Monthly Archives: March 2022

The Importance of Cybersecurity for Your Business

Even with recent news events inspiring fears of major cyber attacks, threats occur daily. And not all cyber attacks make news because they target a large company. Indeed, many small to medium-size businesses are also at risk, and need to defend themselves. Read on to learn what threats to look for, and how to protect your data, applications and people.

 

Threats to Watch For

 

According to a 2021 report from CompTIA, small to medium-size businesses (SMBs), are the targets of 43% of cyberattacks, yet 70% are unprepared. What can be done to change that balance? Threats range from attacks on the cloud to social engineering (such as phishing) attacks that can introduce malware, including ransomware, into a company’s system. These attacks can result in loss of money due to downtime along with fines for regulatory noncompliance; loss of data to ransomware and malware, due to theft and/or compromise; and loss of trust and reputation if clients and other parties can’t trust your business to keep their data safe. Yet what all these statistics and consequences can do is strengthen a company’s  resolve to protect itself from cyberattack.

 

Keeping Your Business Safe

Many tools are available for protection from cyberattacks, and your workers are among the most important. A business still needs to maintain current anti-virus and anti-malware definitions along with the most current operating system patches to protect its network. When using the cloud, encryption of data both in-transit and at rest keeps it safe from loss or compromise. All these safeguards are essential, though they are just part of a plan. When employees are properly trained in cybersecurity policies and best practices, they can stop intrusions of malware. When workers implement strong passwords and multi-factor authentication, they can protect the entire network. By knowing what a phishing email looks like, they can keep from clicking malicious links and outsmarting social engineering attacks designed to introduce malware. 

  

While cyberattacks are always increasing, there are ways to keep your business, its assets and its reputation safe. For help in developing a plan, contact your trusted technology advisor today.

Business Benefits of Unified Communications as Service

Some years ago, when Unified Communications was just beginning, companies adopting the new technology had to operate and manage infrastructure on the premises. Now, with Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS), companies can access computing resources in the cloud, with its convenience and cost savings. Read on to learn more about what UCaaS can do for your company, and what to consider when looking for a cloud service provider.

 

Benefits of UCaaS over Conventional Unified Communications

 

Though Unified Communications has existed for at least ten years, businesses used to have to keep their data and servers on-premise, resulting in a burdensome capital expense. Some years ago, the development of cloud computing allowed companies to outsource infrastructure to a third party, converting it to a more budget-friendly operating expense. With Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS), they can now scale up and down on use of computing resources in keeping with demand or new technological initiatives. Providers have furnished the infrastructure including servers and data centers; all the users need is an Internet connection. The unification of numerous communication channels including telephony and web conferencing, and applications like customer relationship management makes it easy for workers to interact with each other and serve customers efficiently–anytime and anywhere. 

 

What to Consider When Adopting UCaaS

 

No doubt the combination of Unified Communications and cloud computing is beneficial to your company and its technology budget. Even with that bright picture, businesses may still have questions. One key question to consider is how UCaaS will align with your company goals, and what problems it will solve. What about security, including encryption of data? How easy are the tools to learn, and does the provider offer support ranging from simple questions to help in emergencies? These are just a few questions to discuss with a potential cloud service provider.

 

Unified Communications alone has helped companies with communication and collaboration; when paired with the cloud, it can help your company become even more effective while controlling technology spend. For further assistance, contact your trusted technology advisor today.