Suffolk Computer Consultants, Inc. Blog

Studies have shown that email still has a safe place in the business world, with an estimated 124.5 billion business emails sent and received each day. However, are the emails that your business is actually receiving safe? If you aren’t adopting the following practices in your daily business operations, they probably aren’t.

People use all types of payment options. With more people moving away from cash as a payment option, businesses have to accept and process more payment card transactions. Depending on your business, it could put you in a very precarious position. Today, we will look at payment card statistics, and how the increase in payment card usage could end up be a devastating problem for the modern business.

Passwords have always been important to businesses, but they are priorities for organizations in certain industries. Government-based organizations in particular need to be concerned about using secure passwords. Of course, not all businesses are government-based, but there’s a thing or two your own can learn about some of their password practices.

Data security isn’t the easiest thing in the world to plan for, especially if your organization doesn’t have any dedicated security professionals on-hand. While protecting your data with traditional methods, like passwords, firewalls, and antivirus, is important, what measures are you taking to make sure a thief or hacker isn’t just walking into your office and making off with your technology?

Mobile devices are great tools that allow for enhanced mobility and convenience, but this increased accessibility is also a major detriment in terms of data security. Mobile devices are notorious for being considerable security threats to businesses that utilize them. Therefore, businesses that use mobile devices on a regular basis should absolutely be aware of how they can influence security policies.

There is no denying that a Google account is a very valuable thing to have today, and if valuable doesn’t seem like the right word to use, let’s say practical. Business and casual users alike use the wide variety of services for many purposes - but are they doing so safely?

Ready or not, the season of giving is here, and that means it’s gift card season. These can seem to be the perfect gift for coworkers and employees… which is why everyone will need to be wary of a particular business email compromise scam that has seen an uptick this year.

An IT provider can do a lot for your business, but it can exceed your organization’s expectations in more ways than one. A growing business, however, often runs into issues that need to be addressed regarding its technology. We’ll outline some of the major benefits that technology management from an IT provider can offer for a growing business.

While a technology exploit or vulnerability is never a good thing, hearing one described as “zero-day” adds another level of sinister malice to the term. However, it is still important to understand what is meant by zero-day, which is why we are going to review that term below.

Microsoft’s Windows 10 is a great operating system that many users are finding to be extremely helpful for their everyday needs, but even the most rabid Windows fan will tell you that the constant updates are irritating and disruptive at best. While they do bring with them new features and updates--particularly the large updates that happen twice a year--they do take some time to install. The upcoming update they are releasing in October, however, poses a problem for businesses and users alike.

Nobody likes being delayed at the airport, forced to sit in uncomfortable chairs as the minutes slowly pass, each signifying that an important event or deadline is that much closer to being missed. Events that cause such delays cause headaches for passengers and airlines alike, just ask Delta, who recently suffered from such an event when a power outage struck Atlanta, GA, and with it, Delta’s computer system.

It appears that the Department of Homeland Security is stepping in after one of the Ghostbusters had her personal information leaked online after falling victim to a cyber attack. Leslie Jones, who played Patty Tolan in the recent reboot, had not only photos of her passport and driver’s license but also nude images of herself--allegedly taken from the comedian’s iCloud account--posted on her website by hackers. Less than a day after her website was taken down, Homeland Security began an investigation into the hack.

You may be aware of the risks associated with utilizing Wi-Fi, like a potential hack attack. However, you may not know about a new risk where the Wi-Fi signals may be remotely checked for distortion in order to track human motion as they move through the signal.

In light of the recent spat of data breaches leading to login credentials from accounts for Myspace, Dropbox, and other online services, Spotify has taken measures to preserve their user security--despite not being victimized in a recent attack.

In a recent finding, assorted large hotels owned and operated by HEI Hotel & Resorts have been victims of malware since 2015. 20 of the company’s hotels were affected, with customer financial data being exposed in a real-time, point-of-sale malware attack. Have you recently stayed at one of these hotels?

We all understand that there are things we need to lock up in order to protect them. Houses, cars, businesses, all are protected with locks to keep those who shouldn’t be in them, out. Shouldn’t your network receive the same consideration?

Executive Order 13694 will be around for another year, as the current administration has elected to extend it. This document provides the government with the power necessary to retaliate against cyber attacks of various kinds through the use of sanctions. Let’s take a look at what this means.

The oldest retailer in the United States disclosed that they had malware installed in their point-of-sale systems that was stealing their customer’s data for a year. 223 Brooks Brothers locations in the United States and its territories were affected by this attack.

After the WannaCry attack, it would seem that the hacking group known as the Shadow Brokers (or TheShadowBrokers) is in possession of some extremely potent information. This makes it all the more disconcerting that the group has announced the start of their own subscription service.

Managing a business is difficult enough without technology issues getting in the way of operations. Therefore, when an issue does pop up in a company’s IT, it can be a very frustrating experience for everyone involved. Here are a few common issues that have been known to trip up businesses more than they should.