Tag: cybersecurity

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Phishing, Cybersecurity and Your Small Business

Phishing can have a significant and often devastating impact on small businesses. Unlike larger organizations, small businesses typically have fewer resources to dedicate to cybersecurity, making them an attractive target for cybercriminals.

Small businesses can be impacted by phishing and other types of attacks in ways that might not have been considered before. Here are some of the more common ways that phishing attacks can impact the business:

Financial Loss
Phishing attacks often result in direct financial losses due to funds being stolen, fraudulent payments being made, and ransoms being paid. Cybercriminals often use phishing emails to trick employees into transferring money to fraudulent bank accounts, and attackers may impersonate legitimate vendors or clients to request fake payments. Worse, phishing emails can be used to deliver ransomware, locking up or encrypting critical systems or data until a ransom is paid.

For small businesses, even a single financial loss can be catastrophic.

Data Breaches
Phishing can lead to the compromise of sensitive business information or customer data, such as customer personal information or payment details, employee credentials or other private information of the employee, or business trade secrets and other proprietary business data. Data breaches can easily result in legal liabilities, fines, and damage to the business reputation.

Reputational Damage
When a phishing attack exposes sensitive customer information or disrupts services, it erodes customer trust. This can lead to clients taking their business elsewhere and makes attracting new customers harder. It could also impact vendor relationships, causing partners to view the business as a weak link in the supply chain.

Operational Disruption
Cyber-attacks, including phishing attacks, can disrupt business operations and cause numerous problems. Ransomware or malware delivered through phishing emails can render IT systems unusable, causing loss of productivity. If employees lose access to critical tools, files, or data, there will be delays in work and projects. Businesses also must divert time and resources to recover from attacks, taking away from regular business operations and revenue-generating activities.

Why Small Businesses Are Often Targeted
Small businesses are rich targets for cyber-attacks, especially phishing, because they often have weaker defenses compared to larger enterprises. Often made up of a few trusted employees, small businesses are attacked in ways that exploit trust and personal familiarity. Due to many small businesses having weaker cyber-defenses, attackers can find high payoffs in financial rewards or valuable data with a single successful phishing attack.

Noobeh Helps Businesses Protect Themselves
Every business should teach their employees how to recognize and report phishing emails, and MFA (multi-factor authentication) should protect all accounts, but human beings can only do so much, so it makes sense to implement tools that can put additional intelligence behind your services and defend your systems to help keep the problem from ever getting to your users.

Our team at Noobeh recommends and provisions Microsoft Defender for Office 365 to block phishing emails and messages with malicious links and content. Advanced email security helps reduce inbox spam and blocks messages from spoofed senders, which helps prevent users from interacting with bad emails and potentially exposing protected information.

Email protection is only part of the needed coverage. Noobeh also recommends having strong endpoint protection solutions to detect and prevent phishing-related malware and other attacks. Microsoft Defender for Endpoints does this, working seamlessly with our remote monitoring and management and your other Microsoft services to provide a higher level of protection for the business.

By understanding the risks and taking proactive measures, small businesses can minimize the impact of phishing attacks and protect their operations, reputation, and customers.

jm bunny feetMake Sense?

J

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A Hurricane and the Port Workers Strike Force Conversation About Business Resilience and Continuity

Hurricane Helene is one of the biggest storms to have hit the Gulf Coast in years. An analysis done by a scientist at Colorado State University, Helene was larger than almost every storm that has hit the gulf since 1988. Only Opal and Irma were bigger than Helene. The toll in life and property is not small, nor is the disruption of services. There are troubles enough getting help and supplies to impacted areas, so the focus on doing everyday business just isn’t a thing.

To make matters worse, there is a strike going on right now. A big strike that is already impacting supply chains nationwide, and things will only get more strained the longer it lasts.

“The 2024 United States port strike is a labor strike involving over 45,000 port workers who are part of the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA), impacting 36 ports across the United States primarily along the East Coast and the Gulf Coast.” (Wikipedia)

While there are many people currently facing larger life issues, the entire nation is forced to consider what happens now, and if they weren’t directly impacted by these events, what would they do if they were? It is a bit of a wake-up call for many business owners, because business interruptions can come from all angles, and it is always best to have made at least some attempt at a set of plans for when things happen.

One critical type of plan is about making the business more resilient and better able to recover or adapt. It’s a broad strategic plan that focuses on overcoming unexpected disruptions and adapting to changing conditions or circumstances. This includes addressing business continuity, which is about how operations may be maintained during a crisis. Business continuity planning is part of what makes a business resilient.

The Importance of Business Resiliency

Business resiliency has become a critical factor for success. In today’s rapidly changing world, the ability to stand up to or quickly recover from disruptions is no longer a luxury but an imperative. Resilience means being able to adapt to changes and challenges swiftly, maintaining continuity and minimizing losses. Customers want reliability, so a business that can continue to deliver products and services despite disruptions will build trust and loyalty, leading to long-term relationships and a strong reputation.

A resilient business will have contingency plans for finances, creating buffers to mitigate the impacts of short-term shocks so investments in long-term growth continue. Also, where competitors may struggle to cope, resilient companies may not simply continue to operate but even capitalize on new opportunities that arise from the changing landscape. When a business is prepared for disruptions, it can focus on growth and innovation rather than mere survival.

Technology plays a big role in developing resilience. Cloud solutions can ensure data is backed up and accessible from anywhere, cybersecurity solutions help protect businesses from cyber threats, and automation technologies streamline operations while reducing dependency on manual processes.

Prioritizing resiliency is crucial for small businesses to navigate uncertainties and thrive.

Mendelson Consulting and Noobeh cloud services help businesses of all sizes improve their agility, streamline operations and implement the technologies and services necessary to shore up business and operational continuity and improve overall resilience.

jm bunny feetMake Sense?

J

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Timing is Everything: Security, AI and the Tech Stack in Restaurants

Running a restaurant or chain of restaurants is no easy task. Margins are often razor thin while customer demands continue to expand. Food service, like so many other industries, is struggling to bear the weight of change as labor shortages, rising costs, increasing cybersecurity risk, and demands for an improved customer experience push the industry to do more efficient and effective business. To keep up, businesses must learn more about what’s really going on in the operation, and to turn that insight into action. Timing is everything, and now is the right time to look at technology and platforms which will deliver greater insight and intelligence.

Whether it is leveraging commercial solutions available from partners or through building the tech stack by DIY, businesses in the restaurant industry are looking for innovative solutions to drive more profitability as well as increasing revenues leveraging resources they’re already paying for. AI is playing a big role in this evolution and businesses of all sizes, from the single-location entrepreneur to the multi-location franchise, are taking steps to incorporate it into the operation. Yet AI is all but useless if it doesn’t have the data to analyze.

An example of a transformational solution for the restaurant industry might be Curbit’s products, which include digital infrastructure and real-time AI capabilities that enable the software to analyze the data around service, real-time order progress, kitchen performance and guess sentiment. Microsoft’s Azure and Azure AI platform is key to Curbit’s innovation and development, enabling them to give the information which powers timely decision-making rather than offering only after-the-fact reports or outdated dashboard data.

In the category of maximizing the resources you’re already paying for, look at new services available through DoorDash, where lunch special and happy hour promotional offerings help businesses drive demand in off-peak times. Designed to increase revenues and drive greater sustainability, the service also reflects how restaurants are increasingly faced with the need to leverage online tools and mobile ordering to replace the reduction in foot traffic at brick and mortar location.

On the other side of that coin is information security and privacy and how businesses deal with the realities of cybersecurity threats and the need for greater levels of protection. Collecting more data for analysis means there is an increased risk of exposing private data if not adequately protected.

Considering high profile incidents like what happened with Panera, adequate cybersecurity protections must be part of the essential infrastructure that supports the operation. What was initially described as a systemwide technical outage at Panera was ultimately found to have been a cybersecurity breach exposing some employee personal data and the basis for a class action lawsuit filed by Panera employees.  

Whether it belongs to employees or customers or others, personal and private data must be protected. The cost of protecting the data is likely lower than the cost of dealing with a data breach and the potential resultant backlash, which is another part of the equation which must be considered.

Mendelson Consulting and Noobeh cloud services recognize how businesses need to modernize their systems, developing greater intelligence and resilience in the operation. We also recognize the importance of redundancy and agility in systems, and how quality managed cybersecurity solutions and services help guard against attack.

From ERP and specialized business solutions to platform, hosting and managed service, Mendelson Consulting and Noobeh cloud services can help your business meet the demands of doing business now and in the future.

jm bunny feetMake Sense?

J

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Cybersecurity and Small Business

Small businesses face many challenges as they grow and expand, and chief among them is the growing threat of cyber-attack. As the company grows, its value to cybercriminals grows, too. Implementing comprehensive cybersecurity measures is essential to maintaining customer trust and safeguarding important business data against these threats.

There is a belief among small business owners that their operations are too small or insignificant to be attractive targets for cybercriminals. Cybercriminals, on the other hand, more often view small businesses as easy targets. Why is this? Largely because the bad guys know that the smaller companies aren’t spending on cybersecurity services and tools and aren’t always keeping their workers informed about ways they can participate in keeping things safe.

To help protect the business from cybersecurity threats, it is crucial to invest in some key security measures. Longer and more complex passwords, regular software patching and updating, and periodic training for employees on how to identify phishing attempts and what to do with suspicious emails is a good start. Cybersecurity efforts should scale with the business, and this requires strategic planning that is aligned with the goals and objectives of the business.

The best cybersecurity approaches are built on a secure foundation, and this is what helps to support business growth and expansion. For every business, there are four cornerstones of a solid cybersecurity foundation.

  • Identifying potential cyber threats and understanding the business risk they represent.
  • Enforcing strong password protection and role-based access controls.
  • Following best practices in cybersecurity.
  • Managing documentation and vital business information securely.

Cybercriminals know that smaller businesses generally have limited cybersecurity resources, making small businesses prime targets for phishing and malware. What is the potential impact of falling for a phishing email, or what happens if there is a ransomware attack? Each type of threat carries different levels of risk, and growing businesses should be aware of the potential financial, legal and reputational impacts when evaluating their approach.

Businesses can help their users become part of the cybersecurity plan by regularly training them on phishing methods and ways to avoid ransomware or malware. When users know more about emerging threats and how to recognize and report suspicious things, they become valuable assets in the improvement of cybersecurity of the business.

The first line of defense in cybersecurity is the username/password challenge. Many systems today use an email address as the username or user ID, which means it really isn’t much of a challenge to guess. This leaves it to the password to keep the account secure, so a strong and unique password is necessary.

Making another challenge to the authentication adds another layer of protection to the account. Referred to as 2FA or MFA (two-factor authentication or multi-factor authentication), users may be required to respond to an in-app message, provide a code received via SMS or other, or provide a code from an authenticating application to satisfy the login requirements. This additional challenge to the user identity makes it harder for cybercriminals to gain unauthorized access.

Ensuring the protection of sensitive business information requires controlling what users have access to once they are in the system. If someone were to gain unauthorized access, having appropriate role-based access controls in place would limit their ability to get sensitive data. This is often another area of vulnerability for smaller businesses that don’t implement strict document controls or structures, opting instead for an open self-service model that leaves data available to whomever can get logged in.

With businesses changing frequently, it is important to not just create a framework to limit user access, but to keep user and role-based access reviewed and updated regularly. Software and systems also need to be updated regularly. Known software vulnerabilities should be patched and security updates installed on devices, and policies enforcing updates and antivirus/malware detection should be implemented.

We understand that businesses must enhance their cybersecurity strategies to combat the growing number and type of cyber threats, and it can be challenging just figuring out what to do first. Working with a variety of technologies and specialists, we can help secure your digital environment and keep you better-protected from the bad guys.

jm bunny feetMake Sense?

J

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Cybersecurity and Retail Should Always Go Together

Retail cybersecurity is a critical concern for every business in the retail industry, which is why cybersecurity and retail should always go together. Retailers are prime targets for cyberattacks due to the valuable customer data they collect, which usually includes personally identifiable information (PII) and credit card numbers. Retailers can handle large volumes of customer data, which becomes an attractive target for cybercriminals seeking to profit from selling it on the dark web.

Recent statistics from various sources suggest that more than 24% of cyberattacks specifically target retailers, making it one of the most heavily targeted industries. Roughly one third of retailers cite cybersecurity concerns as their primary obstacle in transitioning to e-commerce, with cost and technology barriers coming close behind.

For the bad guys, however, it is all about the money. Almost all retail cyberattacks are driven by financial motives. When consumer data is compromised, most of the information exposed consists of payment information and personally identifiable data which can fetch a good price on the dark web.

Retail cybersecurity threats occur because the environment tends to have a lot of elements. The hybrid nature of many retail businesses introduces additional risk, where brick-and-mortar stores are combined with e-commerce platforms and services.

NFC (Near Field Communications) vulnerabilities exist in some payment systems, and many Point of Sale (POS) systems still do not use point-to-point encryption for their communications. Even if communication streams are encrypted, it makes little difference if the software has known vulnerabilities or if insecure plugins or add-ons are being used.

Cloud-based storage and mobile apps increase the presence of stored data online, which increasingly leads to new threat vectors like cloud-based botnets and more.

The key is for businesses to prioritize security and invest in platforms and solutions that will help protect customer and business data. Critical in this effort is the implementation of IT best practices in regularly updating operating system and application software, limiting the access users have for installing or modifying software on their devices, and always monitoring the systems for vulnerabilities.

Like cybersecurity and retailers, Noobeh and secure IT go together. We help retail and other businesses proactively address cybersecurity challenges so they can protect both their business and their customers. Noobeh cloud services helps retailers secure their business servers and systems, delivering scalable, high availability and highly agile solutions that keep business and finance operations running.

Noobeh provides services for Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Azure platform and deploys solutions for manufacturing, inventory management, multi-channel commerce, EDI, financial and more. Get together with Noobeh and find out how we can help your business operate more securely and with better, more agile and resilient IT.

jm bunny feetMake Sense?

J

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Prey or Empowered? Small Businesses and IT Security

Now more than ever, small businesses need to be vigilant with their information technology security. Small businesses may not be the big fish in the sea, but there are plenty of them out there to catch. Small businesses tend to make the best targets because they often fail to perform security audits, they may not be willing to invest in the resources needed to protect themselves, and they frequently don’t even carry the right insurance coverages. To hackers, small businesses are easy prey.

“Don’t think you are too small to be affected,” says Erik Knight, the founder and CEO of SimpleWAN. “Every place you have an employee or office is a potential entry point. Take it seriously; if you have something worth taking, a hacker will try to take it.”

https://www.forbes.com/…

There are a few things every business can do to improve the security and privacy of their data. It isn’t an option any longer; these are essential elements in an overall security strategy that can make the difference between staying in business and not.

Use strong passwords, not easy-to-guess words, phrases or sequences (1234 is not a strong password). Passwords should be unique, more than 8 characters in length, and have a mix of numbers, letters, and special characters.

Keep software updated. Whether it is the operating system on your computer or the software you use to write letters, having up-to-date software matters. Developers don’t just upgrade software to fix bugs or introduce new features; software often gets updated because of security issues or vulnerabilities.

Keep networks and connected devices secure to make sure that the computers and connections aren’t introducing weaknesses into your system. Not only are password controls and software updates needed, but firewall security and good anti-virus/anti-malware solutions are also a must. Keeping an eye on the server matters, but the connecting points and end points are where many vulnerabilities exist.

Set up two-factor or multi-factor authentication to further secure logins. 2FA and MFA is like having ID besides just your driver’s license to prove you are who you say you are. Your password, like your DL, is just one factor; you need one more thing to prove your identity for 2FA, like a code from your phone or maybe your fingerprint. The point is that there should be more than just a username and password to access important data.

Restrict use of personal email or social media on work devices. This gets a little trickier with smaller businesses, as many don’t or can’t support providing users with all company-owned devices. There are tradeoffs to allowing users to bring their own devices (byod) versus using company-owned devices. When mobile devices are part of the mix along with desktop and portable computers, it becomes even more complicated and the risk potential increases.

Use encryption for data in transit and data at rest. Encryption is like scrambling the data and then unscrambling it when you access it. In transit, data may be encrypted by a VPN so that it is protected over the wire (in motion) as it is sent and received on the network. RDP is also encrypted, but this remote access method’s main purpose is to keep the data from leaving the server in the first place. At rest, like when it is sitting on a hard drive or other storage location, data can also be encrypted. To open the file or file system, you need a key to decrypt it.

Keep all data backed up and create a way to rapidly recover your server and systems in the event of failure or compromise. Backups are great right up until you find they are as damaged or unrecoverable as your main system, so make sure to have a policy of testing your backups periodically. There are many ways to back up and protect your data, including external drives and cloud storage. If data gets lost or corrupted, you want to be able to restore it from a backup. Regularly audit your backup and data security practices to help identify weaknesses that make the business vulnerable.

Educating employees on the importance of cyber security is among the most important steps a business can take to protect itself. Keeping passwords secure and secret, knowing how to spot a phishing email and what to do and not do with it, not clicking on suspicious links in emails, not sharing personal or confidential information online, and what to do in the event of a breach are all things that should be regularly discussed with workers and supported by written policies.

Managed Azure cloud servers from Noobeh help you keep your business information more secure. Our services demand high levels of security and privacy, and we help our customers keep their data and systems safer and more secure by handling some of the requirements for them.

  1. Strong password policies and MFA is our standard setup, and software updates and patching are part of the service.
  2. Working on the cloud server keeps data on the server and not traversing the network or downloading to individual PCs, so information stays secure and separate from whatever a user runs on their local devices.
  3. Data on the Azure virtual machines is encrypted at rest, and additional encryption is available to add more layers of protection. Data in motion is encrypted, but very little data actually traverses the wire.
  4. Servers and data are backed up regularly with snapshots and file level backups, allowing for simple file restores as well as comprehensive system recovery.

For small businesses, Noobeh has the solution for creating a more secure and better protected IT environment where applications and data can be available to those who need them without compromising the investments already made in training and process development. Moving software and data to a private cloud server allows companies to continue using the software they rely on, just in a better way. Instead of being easy prey to hackers, our customers benefit from higher levels of IT administration, management and protection that empowers them to work the way they need to – any time, anywhere.

jm bunny feetMake Sense?

J