to construct a centralized incident management system is the best method to detect issues and maintain accountability within the supply chain.

 
Although making your supply chain resilient is a vital undertaking, it takes time, effort and expertise. Working with a specialist like us to manage resilience matters while you focus on running your organization is ideal. Contact us to schedule a no-obligation consultation.

 


                                                                                                                             
 
Sources:

1. Supply Chain Resilience Report 2021
2. Accenture - A pragmatic approach to maintaining supply chain resilience in times of uncertainty

Is Your Supply Chain Resilient?

 
The major upheavals of the last couple of decades, such as the global recession and the COVID-19 pandemic, have demonstrated that firms will suffer severe setbacks if their supply chains are not resilient. An entire supply chain becomes vulnerable if one component is exposed to risk, just like a house of cards will topple if one section is out of balance.

 
Supply chain resilience refers to an organization's ability to use its resources to handle unanticipated supply network disruptions. In other words, it is the ability to respond to and recover from challenges without disrupting operations or deadlines.

 
These statistics from last year demonstrate why supply chain resilience is crucial:

 

• The financial impact of supply chain disruptions was substantial. Over 16% of organizations reported severe revenue loss.¹
• Over 10% of organizations stated that supply chain disruptions had affected their brand’s reputation.¹
• Nearly 10% of organizations lost their regular customers following a bad experience due to a broken supply chain.¹

 
Despite this, over 70% of organizations don’t have a business operations contingency plan to deal with disruptions lasting more than a few weeks.²
 

4 Core Elements of a Resilient Supply Chain

 
A resilient supply chain incorporates the following four essential elements, regardless of industry or geographic location:

 

1. End-to-End Monitoring

A resilient supply chain requires continual monitoring. However, today's organizations frequently lack awareness of what's going on with their vendors and consumers at different levels. Vendors that are critical to a company's success should always be closely monitored.

 
It's critical to identify issues before they become severe impediments, such as ransomware penetrating your network or a computer part being delayed in shipment. Knowing about issues as soon as they arise allows you to seek out other options and update customers quickly.

 

2. Sourcing Diversification

Even though eliminating single points of failure is a critical part of risk mitigation, many companies still rely on a single vendor, region or country in their supply chain portfolios. It's ideal to employ a mix of near-shore and offshore vendors for each component so that if one region/vendor goes down, suppliers from other locations can step in.

 

3. Incident Tolerance

Security, backup and compliance postures must be strengthened to ensure operations continue even if one of the vendors/regions gets affected. The goal must be to build incident tolerance or the ability to ensure that the supply chain keeps running, regardless of the nature or scope of an incident.

 

4. Agility

The most successful organizations operate with an agile mindset. They work hard to keep up with market trends as well as the latest technology developments. They use the best tools and strategies in the industry to gain insights, foresee opportunities and risks, and take aggressive action ahead of their competitors.

 

The Key Enablers of Supply Chain Resilience

 
People, processes and technology are the three key enablers of a robust supply chain resilience strategy.

 

People

When it comes to the supply chain, a crisis management team comprised of the most skilled and resilient people must be established.

 
By relying on organizational insights, the team must draft a response playbook and acquire appropriate technologies. Additionally, to prepare the entire organization for disruptions, the team must develop and run mock drills.

 

Processes

Employees perform at their best when efficient and reliable processes support them. As a result, digitizing as many processes as possible is highly recommended. This allows organizations to access large amounts of data and information in real time, which they can utilize to make decisions regarding crucial competencies required to navigate a crisis.

 

Technology

Technology can fine-tune the processes within an organization accurately. Using proper technologies to construct a centralized incident management system is the best method to detect issues and maintain accountability within the supply chain.

 
Although making your supply chain resilient is a vital undertaking, it takes time, effort and expertise. Working with a specialist like us to manage resilience matters while you focus on running your organization is ideal. Contact us to schedule a no-obligation consultation.

 

---

                                                                                                                             
 
Sources:

1. Supply Chain Resilience Report 2021
2. Accenture - A pragmatic approach to maintaining supply chain resilience in times of uncertainty