Enterprise Businesses and Vulnerabilities

businesses

It is no secret how vital cybersecurity is for all organizations today. Recent data has shown just how crucial visibility into your company’s infrastructure really is. Today, most businesses have IT solutions to assist with detecting and managing their information systems vulnerabilities. These vulnerabilities can range from a bug in a code that can allow hackers to gain access to a flaw in the update that might fix one vulnerability but cause another. Enterprises face viruses, malware, spam, and phishing schemes. With the number of options available, IT professionals must learn how to manage these vulnerabilities and the types of solutions that will best fit the company. 

Enterprise Vulnerabilities are Pretty Bad

Sevco Security recently released a report, The State of the Cybersecurity Attack Surface, that gathered data from over 500,000 IT companies. This report found that many of the assets that these businesses relied on were missing critical endpoint protections or lacking critical checkpoints.

Research showed that from the businesses that were interviewed, 12% of the companies lacked endpoint protection services while 5% lacked enterprise patch management. It was also found that 19% of Windows servers were also missing endpoint protections.

These companies also demonstrated assets that were recognized by the security control console and registered as installed on a device, even though that device is not checking back in. This is an issue that many organizations deal with as 3% of IT assets showed stale endpoint protections with 1% showing stale patch management. Because of this, issues are more difficult to find and resolve before creating problems because devices are supposedly checked out and approved.

IT professionals should conduct proper research on all the available vulnerability management tools to find the appropriate ones to use. It is essential to look for a tool that allows automated scanning, alerting, and tracking of vulnerabilities over time. The tracking helps ensure that these vulnerabilities are patched as soon as possible. Vulnerability management tools should be pretty easy to set up and begin functioning as soon as possible. 

The four critical criteria of vulnerability management, also known as VM, are network discovery, scanning, reporting and correlation, and asset prioritization. It is important to ensure that you have an IT department that will always maintain your company’s infrastructure. If needed, you can also outsource vulnerability management to another IT team that will assist in protecting your organization’s infrastructure.

We Can Help Prevent Your Business from Experiencing These Issues

At AE Technology Group, our remote monitoring and maintenance are created in order to identify and solve IT problems before they can interrupt business operations. For more information or to find out how we can assist your company, contact us today at (516) 536-5006.

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How to Create a Business Continuity Plan

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No matter how prepared your business is, you still have a chance to become a victim of a cyber attack. Even with advanced lead time, cybercriminals have many opportunities to attack your business infrastructure. There are several ways to give your business the best shot of preventing an attack, but you need to be prepared if you may not always be able to stop a cyber-criminal. A business continuity plan can give your business the best chance to be prepared to manage a security breach.

Having a plan in place helps prevent extensive damage to your business, possibly putting you out of business for good. How do you create a business continuity plan to safeguard your business’s future? 

Establish a Business Continuity Team – Depending on your organization’s size, you want to ensure you have a good team of people to help you execute your business continuity plan in the event of a disaster. Include at least one person from every department to facilitate instructions and processes on the next steps.

Conduct a Business Impact Analysis – A business impact analysis will help you identify the most vulnerable areas that could threaten your business’s operations. It’s an analysis of critical functions of your business and each of those functions’ particular vulnerability and the impact a prolonged disruption will cause. 

Identify and Store Critical Stakeholders, Resources, and Functions – Identify contacts within your business that you need to keep your business functioning. Create an emergency or backup contact list that includes essential information on each person or entity and ensure that information is up to date. The contact list should include information such as point of contacts names, addresses, and an outline of their function in supporting your business. Having a contact list allows you to keep your lines of communication open to inform stakeholders of critical situations in the event of an attack. 

Create a Recovery Plan – If a cyber attack does occur, you will need to draft a recovery plan to implement steps to recover critical business functions. You want to minimize your losses and get your team back to normal operations. 

Consistently Review and Revise Your Plan – Your business continuity plan should be routinely tested and updated to ensure the plan will work when you need it to. As your business evolves, testing the plan can ensure no gaps or flaws in your processes and allows you to address any issues. Conduct regular simulations with your team and continuously improve to ensure you are properly prepared.

You can take many security measures to ensure your business does not fall victim to one of the many cyber attacks that are possible in the digital landscape. Even with advanced security, nothing is ever certain, and you want to ensure your business is protected.

AE Technology Group believes that businesses can take many steps to prepare for such emergencies, and it all starts with a data backup and disaster recovery service. We can assist you with implementing such a policy for your organization to ensure that problems don’t disrupt your operations. 

For more information, contact us at (516) 536-5006.

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4 Technology Innovations on Common Devices Found in Most Businesses

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There are thousands of pieces of technology available that accomplish something positive for your business. Whether they are communications tools that help your team collaborate and build a better client-support system, gadgets, and software to help streamline your team’s ability to get work done, or devices to help advance the company’s mobile strategies, considering what you can do with technology innovations is a responsibility of a forward-looking executive or small business owner.

Today, we thought we would introduce you to some remarkable technologies that are being built that could benefit your business in the future.

Hushme

Hushme may look intimidating, but it really could be helpful for businesses that depend on phone calls and don’t have a lot of space. The device wraps around the user’s head and covers their mouth like a muzzle. There are noise-canceling headphones attached. Once the device is on, the user can talk into it, and no one can hear a sound.

It isn’t too difficult to imagine the practical application for a device like this. You get the privacy you’d want, even if you talk in a busy, bustling environment.

Epson Paperlab

If your business uses a lot of paper or handles a lot of sensitive information, the shredder often works overtime. Well, the printing professionals at Epson have developed a machine that is effectively the first in-office paper recycler. Using this technology, a company can not only destroy sensitive information, but it can also take all the waste paper that it has and recycle it in-house.

It works because once wastepaper is put into the machine, it is defiberized, removing traces of all information and color. At this point, the fibers are formed under pressure back into sheets of paper. The machine then cuts the paper to specification, and you have recycled paper.

XGIMI Projectors

Many offices have some projector they use to broadcast information, but a company named XGIMI has begun to take the technology of projectors to the next level. The company has several innovative new devices that do several unique things. Some devices broadcast 4K video, some fit in the palm of your hand, and one even has theater-grade sound built right into the projector unit.

XEBEC Tri-Screen 2

A lot of people prefer their laptop to a bulky desktop computer. The problem is that sometimes there isn’t enough screen real estate while you are on the go to do all the things you need to do as effectively as you need to do them. WIth XEBEC’s Tri-Screen 2, you can add two fully-functional screens to your laptop. All you need to do is hook the device into your computer, and you now have a fully-functional, multi-screen workstation anywhere you go.

 

These technologies are all over the map on cost, but there is no denying that they can have some pretty exciting results for the people willing to invest. What do you think of these technology innovations? Do you know any cool tech that businesses may consider down the road? Leave your comments below and check back regularly for more great technology suggestions.

Implementing the Best Technology Solutions for Your Business

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Technology is one of those parts of your operational infrastructure that plays a massive role, even if you don’t realize it. For quite some time, you’ve been using all of the standard fares for business technology, such as computers, server units, and networking components. All technology solutions for your business must eventually be replaced, so your company must have an established approach to make this happen in the most seamless and least stressful way possible.

It all starts by having a solid IT implementation strategy. Let’s take a look at some ideas you should consider when looking at your business technology strategy.

Identifying Your Technology Pain Points

When considering technology, you must think with intention. If you don’t, you might implement a “solution” that is entirely unnecessary and, thus, makes your network more complex or complicated than it needs to be. It is best to keep things simple when possible, as the more technology you implement for your business, the more opportunities there are for things to go wrong. To make sure you implement technology with intention, you must consider what problems the technology will solve.

Ask yourself, “What challenges does my business face today?” Your answer will determine which problems you want to solve.

Creating a Technology Plan and Moving Forward

Next, you want to consider how you proceed and what solution to implement. There are many choices to make, so you shouldn’t leave anything off the table. Consider multiple solutions to the problem and think about which one is appropriate for your specific needs.

Ask yourself, “How does my chosen option solve the specified problem?” If you can answer this question, then you know that you should seriously entertain implementing that option.

Implementing the Right Technology Solutions for Your Business

Now that you have determined which solution is the best forward, you can start the implementation process. This process might include a needs analysis or a cost breakdown, so whoever is in charge of the implementation process should have access to all of this information. Furthermore, you will also want to have a complete understanding of how much the solution will cost your business to implement and the expected timeline for that implementation.

Ask yourself, “Do I have the means to implement this technology?” If the answer is yes, then you can move forward with confidence.

Get Started Today!

AE Technology Group understands the frustrations of implementing new technology solutions for your business, so we make it our goal to provide accessible technology management and implementation services to all businesses, big or small. To learn more about how we can help your business get any technology solution off the ground, reach out to us at (516) 536-5006.

Start Investing In Your Team’s Technology

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We don’t believe for one second that employees want to do the wrong thing; after all, they work for you for a reason, that reason being they want to do the job you hired them to do. Unfortunately, technology can often make it so that this process becomes difficult. If you don’t invest time and effort into ensuring that your team’s technology and resources are available when they need them most, you risk them choosing unproductive or even unsecured work methods.

Employees Using Unsecured Devices

Employees will prefer to use their work technology to fulfill their day-to-day obligations. These devices might include a desktop, a work-issued laptop, and maybe a mobile device. If these devices are not maintained properly, they will not work properly, leading your employees to find solutions that are outside of your purview. This might include their personal laptop or smartphone, devices that are not secured using your company’s security solution.

The importance of maintaining your team’s technology and devices cannot be understated, so we recommend implementing a solution that allows you to manage and maintain your devices with ease. Furthermore, you should add in a Bring Your Own Device policy that determines how and when your employees are allowed to use their personal devices for work-related purposes. This will be beneficial for your company in the long run.

Unauthorized Software Downloads

Your staff might occasionally require specific tools to do a specific task or perform a function. If they do not have access to these tools, then they will find a different way to do the job, or they won’t do the job at all. It’s like trying to use a butter knife like a flat-head screwdriver. Sure, it might get the job done in the moment, but if you strip the screw, you risk the job being much more difficult or downright impossible later on. The same can be said for when your staff tries to download alternative solutions to do a job; these freeware applications can be dangerous for your business for several reasons.

For one, all software your business uses on the regular requires a software license. If the software license on any of your employees’ computers expires, they will experience a disruption to their productivity and be required to find another way to get the job done. If they download the wrong application, they could put your business at risk of experiencing a security breach or using a counterfeit software license. It might solve an issue in the short term, but it creates long-term problems, especially if you ever become subject to a security issue or network audit.

The best way to prevent your employees from inadvertently causing trouble for you by downloading unauthorized software or using unsecured devices is to make sure that they have consistent and reliable access to the tools you provide, as well as ensure that the tools are properly maintained. You can make this happen through the use of proactive maintenance and management. If you are proactive in this regard, you prevent your team from being proactive in finding alternative ways to do their work. You can further augment this by giving your team someone to contact in the event they cannot access the tools they need throughout the workday.

AE Technology Group can help your team’s technology by providing them with a trusted IT resource for any questions or concerns they have about technology during the workday. Furthermore, we can also keep your technology in proper working order so that your staff naturally experience fewer issues while going about their day-to-day tasks. This gives your team the confidence that their technology will not create unexpected troubles for them and can help encourage them to appropriately handle issues when they do arise.

Let AE Technology Group be your business’ trusted IT resource! To get started, give us a call at (516) 536-5006.